АҚШ Армиясының Ауа қорғаныс әскерлері

Air defense branch of the U. S. Army

The Air Defense Artillery Branch is the air defense branch of the United States Army, specializing in the use of anti aircraft weapons (such as surface to air missiles) 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 (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.

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."

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.

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

Unit SSI Subordinate to Garrison Equipment 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment (1 1st ADAR) 38th ADAB Kadena Air Base, Japan MIM 104 Patriot 2nd Battalion 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment (2–1st ADAR 35th ADAB Camp Carroll, South Korea MIM 104 Patriot 3–2nd ADAR 31st ADAB Fort Sill, Oklahoma MIM 104 Patriot 4–3rd ADAR 31st ADAB Fort Sill, Oklahoma MIM 104 Patriot 3–4th ADAR 108th ADAB Fort Liberty, North Carolina MIM 104 Patriot, AN/TWQ 1 Avenger, FIM 92 Stinger 5–4th ADAR 52nd ADAB Ansbach, Germany M SHORAD 4–5th ADAR 69th ADAB Fort Cavazos , Texas MIM 104 Patriot 5–5th ADAR 31st ADAB Fort Sill, Oklahoma AN/TWQ 1 Avenger, C RAM Counter Rocket Artillery and Mortar 2–6th ADAR 30th ADAB Fort Sill, Oklahoma AN/TWQ 1 Avenger, C RAM Counter Rocket Artillery and Mortar 3–6th ADAR 30th ADAB Fort Sill, Oklahoma MIM 104 Patriot, THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense 1–7th ADAR 108th ADAB Fort Liberty, North Carolina MIM 104 Patriot 5–7th ADAR 52nd ADAB Baumholder, Germany MIM 104 Patriot 1–43rd ADAR 11th ADAB Fort Bliss, Texas MIM 104 Patriot 2–43rd ADAR 11th ADAB Fort Bliss, Texas MIM 104 Patriot 3–43rd ADAR 11th ADAB Fort Bliss, Texas MIM 104 Patriot 1–44th ADAR 69th ADAB Fort Cavazos, Texas MIM 104 Patriot 2–44th ADAR 108th ADAB Fort Campbell, Kentucky AN/TWQ 1 Avenger, C RAM Counter Rocket Artillery and Mortar 5–52nd ADAR 11th ADAB Fort Bliss, Texas MIM 104 Patriot 6–52nd ADAR 35th ADAB Suwon Air Base, South Korea MIM 104 Patriot, AN/TWQ 1 Avenger 1–56th ADAR 30th ADAB Fort Sill, Oklahoma Officer training 6–56th ADAR 1st Cavalry Division Fort Cavazos, Texas AN/TWQ 1 Avenger, Stryker M SHORAD and "other systems." 1–57th ADAR 52nd ADAB Ansbach, Germany Stryker M SHORAD 4–60th ADAR 1st Armored Division Fort Sill, Oklahoma AN/TWQ 1 Avenger 1–62nd ADAR 69th ADAB Fort Cavazos, Texas MIM 104 Patriot

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 [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.