The history of Air Defense Artillery (ADA) as an independent branch of the United States Army started on the 20th of June 1968. Before that, ADA had been part of the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) and the Army’s Field Artillery Branch (FAB). ADA was part of CAC between 1920 and 1950, which includes the World WAR II (WWII) period as well. During the events of WWII, air defense units experienced an unprecedented expansion – up to 37 regiments from 19 in 1938. This was also accompanied by the mass purchase of antiaircraft artillery pieces between 1937 and 1939. These actions are explained by the fact that at the time the capabilities of airplanes increased rapidly, which had been demonstrated in the conflicts prior to WWII. It was no longer possible to down the faster and higher-flying planes with just machine guns. However, that realization came slowly, and the United States Army was still dragged into WWII underequipped and underprepared from the antiaircraft artillery (AAA) point of view. However, due to rapid transformation and adaptability, the AAA units finished the war in a completely different state, destroying or damaging a quarter of all enemy aircraft fleet.
This resulted in the Pearl Harbor and Clark Field disasters of 1941 when the US air defense forces were outmatched by better equipped and trained Japanese pilots. According to Greenwald (2018, p. 38-39), “of the thirty-one separate antiaircraft batteries assigned to Hawaii, only four retrieved their ammunition and reached their positions before the attack ended; of all these forces, just one fixed their 3-inch gun battery.” Another incident that illustrates the situation at that period happened on the 8th of December in Luzon, when the antiaircraft 200th Coast Artillery Regiment located there was not warned about the incoming Japanese bombers. Moreover, that same regiment received most of its equipment too late – “during training at Fort Bliss, Texas, the 37mm batteries had a single 37mm gun, but no ammunition” (Greenwald, 2018, p. 39). The soldiers had to simulate their 37 mm guns and use rocks for their ammunition while also training with 3-inch guns and M1903 Springfields.
When deployed, the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment found itself with about half of the necessary 3-inch and 37mm guns available and no working radio sets. When the Japanese attack started, it became clear that most of the ammunition was severely outdated – the rounds for 3-inch firearms were produced in 1932, and according to soldiers, 0.50 caliber ammunition was made in 1918. Most of the shells never reached their targets, while several soldiers on the ground were injured or even killed due to gun tubes blowing up. These cases illustrate the situation with the AAA of the United States Army at the beginning of the war. Such a situation required rapid and fundamental reorganization for the US air defense to be reborn during the conflict.
Antiaircraft Command (AAC) was established in March 1942, split from the Coast Artillery Corps, with headquarters in Richmond, Virginia. The work on new training standards, deployment, inspections started from there; tons of new ammunition were ordered to replace and renew. And while it was impossible to instantly raise the quality of training and supply enough ammunition to everyone, 154 new AAA battalions were created by the end of 1942. Some of these forces were immediately sent to North Africa as a part of the TORCH Operation (Smith, 2012). One of such battalions was the 443rd Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, which was initially expected to be assigned to protect the Panama Canal, but were sent to the North African mission (TMFM, n.d.). The battalion received new multi-purpose weapons for antiaircraft and anti-tank defense created specifically for the North African campaign. The campaign taught the AAA forces a lot about their enemies, and even more was learned about their own strengths and weaknesses as many mistakes were made and precious combat experience was acquired.
One of the most serious problems included coordination between the Army Air Forces and AAA units. These units lacked joint training, and AAA forces could not discriminate between friendly and enemy aircrafts in the battles, which led to friendly fire cases. Due to this situation, Air Forces requested control over AAA units multiple times during the campaign, yet their request was never granted. However, the AAA forces demonstrated great adaptability and solved some of the deployment and friendly fire issues on the ground, creating effective algorithms and patterns for future battles. On the institutional level, only one anti-fratricide standard was adopted – firing at the aircraft only after it opens fire first. Nevertheless, the combat experience influenced not only the troops participating in the North African campaign but training programs back in the United States, which became more relevant, complex, and included closer cooperation with Air Forces. In combination with better equipment and adjustment of manufacturing to the ammunition and guns demands by the AAA forces, highly capable antiaircraft units were forged at that time. In the end, the AAA forces of the US Army proved to be highly effective during the war, destroying 526 German aircrafts in North Africa, 866 in Southern Europe, 975 in Northwest Europe, and another 3,151 between the 6th of June 1944 and 8th of May 1945.
The predecessor forces of ADA went through many institutional, bureaucratic, and combat transformations during WWII to turn from underequipped and underprepared units into the force be reckoned with along all of the theaters of war. And one of the critical features of the AAA, which has determined the outcome of many battles, is the ability to adapt and be flexible on the ground.
References
Greenwald, B. (2018). Learning to fight from the ground up: American antiaircraft artillery in World War II. On Point: The Journal of Army History, 24(1), 36-45.
Mulholland, J. (n.d.). Death by friendly fire – the story of Flt Sgt. R. Laverty, 202 Squadron. Web.
Smith, C. (2012). Operation TORCH: The North Africa landings, 70 years on. History Today. Web.
Texas Military Forces Museum. (n.d.). 443rd Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion (SP). Web.