United States Army Air Defense Artillery School

United States Army Air Defense Artillery School
Active	1942–present
Country	United States of America
Branch	Air Defense Artillery
Role	Training
Size	Brigade
Garrison/HQ	Fort Sill

The United States Army Air Defense Artillery School is conducted at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The school was organized as the 6th ADA Brigade until 18 May 2012, when it was redesignated as the 30th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. The decision to redesignate the 6th ADA to 30th ADA was made after Col. Bill Stacey, the then-6th ADA commander, discovered that the 6th ADA had no official ADA colors.

History

Every air defense Soldier has been trained by the staff and faculty of the 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (or its predecessor or successor) at one point or another in their military career and thus is a part of its rich legacy. Between 1988 and 2012, the brigade was responsible for testing resources for the newest and most state-of-the-art weapons systems in the world. The brigade also ran an always-evolving center for Soldier education, which provided a strong foundation for all air defense artillery officers, noncommissioned officers and enlisted Soldiers. Additionally, the brigade served as a bridge for international relations and training for allied and friendly nations.

Before being designated the 6th ADA Brigade in 1988, the official title was The School Brigade. The redesignation from The School Brigade to the 6th ADA Brigade was approved by the Army Training and Doctrine Command through Permanent Orders No. 165-18, 25 Aug 1988.

The brigade's original mission in 1988 was to serve as the host unit for all new U.S. Army air defense weapons systems, plan and conduct unit activations, conduct collective training, and facilitate preparation for deploying air defense units. At that time the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th battalions, all TRADOC units, permanently assigned to the brigade. The 1st Battalion's mission was to operate the Officer Advanced Course and Senior Warrant Officer Course. The battalion also continued to conduct professional growth seminars for the spouses of the Officer Advanced Course students. Assuming the primary Air Defense Artillery School support mission for the Chaparral, Vulcan and Hawk systems was assigned to 2nd Battalion. The 3rd Battalion was responsible for common task, skills qualification and annual physical readiness testing for the personnel assigned to the various nine directorates and departments within the Air Defense Artillery School. In 1988, 4th Battalion hosted more than 2,000 students from 26 countries. It also supported more than 800 students, cadre and soldiers of the German Air Force Defense School, the Japanese Annual Service Practice and a local contractor-operated English language training facility.

On 26 Sep 1990, 1–56th ADA was the first addition to the 6th ADA Brigade. Since 1 Sep 1971, the mission of 1–56th ADA had been to implement and oversee the basic training and advanced individual training of Soldiers who were entering the high- to medium-altitude air defense weapon system field. The basic training mission ceased in 1990, with the addition of three AIT batteries and one transition battery, 1–56 ADA became the only ADA AIT training battalion in the U.S.Army.

In 1997, one company was added that trained Army truck drivers (MOS 88M). It started with Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers, then expanded to train active component soldiers as well.

In March 2001, the 1–6th ADA cased its colors permanently during a reorganization ceremony. In June 2004, 4–6th ADA cased its colors for the last time because of a brigade reorganization. The battalions that remained after the reorganizations of 6th Brigade were 1–56th ADA and the 6th Brigade's 2nd and 3rd battalions. The 1–56th ADA, which had historically directed basic training and AIT, received a new mission. The new and current mission of 1–56th ADA is to train active and Reserve component lieutenants, captains and Army select battalion and brigade commanders in the Basic Officer Leaders Course, the Captains' Career Course and the Precommand Course, respectively. AIT training on the Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System was assigned to 2–6th ADA.

Current status

In June 2009, the Army Air Defense Artillery School and the 6th ADA Brigade relocated from Fort Bliss to Fort Sill. This move was a result of the 2005 BRAC moves. The motor transport operator (88M) course has moved to Fort Leonard Wood. There is a new Army policy replacing drill sergeants at AIT with regular noncommissioned officers from front line units. This is to free up drill sergeants for basic training.

	1st Battalion, 56th ADA Regiment is part of the 6th ADA Brigade. After 2005, 1–56 ADA was broken up and the soldiers were assigned to different battalions based on their military occupational specialty and systems they train on. Officer training is the only function of 1–56 ADA today.
	2–6 ADA has C-RAM, Sentinel, and Stinger/Avenger, 3–6 ADA has Patriot and THAAD.

See also

• Coats of arms of U.S. Air Defense Artillery Regiments
• Camp Davis

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army Institute of Heraldry document "Air Defense Artillery school".

External links

• http://www.airdefenseartillery.com/online/2010/CoastArtilleryHome.htm
• http://www.skylighters.org/places/intro.html
• The short film Big Picture: Missile Man is available for free download at the Internet Archive.