1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment inactivated at Fort Benning

Soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division said it was bittersweet Friday as the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment cased its colors in a quiet ceremony on Sledgehammer Field.

Ninety-eight years after the unit was formed in 1917 during World War I, the soldiers are part of the first of five battalions to face inactivation at Fort Benning. The cuts at Kelley Hill and installations across the country are part of the Army’s plan to reduce the force from 570,000 soldiers to 450,000 soldiers.

Col. Michael J. Simmering, commander of the 3rd Brigade, which includes the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment, said the battalion did everything the Army asked of it.

“In the last 98 years, this battalion spent 18 years nearly two decades deployed, fighting overseas for freedom,” Simmering said. “That in of itself speaks of the significance of what today represents. We are witnessing history and, quite honestly, while times like this seem sad, I prefer to think of it as bittersweet.”

Just after 1:30 p.m., battalion commander Lt. Col. Richard F. Amadon handed the colors to Simmering to signal the end of the battalion and Amadon’s seven-month command. Simmering then handed the colors to Command Sgt. Maj. Robert T. Craven, who cased them.

Amadon is leaving Fort Benning and taking a similar position with the 2nd Battalion, 12 Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Carson, Colo.

“I happen to be the one as we close this unit down,” Amadon said. “It’s been a short but extremely busy seven months.”

After the unit was notified of the inactivation, Amadon said, soldiers never stopped training and never stopped taking care of families. The battalion has turned in more than 4,000 pieces of equipment as part of the inactivation. Equipment included one of the Army’s howitzers, the M119-A. Amadon said he was proud that the unit of about 600 soldiers has gone more than a year without a single case of driving under the influence. “I attribute that to their discipline, teamwork and leadership from the NCOs,” he said. Simmering called the soldiers of the battalion among the most spectacular in the division. “I never received a call on one weekend for the 1-10 asking for anything,” he said.

The brigade commander reminded the soldiers of what they had accomplished at Fort Benning and the lifelong friendships they had formed. Units like the battalion have been unactivated before but uncertainty throughout the world could bring it back, he said.

“We face a constant stream of threats not from any single country, not from any single direction, but from multiple enemies,” Simmering said. “That’s why I don’t really see this as goodbye. It is a significant chapter in this unit. Until we see those colors unfurl once again on another battle field flying high and soldiers standing, you will continue to support this nation’s call.”

For Sgt. 1st Class Robert Ford, the 3rd Brigade has been a big part of his 21 years in the Army. He was at Kelley Hill from April 2000 to 2004 with two deployments and returned a year ago to the battalion. “It’s bittersweet,” he said. “I have a lot of great memories, deployments.”

He was part of the Operation Iraqi Freedom when the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division crossed the Kuwait-Iraq border in March 2003 into Baghdad. “We deployed to Kuwait for nine months, returned home for about 37 days and then turned around and go back to Operation Iraqi Freedom,” he said. “It’s pretty tough on me, the soldiers and their families. It’s something we do. We cater to the slogan, ‘Not fancy but tough. That is the 3rd ID.’”

Ford, 49, said he’ll miss the camaraderie among the soldiers. “There is no other brigade like the 3rd Brigade,” he said. “I can’t explain. It’s just special.”

Ford will be assigned to the Warrior Transition Unit but isn’t sure where he’s going next.

“No matter where I went, I have always talked about the 3rd Brigade, which is special,” he said.

This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 4:55 PM with the headline "1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment inactivated at Fort Benning."