421st Rocket FAB History (in the battalions own words) And finally it came- one fine day a teletype message arrived from higher headquarters, alerting the 121st for another movement. Great secrecy surrounded the assignment, and it wasn?t until shortly before leaving Burbank that we learned that the battalion was about to bid farewell to Antiaircraft and enter another branch of the service, the Field Artillery. We had been selected to become the first rocket battalion ever to be formed in the history of our country. On December 16, 1944 we left the Los Angeles area for the first time since December 6, 1941 and preceeded by troop train to Fort Sill Oklahoma, one of the oldest and most famous Field Artillery posts in the country, to become pioneers in the development of the nation?s newest and most effective instrument of warfare- the T-66 Multiple 4.5 inch Rocket Launcher. A smart military band was playing ?California Here I Come? as we streamed off the train at Fort Sill Oklahoma that cold, windy morning of December 19, 1944. Marching in the formation to our quarters in the cantonement area near the OCS section of the camp I wondered, as I noticed the neatness and definite military atmosphere of the permanent post, it the old Hut Two Hut which had been living in the field for the past three years as a separate battalion would be able to submit to close supervision and would successfully meet the out-of-the-book requirements of Fort Sill. We realized that there were three major tasks confronting us: there must be a complete conversion of AA to FA, including battalion reorganization under a new T/O to suit the tactical requirements of the new weapon; we must perform countless experimentds with the Launcher in an effort to work out the ?bugs? in it; and we must devise and develop a tactical SOP for a rocket battalion which we, and other units to follow, would employ in actual combat. From where we sat, it looked likd a big job ahead- but we had the blessings of a vitally interested War Department and many of the greatest minds of the Ordnance Department and the Field Artillery working with us. Our introduction to the T-66 Multiple 4.5 inch rocket launcher was like our introduction to the 90mm AA gun- long time no see. The Rocket Board, which had been organized at Fort Benning GA in March 1944, had been conducting field tests of rockets and launchers developed by the National Defense Research committee and the Ordnance Department to determine the suitability of this weapon for use by ground forces, and when we arrived at Fort Sill the new equipment had not yet reached production stage. Members of the Board frankly admitted that since they nor anyone else ever had seen a rocket battalion, their inspection visits to us would be not only for the purpose of advising and assisting us in our experimenting, but also to learn as much as they could from us for future reference in rocket research. As a result of this nonabailability of equipment, we were launched on a training program consisting of classroom instruction in Field Artillery subjects; calisthenics, Infantry drill, and daily marches; and observation of field problems conducted in the rolling hills of Fort Sill by various Field Artillery battallions. On January 4, 1945 the Hut Two Hut lost its identity as an AA unit, and Major Spann became the commanding officer of the first Rocket Battalion, operating under T/O and E 6-85T with an authorized strength of 39 officers, 2 warrant officers, and 643 enlisted men. We were to have an addition to our family too, in the form of a Service Battery to be created by transferring officers and men from our other batteries. Eventually, our equipment began to arrive, and section training was started in the batteries. Lieutenant Fritsche, Ordnance member of the Rocket Board, who had conducted many experiments with the rockets at Fort Benning, was on hand to give instruction and demonstrations. Launcher, Fire Direction, and Survey crews were selected and trained, and on the morning of February 4, 1945, before members of our battalion, visting officers, and personnel from other battalions, Battery B conductid the initial firing of the 4.5 inch rocket launcher at Fort Sill. The demonstration was impressive, and our enthusiasm for our new weapon increased when we visualized the great fire power that an entire battalion could throw against the enemy. During February, we went under the training jurisdiction of the 213th FA Group, commanded by Col. Edwin A. Henn, and we began to hit our stride with an intensified individual and unit training program. Much of our time was spent in the firld, making black-out marches, moving into pre-announced areas, laying the battalion, firing, withdrawing to another position, firing again, continually experimenting with new methods, new ideas, trying all the while to establish a tactical SOP that would meet the combat requirements of a rocket battalion. We were closely supervised by the Group, the Rocket Board, which by that time had moved its headquarters from Fort Benning to Sill, and by representatives of the Field Artillery School. Since we were the ?guinea pigs? for the Field Artillery?s newest weapon, we were the object of much interest and discussion at Sill. Everyone wanted to get into the act. Officers and men from units all over the camp paid us daily visits requesting assignments to this first rocket battalion. We also lost the majority of our AA officers and received FA officers in return. On March 5, Lt. Col. John H. Lewis Jr., a Regular Army officer and fomerly Executive Officer of the 213th FA Group, assumed command of the organization, and Major Spann became the Executive. On April 10 we were redesignated 421st Rocket FA Battalion, and on the same order were directed to reorganize a new T/O, giving us a Headquarters Battery, Service Battery, and three instead of four firing batteries. This was accomplished by inactivating Battery C, distributing the men and officers among the other batteries, and redesignation the original Battery D as Battery C. Or traing completed, the battalion reorganized, all men unfit for overseas service having been cleared from the unit, and administration having been inspected and approved, the 421st Rocket FA Battalion was adjudged by the War Department as ready for combat. On May 14, 1945 we left Fort Sill behind us as we entrained fro the Fort Lawton Staging Area in Seattle Washington. Our move was shrouded in secrecy, mail censorship was on, and from here on out a third party would be sitting in on our pen and ink visits with our familys and sweethearts. Approximately four days later, we arrived in the great shipping center, and were assigned barricks in the 4th Section of the Fort Lawton Staging Area. For the next 17 days we were kept busy checking clothing and equipment, completing last minute POM requirements, catching up on shots against South Pacific diseases and, finally, loading our equipment on the ship that was to take us into enemy territory. At 0500 hours, June 5, 1945, the battalion was alerted for overseas movement. By 1700 hours, June 6, 1945 we had undergone our final physical examination, made up last minute clothing and equipment shortages, packed our duffel bags, marked our helmets, grabbed a Red Cross doughnut and cup of hot coffee and, laden down with all our GI possessions had dragged ourselves up the gangplank of the good ship USS Rockbridge, to contribute our part in the great South Pacific campaign. Everything was strictly hush-hush, and although rumors concerning our destination ran rampant through the ship, no one really knew where we were going. It was not until a day of two before we landed that we found out that bloody Okinawa Shima was the place.