Webmaster's Note: The demand for more direct support artillery shortly after the arrival of the 2/9th Arty in Vietnam was more than we could supply.   Consequently, the decision to "split" was made.  Here is an account of the "split".

2/9th Artillery Facelifts To Form Five Batteries

   Stretching rations is a relatively simple task.  Stretching thousands of pounds of cold, howitzer steel is another matter.  But that was the job facing Lieutenant Colonel Saul A. Jackson, commander of 2nd Battalion, 9th Artillery.
   Brigadier General Glenn D. Walker, 3rd Brigade Task Force commander, had told Col. Jackson to “provide artillery coverage for the area of operations as well as the base camp area.”
   The problem of creating five artillery batteries from the usual three arose when 3rd Bde. began Operation “Paul Revere” southwest of Pleiku.  It became necessary to alter the face of the battalion’s three batteries, each having six 105mm howitzers, plus personnel and equipment.
   Col. Jackson and Major William H. Schneider, the “Mighty Ninth” operations officer, resolved the problem by moving two howitzers from each of the organic batteries.  This left the three original batteries with four howitzers each and gave the brigade five 105mm howitzer firing batteries for support.
   The facelifting now leaves 3rd Bde. with a highly maneuverable artillery force capable of defending the Pleiku base camp while still supporting field operations.
  

Rain Howitzer Fire on NV Army

   The 2nd Battalion, 9th Artillery, boasts of one of the most charged batteries in Vietnam .
   During the 3rd Brigade’s recent heavy contact with the North Vietnamese Army units, additional firepower was needed.   As a result, Battery A, of the “Mighty Ninth,” was brought into action.
   During one afternoon and night they expended more than 1,500 rounds.  Because of the heavy enemy fire coming in on the infantry companies, the battery fired for 24 hours without a break.  All the while small arms and mortar fire were falling on the battery.
   The action recently took place on Operation “Paul Revere.”  First Lieutenant Richard Higgins, who was commanding the battery at the time, had this praise for his men:  “It really made me proud to see the men in this battery because they were up shooting their howitzers to save those other men (infantrymen) at the same time the mortar rounds were landing in this area.”

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