Air Defense Artillery School and Brigade Case Colors for Move from Bliss to Sill

The Air Defense Artillery (ADA) School is packing its duffle bags and casing its colors after 41 years at Fort Bliss, Texas. Commanders (past and present) took the first formal step in the long-planned move on Wednesday, 6 May 2009, in a brief "color casing" ceremony in which soldiers prepared both the ADA School and its training units’ flags for movement to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. (Casing ceremonies are performed whenever Army units deploy or move to a new post.)
The Air Defense Artillery School and the 6th ADA Brigade (training) will join the 31st ADA Brigade already on the ground at Fort Sill, 650 miles northeast of their present location and back to its roots. Present day Air Defenders may not be aware that Fort Sill and Field Artillery are from whence we [ADA] came. It probably seems a world away – from mountains and sand, to hills and grass – however, no matter the location or environment the quality of instruction and training will be same, if not better. As half of the “Fires Center or Excellence” (CoE) Air Defense will find new challenges and stereo-types to overcome.
The Air Defense Artillery School, founded in 1968, and the 6th ADA Brigade are the Army units responsible for training Soldiers tactics, techniques and procedures in the air and missile defense arena.
The 6th ADA Brigade’s Command Sergeant Major, Lynwood Lewis Sr., said the ceremony was bittersweet because of the air defense school's history at Fort Bliss. But the move to Fort Sill, ordered by Congress as part of the 2006 Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) recommendations, will provide the school with new up-to-date facilities that will surpass what we currently have on the ground here at Fort Bliss.

And while Fort Bliss, will now be the headquarters for the Army's 1st Armored Division, ADA Soldiers will still fire missiles on the post's wide open training ranges that stretch through parts of southern New Mexico. The move marks one of the most significant changes at Fort Bliss, since the Air Defense Artillery School opened its classrooms in 1968.

Completion of the BRAC directed move is expected to meet the 2011 deadline.

Images at ...

>>>http://www.airdefenseartillery.com/online/2009/May/Casing%20the%20Colors.htm

a nother chaper closes in the life of ADA.. And another opens......

I feel no connection to Fort Sill. It is at Fort Bliss where I became a missile man and that is where my heart will remain. When I first arrive at Fort Bliss in 1962 and was assigned to School Support Command as a student in HAWK radar maintenance we knew then it was something special. At that time all of Fort Bliss was ADA and it is a shame that all of these new troops will never know the spirit and camaraderie that we all shared in those days. That was an era in the Army that is now lost to time and will never be duplicated in ADA again. It is very sad that there is so little written about that period so that it could be preserved in history.

Air defense move: Fort Sill to get artillery school, 6th Brigade

FORT BLISS -- Army air defense artillery soldiers are spread around the world, but, unlike most other of the service's branches, for the past 40 years they have had a home -- Fort Bliss.
The air defense artillery command has planned, trained and evolved on this post and its ranges, but it was the beginning of the end for that tradition this week as air defenders gathered at Fort Bliss for a symposium honoring the past and looking to the future.

During a ceremony Wednesday, the flags and battle streamers representing the Air Defense Artillery Center and School were wrapped in a long cloth sack, which will be sent to the command's new headquarters at Fort Sill, Okla. The move, which involves about 275 soldiers and 125 civilians, was mandated by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process.

Fort Sill will be home to a Fires Center of Excellence, which will encompass both field artillery and air defense.

Staying at Fort Bliss will be a subordinate air defense artillery command unit -- the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command -- and a Patriot missile brigade. The center and school are expected to finish moving by March, said Maj. Gen. Howard Bromberg, commander of Fort Bliss and the nation's air defense.

"It's hard not to have an emotional reaction" to the move, said retired Lt. Gen. Don Lionetti, who commanded Fort Bliss and the nation's air defense artillery during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. "I took my officer basic course at Fort Bliss."

Full article at ...

>>>http://www.elpasotimes.com/military/ci_12319725

ADA moves on, Air defense artillery school ends long history at Fort Bliss

Wilson A. Rivera
Monitor Staff



The organizational colors of the U.S. Air Defense Artillery School and Center, the 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and its three battalions were cased Wednesday at Memorial Circle for its relocation to Fort Sill, Okla.



Due to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act, the ADA school will be consolidated with the Field Artillery School and Center to create a Net Fires Center at Fort Sill.



“Thank you to those who came before us in the past, the commandants, sergeants major and Soldiers that brought the [ADA] branch to where it is today,” said Maj. Gen Howard B. Bromberg, Fort Bliss commander and commandant of the ADA school. “I’m absolutely confident that we will set new standards at our new location, and absolutely confident that we will remain first to fire, now and forever.”



During World War II, Fort Bliss’ main role as a cavalry installation changed to become an air defense post. In 1940, the War Department introduced its anti-aircraft artillery, and between 1948 and 1966, construction began to support AAA and guided missile programs. In 1954, the U.S. Army Anti-Aircraft Artillery and Guided Missile School at Fort Bliss was born. In 1968, the Air Defense Artillery School was founded.



Now, 41 years later, Fort Bliss is in the process of transforming from a U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command installation, to a U.S. Forces Command installation which is set to become the future home of the 1st Armored Division, currently headquartered in Germany.



