Fort Bliss celebrates 40 years of air defense

When Capt. Charles Branson was given the mission of securing a bridge during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, it seemed an unusual job for an air defense artillery soldier.
But former and current air defense leaders who gathered Thursday at Fort Bliss to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the creation of a separate air defense artillery branch said their success is defined by the ability to adapt to evolving threats and styles of warfare.

Air defense soldiers are watching the skies in Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan and other places in the world, said Maj. Gen. Howard Bromberg, commander of Fort Bliss and the Army Air Defense Center and School. But they also are pitching in anywhere else they are needed.

Branson, since promoted to major, was sent to secure a bridge used by the enemy to move equipment over the Euphrates River.

"Not exactly your standard air defense mission," Bromberg said. "But (then) Captain Branson and his soldiers never backed down or doubted their abilities. They fought a heavy rocket-propelled-grenade attack, small-arms and mortar fire for 44 hours. When the troops finally secured the bridge, they had killed, wounded or captured over 200 enemy fighters, destroyed 20 vehicles and secured several weapons caches."

When the 40 soldiers reached the bridge, Branson said, they were drawn into a fight directed from "technical trucks," small pickups with .50-caliber machine guns mounted in the beds. Enemy rocket-propelled-grenade teams operated from fields on both sides of the road, he said.

"The entire mission was an infantry mission. It's in our skill set," he said. "There was no fear. We just focused on soldiers knowing their jobs. It was about execution at that point. ... You fall back on training and adrenaline."

The unit suffered no casualties, and Branson received a Silver Star for his actions.

Those soldiers are part of a history that -- excluding that of the field artillery, which goes back to the 1700s when the nation fielded its first Army -- began in 1907 when the Coast Artillery was formed to protect the nation's shorelines.

The air defense mission expanded during World War I, when significant improvements in aircraft created a threat from above. Anti-aircraft batteries were vital for protection of troops and other assets during World War II. Toward the end of the war, the clear skies and vast ranges at Doña Ana and Orogrande persuaded Army officials to centralize anti-aircraft operations at Fort Bliss, said John Hamilton, Air Defense Artillery School command historian.

"All of the anti-aircraft training from other installations was consolidated here," he said.

Another challenge for air defenders came during the first Gulf War, when the Patriot missile system, originally designed to shoot down enemy aircraft, was adapted on the fly to shoot down Scud missiles. Retired Gen. Don Lionetti, air defense chief at that time, said that even the first experimental missiles were shipped out for use in the conflict.

Defense contractors reprogrammed the system in the field -- at times forced to take cover during Scud launch warnings -- Lionetti said. Other adjustments were made in the field that still are used in the current designs, he said.

"I had confidence in the people who were doing the work," Lionetti said. "I knew we had to do the best we possibly could to defend the soldiers."

The reach and lethality of air defense has been closely linked to technological advances. A unit recently created at Fort Bliss is equipped with the Theater High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system. It destroys ballistic missiles using precision "bullet-on-bullet" technology and has a range that extends as far as the outer edge of Earth's atmosphere.

"We have nothing to fear but complacency," said Fort Bliss Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Rodgers. "And we will not allow ourselves to become complacent."

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_9642474

Remember a while back when an uniformed soul tried to say that ADA was not combat arms?
LMAO.