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Air Defense Artillery branch | |
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![]() Branch plaque | |
Active | 1968-present |
Country | United States |
Branch | U.S. Army |
Type | Branch |
Role | Air and Missile Defense |
Nickname(s) | Emperor of Battle |
Motto(s) | "First to Fire" |
Colors | Red and Gold |
March | ADA March |
Mascot(s) | Oozlefinch |
Anniversaries | 17 November 1775- The Continental Congress elected Henry Knox "Colonel of the Regiment of Artillery"[1] |
Insignia | |
Branch insignia | ![]() |
Branch Colors[2] | ![]() |
The Air Defense Artillery branch is the branch of the United States Army that specializes in anti-aircraft weapons (such as surface to air missiles). 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 (part of the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps until 1950, then part of the Artillery Branch) 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 (Antiaircraft) stating they were the 'First to Fire' in World War II against the Empire of Japan.[3]
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."[4]
On 10 October 1917 an Antiaircraft Service in the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) 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:
In 1938 there were only six Regular Army and thirteen National Guard regiments, but by 1941 this had been expanded to 37 total regiments. 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.[13]
The serially-numbered battalions in late World War II included the following types:
and in the 1950s:
On 9 March 1942 Antiaircraft Command was established in Washington D.C. and 1944 the AAA school was moved to Fort Bliss.
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.
The following lists all units that make up the Army's Air Defense Artillery Branch.[14]
Command | SSI | Subordinate to | Garrison or Headquarters |
---|---|---|---|
10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command (10th AAMDC) | ![]() |
United States Army Europe | Kaiserslautern, Germany |
32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command (32nd AAMDC) | ![]() |
United States Army Forces Command | Fort Bliss, Texas |
94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command (94th AAMDC) | ![]() |
United States Army Pacific | Fort Shafter, Hawaii |
263rd Army Air and Missile Defense Command (263rd AAMDC) | ![]() |
South Carolina Army National Guard | Anderson, South Carolina |
Unit | SSI | Subordinate to | Garrison | Equipment |
---|---|---|---|---|
1-1st ADAR | ![]() |
94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command (94th AAMDC) | Kadena Air Base, Japan | MIM-104 Patriot |
2-1st ADAR | ![]() |
35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (35th ADAB) | Camp Carroll, South Korea | MIM-104 Patriot |
3-2nd ADAR | ![]() |
31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade (31st ADAB) | Fort Sill, Oklahoma | MIM-104 Patriot |
4-3rd ADAR | ![]() |
31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade (31st ADAB) | Fort Sill, Oklahoma | MIM-104 Patriot |
3-4th ADAR | ![]() |
108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (108th ADAB) | Fort Bragg, North Carolina | MIM-104 Patriot, AN/TWQ-1 Avenger |
4-5th ADAR | ![]() |
69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (69th ADAB) | Fort Hood, Texas | MIM-104 Patriot |
5-5th ADAR | ![]() |
31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade (31st ADAB) | Fort Sill, Oklahoma | AN/TWQ-1 Avenger, C-RAM Counter Rocket Artillery and Mortar |
2-6th ADAR | ![]() |
30th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (30th ADAB) | Fort Sill, Oklahoma | AN/TWQ-1 Avenger, C-RAM Counter Rocket Artillery and Mortar |
3-6th ADAR | ![]() |
30th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (30th ADAB) | Fort Sill, Oklahoma | MIM-104 Patriot, THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense |
1-7th ADAR | ![]() |
108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (108th ADAB) | Fort Bragg, North Carolina | MIM-104 Patriot |
5-7th ADAR | ![]() |
10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command (10th AAMDC) | Kaiserslautern, Germany | MIM-104 Patriot |
1-43rd ADAR | ![]() |
11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (11th ADAB) | Fort Bliss, Texas | MIM-104 Patriot |
2-43rd ADAR | ![]() |
11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (11th ADAB) | Fort Bliss, Texas | MIM-104 Patriot |
3-43rd ADAR | ![]() |
11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (11th ADAB) | Fort Bliss, Texas | MIM-104 Patriot |
1-44th ADAR | ![]() |
69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (69th ADAB) | Fort Hood, Texas | MIM-104 Patriot |
2-44th ADAR | ![]() |
108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (108th ADAB) | Fort Campbell, Kentucky | AN/TWQ-1 Avenger, C-RAM Counter Rocket Artillery and Mortar |
5-52nd ADAR | ![]() |
11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (11th ADAB) | Fort Bliss, Texas | MIM-104 Patriot |
6-52nd ADAR | ![]() |
35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (35th ADAB) | Suwon Air Base, South Korea | MIM-104 Patriot, AN/TWQ-1 Avenger |
1-62nd ADAR | ![]() |
69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (69th ADAB) | Fort Hood, Texas | MIM-104 Patriot |
Unit | SSI | Subordinate to | Garrison | Equipment |
---|---|---|---|---|
A Battery, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (A-2nd ADAR) | ![]() |
11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (11th ADAB) | Fort Bliss, Texas | THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense |
B Battery, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (B-2nd ADAR) | ![]() |
11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (11th ADAB) | Fort Bliss, Texas | THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense |
D Battery, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (D-2nd ADAR) | ![]() |
35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (35th ADAB) | Osan Air Base, South Korea | THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense |
E Battery, 3rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (E-3rd ADAR) | ![]() |
11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (11th ADAB) | Andersen Air Force Base, Guam | THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense |
A Battery, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (A-4th ADAR) | ![]() |
11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (11th ADAB) | Fort Bliss, Texas | THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense |
E Battery, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (E-62nd ADAR) | ![]() |
69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (69th ADAB) | Fort Hood, Texas | THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense |
B Battery, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (B-62nd ADAR) | ![]() |
69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (69th ADAB) | Fort Hood, Texas | THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense |
I Battery, 1st Squadron (I-1st Squadron) | ![]() |
11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (11th ACR) | Fort Irwin, California | FIM-92 Stinger |
Unit | SSI | Subordinate to | Garrison | Part of | Equipment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
49th GMD Battalion | ![]() |
100th Missile Defense Brigade | Fort Greely, Alaska | Alaska Army National Guard | Ground-Based Interceptor |
1-174 ADA | ![]() |
174th Air Defense Artillery Brigade | Cincinnati, Ohio | Ohio Army National Guard | AN/TWQ-1 Avenger |
2-174 ADA | ![]() |
174th Air Defense Artillery Brigade | McConnelsville, Ohio | Ohio Army National Guard | AN/TWQ-1 Avenger |
1–188 ADA | ![]() |
Separate Battalion | Grand Forks, North Dakota | North Dakota Army National Guard | AN/TWQ-1 Avenger |
1–204 ADA | ![]() |
Separate Battalion | Newton, Mississippi | Mississippi Army National Guard | AN/TWQ-1 Avenger |
2-263 ADA | ![]() |
678th Air Defense Artillery Brigade Brigade | Anderson, South Carolina | South Carolina Army National Guard | AN/TWQ-1 Avenger |
1–265 ADA | ![]() |
164th Air Defense Artillery Brigade Brigade | Palm Coast, Florida | Florida Army National Guard | AN/TWQ-1 Avenger |
3–265 ADA | ![]() |
164th Air Defense Artillery Brigade | Sarasota, Florida | Florida Army National Guard | AN/TWQ-1 Avenger |
The Shipton Award is named for Brigadier General James A. Shipton, who is acknowledged as the Air Defense Artillery Branch's founding father.[17] Shipton felt that the mission of antiaircraft defense was not too 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 [sic] 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.