The ADA school trains Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, civilians and allied forces in ADA concepts and weaponry. Curriculums range from the Patriot missile, Avenger, and man-portable Stinger systems; Command, Control, Computers and Intelligence; Basic Officer Leadership Course; and training future leaders through the noncommissioned officer academy.


The 6th ADA Bde. supports and oversees the school with advanced individual training for Soldiers in specific military occupational specialties and common military task training.



“You look at all these [ADA organization] colors and you know they represent the air defense branch, and they represent the air defense Soldier, and the Soldiers of the 6th ADA Bde., who have always represented [ADA] with great distinction and will continue to do so. It’s just that they’re going to have a new home,” said retired Maj. Gen. Donald Infante, the ceremony’s guest speaker.



The casing of the school’s and 6th ADA Bde. colors is just the beginning of the future for the ADA branch. The air defender statue at the entrance of Pershing Gate will move with the school to Fort Sill. The statue was modeled after the soul of the ADA branch and replaced the static display of a NIKE-AJAX missile, which was the first operational missile for air defense, said Infante.



“What better way to represent our Soldiers, our branch and our weaponry, NCO Corps, high technology, than with a Stinger statue,” said Infante.



Since Fort Sill will be the new home of the ADA, the statue will move and be placed in front of the newly built facilities for the ADA school and 6th ADA Bde. headquarters.



“The ‘First to Fire’ statue will remain a memorial for all air defenders past and present, and future,” said Infante. “As the ‘Iron Mike’ statue at Fort Bragg, [N.C.], represents the soul of the paratrooper, and the ‘Follow Me’ statue at Fort Benning, [Ga.], represents the soul of the infantry, the ‘First to Strike’ statue will continue to represent the Soul of the air defense artillery.

The Fort Bliss Monitor

A new chaper in the annnals of ADA is beginging. what will the new horazon hold for ADA now? Will be the new question......the will need to be answered.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Migbuster,

Anyone know if this means my AIT will be at Sill instead?

So does this mean that if my hubby re-enlisted to go tradoc at ft bliss he isn't going there anymore?

Where will the Allied students get their training?

I know that this has been somewhat been asked, but when will AIT commence at Ft. Sill? I have the ability to choose any MOS and would like to take 14J....being from OK, going to Sill for AIT would allow me to see my wife and kid on any passes that I may be lucky enough to earn.

quote:

Originally posted by Tonio45:
Where will the Allied students get their training?

Tony, I don't know the answer to that right now but I strongly suspect that all ADA training will be moved to Fort Sill at some point.

The whole point of this (I feel hair brain) plan is to consolidate and save money. It wouldn’t make sense to have all of this schooling split between two posts. But the Army has been known in the past to some less than intelligent things. I suppose we will all know the answer to these questions in due time.

quote:

Originally posted by PilSung:
I know that this has been somewhat been asked, but when will AIT commence at Ft. Sill? I have the ability to choose any MOS and would like to take 14J....being from OK, going to Sill for AIT would allow me to see my wife and kid on any passes that I may be lucky enough to earn.

I can’t say one way or another with certainly at this time but I would “assume” it would all go to Fort Sill. Check with your career counselor and they should know or at least be able to find out.

Pretty sad - I wasn't ADA but I was stationed at Bliss from 85-87, and you couldn't mistake the place for anything other than ADA (thinking of the branch insignia painted on some of the big water towers). Between this and the proposed Sergeants Major Academy move, the place certainly won't be the same. I wonder if they'll move the ADA museum, too?

quote:

Originally posted by Laflin:
Pretty sad - I wasn't ADA but I was stationed at Bliss from 85-87, and you couldn't mistake the place for anything other than ADA (thinking of the branch insignia painted on some of the big water towers). Between this and the proposed Sergeants Major Academy move, the place certainly won't be the same. I wonder if they'll move the ADA museum, too?

Yes, the ADA Museum is moving. See thread

http://forums.military.com/eve...1001/m/6490013802001 (mil.com link)

quote:

Originally posted by IHAWKER:
I feel no connection to Fort Sill. It is at Fort Bliss where I became a missile man and that is where my heart will remain. When I first arrive at Fort Bliss in 1962 and was assigned to School Support Command as a student in HAWK radar maintenance we knew then it was something special. At that time all of Fort Bliss was ADA and it is a shame that all of these new troops will never know the spirit and camaraderie that we all shared in those days. That was an era in the Army that is now lost to time and will never be duplicated in ADA again. It is very sad that there is so little written about that period so that it could be preserved in history.

I am a generation after you and I spent my time at Bliss in the 90's but I feel the exact same way you do. Contrary to most I loved Fort Bliss and El Paso. I will always have a fond memory of that place. I was very upset to hear that ADA was pulling up roots and moving the entire branch to Ft. Sill. I guess it doesn't matter what I think though, but what the guys currently on active duty think. Believe it or not I keep in touch with three guys from my 24T class of 19 years ago, class 9-91, that are still on active duty. One is a SFC and the other two are CW4. I don't talk to them much, but the next time I do I'm gonna ask them what they think.