The M102 is a light, towable 105 mm howitzer used by the United States Army in the Vietnam War, the First Gulf War, and the Iraq War. Designed for air mobile, attack plane, and light infantry operations, it has a lightweight welded aluminum carriage on a variable recoil mechanism, is manually loaded and positioned, and can be towed by a 2-ton truck or High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, transported by UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, or dropped by parachute with airborne units. When emplaced, its high volume of fire helped offset the lower explosive weight of its projectile compared with the Army's 155 mm and 8-inch howitzers. Since 1964, the Army acquired 1,150 M102 towed howitzers, and after the first M102s were issued to the 1st Battalion, 21st Field Artillery, in March 1966, they steadily replaced older howitzers over the next four years. Although many experienced artillerymen preferred the older M101A1 because it was easier to load, had higher ground clearance in tow, and cost less, the M102 was substantially lighter, allowed more ammunition to be carried in heliborne operations, could use a smaller truck as its prime mover for ground operations, could be traversed a full 6,400 mils without shifting its stabilizing legs, and had a longer barrel that gave slightly higher muzzle velocity and greater range while presenting a lower silhouette to the enemy. No longer in active use by the United States Army after replacement by the M119, it remains in use by the National Guard and in extremely limited roles by the United States Marine Corps, primarily for firing salutes. The M102 was last deployed to combat in 2004 by the 1st Battalion, 206th Field Artillery, Arkansas Army National Guard, when seventeen howitzers were sent to Camp Taji, Iraq, to provide fire and counter-fire missions in support of 39th BCT operations as part of the 1st Cavalry Division, with spare parts scavenged from nine M102 howitzers in the Camp Taji Boneyard that were allegedly captured by the Iraqi Army during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. Its maximum rate of fire is 10 rpm, its normal rate is 3 rpm, its effective firing range is 7.1 miles, and its maximum firing range is 9.4 miles.