Air Defense Artillery Branch


The Air Defense Artillery Branch is the air defense branch of the United States Army, specializing in the use of anti-aircraft weapons to conduct anti-aircraft warfare operations. In the U.S. Army, these groups are composed of mainly air defense systems such as the Patriot Missile System, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), and the Avenger Air Defense system which fires the FIM-92 Stinger missile.
The Air Defense Artillery branch descended from Anti-Aircraft Artillery into a separate branch on 20 June 1968. On 1 December 1968, the ADA branch was authorized to wear modified Artillery insignia, crossed field guns with missile. The Branch Motto, "First To Fire", was adopted in 1986 by the attendees of the ADA Commanders' Conference at Fort Bliss. The motto refers to a speech given by General Jonathan Wainwright to veterans of the 200th Coast Artillery stating they were the 'First to Fire' in World War II against the Empire of Japan.

Mission

According to the Army's Field Manual 3-01, the mission of Air Defense Artillery is "to protect the force and selected geopolitical assets from aerial attack, missile attack, and surveillance along with much more to offer."

History

On 10 October 1917 an Antiaircraft Service in the American Expeditionary Force was created at Arnouville-Les-Gonesse where an antiaircraft school was established. The antiaircraft units were organized as serially numbered battalions during the war, as follows:

Coast Artillery role

Antiaircraft units based in the U.S. interior, particularly those from the National Guard, often had to travel out of state each year for live-fire training, as this was usually conducted over water so the rounds would fall harmlessly to earth. Most of the Organized Reserve Coast Artillery regiments were functional units and many were some of the most active and well-trained Reserve organizations in the Army.

Expansion

In 1938, there were only six active Regular Army and thirteen National Guard regiments, but by 1941 this had been expanded to 37 total regiments. New National Guard regiments were organized by the conversion of the National Guard's four cavalry divisions and other units.

World War II

In November 1942, 781 battalions were authorized. However, this number was pared down to 331 battalions by the end of the war. By late 1944 the regiments had been broken up into battalions and 144 "Antiaircraft Artillery Groups" had been activated; some of these existed only briefly.
The serially-numbered battalions in late World War II included the following types:
and in the 1950s:
  • Antiaircraft Artillery Missile Battalion.
On 9 March 1942 Antiaircraft Command was established in Washington D.C. and 1944 the AAA school was moved to Fort Bliss.

Army Air Defense Command

Army Air [Defense Command (United States)|Army Air Defense Command] ran from 1957 to 1974.
In 1991 the Patriot missile was heavily utilized during the Gulf War. After this short skirmish ended Air Defense has not been involved in any significant combat actions due to lack of enemy air assets and/or missile technology.
In 2010 the United States Army Air Defense Artillery School was moved from Fort Bliss to Fort Sill.

Air Defense Artillery Units

The following lists all units that make up the Army's Air Defense Artillery Branch.

Air Defense Artillery Brigades

BrigadeSSISubordinate toGarrison
11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade 32nd AAMDCFort Bliss, Texas
30th ADABArmy Air Defense Artillery SchoolFort Sill, Oklahoma
31st ADAB32nd AAMDCFort Sill, Oklahoma
35th ADABEighth United States Army / 94th AAMDCOsan Air Base, South Korea
38th ADAB94th AAMDCSagami General Depot, Japan
52nd ADAB10th AAMDCSembach, Germany
69th ADAB32nd AAMDCFort Hood, Texas
100th Missile Defense Brigade Army Space and Missile Defense Command / Colorado Army National GuardSchriever Space Force Base, Colorado
108th ADAB32nd AAMDCFort Bragg, North Carolina
164th ADABFlorida Army National GuardOrlando, Florida
174th ADABOhio Army National GuardColumbus, Ohio
678th ADAB263rd AAMDCEastover, South Carolina

Shipton award

The Shipton Award is named for Brigadier General James A. Shipton, who is acknowledged as the Air Defense Artillery Branch's founding father. Shipton felt that the mission of antiaircraft defense was not to down enemy aircraft, but instead to protect maneuver forces on the ground: "The purpose of anti-aviation defense is to protect our forces and establishments from hostile attack and observation from the air by keeping enemy airplanes at a distance." The Shipton Award recognizes an Air Defense Artillery professionals for outstanding performance individual thought, innovation, and contributions that result in significant contributions or enhances Air Defense Artillery's warfighting capabilities, morale, readiness, and maintenance.