Photo By Sgt. Kayla Cheesman-Miles | Soldiers with the 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT CARSON, Colo.— The 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Division Artillery, 4th Infantry Division, closed out 43 years of dedicated service by conducting its final certification as a Paladin formation during Ivy Mass, May 7, 2026, on Fort Carson, Colorado.
“3-29 FA successfully conducted the first sensor (Army Edge) to shooter (Artillery Execution Suite to M109A6 Paladin) live fire mission,” said Maj. Andrew Patterson, operations officers, 3-29 FA, DIVARTY, 4th Inf. Div. “As the Pacesetters close this chapter, we enter the next, poised to increase DIVARTY’s operational advantage as a Composite Field Artillery Battalion.”
A composite FA battalion combines 105mm and 155mm batteries into one unit, having both light mobility and heavy-hitting precision ready to go. It gives the commander the flexibility to support fast-moving air assaults while still having the organic range to take out high-value targets.
Across multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, 3-29 FA crews relied on the Paladin as their workhorse, answering relentless calls for fire with illumination and lethal indirect rounds. Beyond the battlefield, the battalion put the guns to work training the Afghan National Army and sharpening skills alongside German and Romanian allies.
“It is fitting the battalion's last field training at Fort Carson was a merger of the past and future,” said Lt. Col. Jeffery Wollenman, battalion commander, 3-29 FA, DIVARTY, 4th Inf. Div. “The battalion participated in the division's Ivy Mass where we incorporated Next-Generation Command and Control and became the first Paladin battalion to shoot the new Artillery Exchange Suite.”
NGC2is an initiative designed to replace legacy systems with a unified, data-centric ecosystem that enables commanders to integrate sensors and shooters across all domains at machine speed, ensuring decision dominance in high-intensity, contested environments.
While the echoes of the final rounds from the Paladins ring off the mountains, signaling the ending of a trusted platform for 3-29 FA, they also usher in the arrival of enhanced capabilities. The 4th Inf. Div. continues to lead the way in transformation efforts, incorporating NGC2 and preparing for more advanced systems that will ensure the Pacesetters remain at the forefront of the warfighting effort.
“The battalion showed what every artillery platform of the future holds,” Wollenman said. “The Pacesetter battalion motto rings true: We set the pace!
| Date Taken: | 05.21.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 05.21.2026 12:25 |
| Story ID: | 565903 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 43 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Four Decades of Thunder: The Paladin’s Last Stand at Ivy Mass, by SGT Kayla Cheesman-Miles, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
