The 277th Maintenance Company: A History

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

May 2, 2010 - Guardsmen from Kennesaw’s 277th Maintenance Company receive an honorable sendoff from the city’s mayor, Mark Mathews,
and military dignitaries before deploying to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The 277^th Maintenance Company was organized in Atlanta March 5, 1924 in the Georgia National Guard as Companies A and B, 200th Infantry.[1] The companies were redesignated June 9, 1924 as Companies A and B of the Atlanta-based 122nd Infantry Regiment.[2] On July 1, 1939, the companies were converted and redesignated as Batteries A and B of the 179th Field Artillery Regiment.[3]

 

FORT MCCLELLAN, Ala., July 27, 1932 -Company A, 122nd Infantry Regiment conducted annual training at Fort McClellan, Ala.
Georgia National Guard Archives.

The 179^th FA was inducted into federal service February 24, 1941 in Atlanta and mobilized to Camp Blanding Florida for initial training.[4] The 179^th conducted training during maneuvers in North Carolina and Mississippi before reaching Fort Sill in March 1943 where the 179^th was reorganized with Company A and B continuing in service with the 179^th Field Artillery Battalion. The 179^th mobilized to the European theater of the war landing at Utah Beach August 12, 1944. The 179^th FA provided fire support from the Normandy campaign to Germany. Returning home following World War II, The 179^th was inactivated Dec. 9, 1945 at Camp Patrick Henry, Va.[5]

 On July 5, 1946, the 179^th was reorganized and assigned to the division artillery of the 48^th Infantry Division.[6] The unit was reorganized and federally recognized in Atlanta May 2, 1947.

 

FORT STEWART, Ga.  1959 - Two 8-inch self-propelled howitzers of the 1st Rocket/Howitzer Battalion, 179th Artillery from Atlanta, Ga. during annual training
 of the 48th Armored Division at Fort Stewart, Ga.  Image courtesy of the National Guard Educational Foundation, Washington D.C.

In 1955, the 48^th Infantry Division was reorganized as an armor division.[7] On July 1, 1959, the 179^th was reorganized and redesignated the 1^st Rocket Howitzer battalion.[8] The 179^th FA served until January 1, 1968 when it was converted to form the 177^th Engineer Company.[9] The unit was reorganized and redesignated July 1, 1971 as Company B, 878th Engineer Battalion[10] and on December 1, 1971, received its current designation as the 277^th Maintenance Company.[11]

 

On September 1, 1997, the 277^th moved to its present location in Kennesaw.[12]

The 277^th was ordered into active federal service Feb. 10, 2003 at Kennesaw for service during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The unit returned to state control June 19, 2004.

On April 29, 2010, the 277^th was ordered into active federal service for Operation Enduring Freedom and was released from active federal service June 2, 2011 and reverted to state control. For its efforts in Afghanistan, the 277^th was awarded the Meritorious Unit Citation.

 

Georgia National Guardsmen with the Kennesaw-based, 277th Maintenance Company sort and organize meals for the Atlanta Public School
system at Fredrick Douglas High School in Atlanta, April 14, 2020. Guardsmen are assisting civilian authorities across the state during
the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class R.J. Lannom Jr.

The 277^th Maintenance Company has supported numerous emergency response operations and has most recently provided personnel and expertise in support of the state’s COVID-19 response effort. The relevance of the 277^th to the modern war fight was demonstrated as Thirty personnel of the 277 Maintenance Company mobilized to Camp Shelby from February 10 to March 14 in support of the premobilization training of an Army Reserve unit.

Private 1st Class. Pascual Velasquez, a wheeled vehicle mechanic with the 277th Maintenance Company, trains on the grinding tool
to cut an alignment torsion bar on an M1085 LMTV on 16 February 2022 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. The unit is currently providing maintenance support
 for an Army Reserve unit who is training for an upcoming mobilization. Photo by Pfc. Jessica Broome.

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[1] MB 325.4-Georgia-Feb. 27, 1924.

[2] MB 325.4-Georgia-June 2, 1924.

[3] Center for Military History, LH, 122^nd Infantry Regiment, August 1955.

[4] Center for Military History, LH, 277^th Maintenance Company, ND.

[5] Carraway, William. Historic Georgia Guard Units Join the Fight in France: The 179th and 945th FA Battalions Enter the ETO August 12, 1944. http://www.georgiaguardhistory.com/2019/08/historic-georgia-guard-units-join-fight.html

[6] GO 17, Dec. 31, 1946.

[7] NG-AROTO.325.4 Nov 1, 1955.

[8] RA 73-59, July 1, 1959.

[9] RA 71-67 January 1, 1968.

[10] RA 135-71 July 1, 1971.

[11] RA 190-71 Dec. 1, 1971.

[12] OA 199-97, 22 August 1997.

[13] DA GO 1950-43, 75.