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: • 1st Antiaircraft Battalion through the 10th Antiaircraft Battalion (redesignated as numbered antiaircraft sectors in November 1918, all demobilized by January 1919) • 1st AA Machine Gun Battalion through the 6th AA Machine Gun Battalion. These units were organized by Col.
James A. Shipton and were demobilized January–May 1919.
Coast Artillery role :The National Defense Act of 1920 formally assigned the air defense mission to the Coast Artillery Corps. In January 1923, the force structure of the National Guard was modified under a restricted manpower program, which left gaps in the numerical series of its units. Many of these gaps would be filled during the major expansion of the National Guard in 1939-1940 when new antiaircraft regiments were organized by the conversion of cavalry and infantry units. 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. •
Regular Army antiaircraft regiments •
60th CA (AA) •
61st CA (AA) •
62nd CA (AA) •
63rd CA (AA) •
64th CA (AA) •
65th CA (AA) •
National Guard antiaircraft regiments • 162nd CA (AA) -
Pennsylvania • Allotted but never organized; designation "213th" substituted in 1922 •
197th CA (AA) -
New Hampshire •
198th Coast Artillery (AA) -
Delaware • 199th CA (AA) -
Pennsylvania • Never organized; withdrawn from Pennsylvania in 1926 and the National Guard in 1927 •
200th CA (AA) -
Alabama,
Florida,
Louisiana, and
North Carolina • Only Battery G (North Carolina) ever organized; redesignated Battery F, 252nd CA (HD) in 1926, with remainder of regiment demobilized • 201st CA (AA) -
Ohio and
West Virginia • Never organized; withdrawn from Ohio and West Virginia in 1926 and the National Guard in 1927 •
202nd CA (AA) -
Illinois •
203rd CA (AA) -
Missouri • 204th CA (AA) -
Texas • Never organized; withdrawn from Texas in 1926 and the National Guard in 1927 • 205th CA (AA) -
California,
Washington, and
Oregon • Never organized; withdrawn from respective states in 1926 and the National Guard in 1927 •
206th CA (AA) -
Arkansas • Designated 141st CA (AA) 1921-24 •
211th (AA) -
Massachusetts •
212th CA (AA) -
New York •
213th CA (AA) -
Pennsylvania •
214th CA (AA) -
Kentucky • Never organized; withdrawn from Kentucky in 1926 and the National Guard in 1927 •
251st CA (AA) -
California •
369th CA (AA) - New York
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. • New National Guard antiaircraft regiments • 207th CA (AA) - New York • Organized 1940 from the
107th Infantry • 208th CA (AA) - Connecticut • Organized 1940 from the
110th Cavalry and 21st Reconnaissance Squadron • 209th CA (AA) - New York • Organized new, 1940 • 210th CA (AA) -
Michigan • Organized 1940 from new units and the conversion of the 2nd Squadron,
106th Cavalry Regiment • 214th CA (AA) -
Georgia • Organized 1939 from the 2nd Battalion,
122nd Infantry and the 264th CA Battalion (Harbor Defense) • 215th, 216th, 217th CA (AA) -
Minnesota • Organized from the 205th and 206th Infantry Regiments, 92nd Infantry Brigade (separate)
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: • Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion • Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion • Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion • Antiaircraft Artillery Searchlight Battalion •
Barrage Balloon Battalion 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 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 ==