The 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an
Air Defense Artillery
The Air Defense Artillery Branch is the branch of the United States Army that specializes in anti-aircraft weapons (such as surface to air missiles). In the U.S. Army, these groups are composed of mainly air defense systems such as the Patriot ...
regiment in the United States Army. The lineages of some of the units that have been part of the 62nd Air Defense Artillery and its predecessors give the regiment
campaign credit for the War of 1812.
History
Lineage
Constituted 27 April 1798 as the 62nd Artillery (CAC). Activated at
Fort Winfield Scott
Fort Point is a masonry seacoast fortification located on the southern side of the Golden Gate at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. It is also the geographic name of the promontory upon which the fort and the southern approach of the Golden Gat ...
7 January 1918. Assigned to 33rd Brigade CAC, and shipped to
Camp Mills
Camp Albert L. Mills (Camp Mills) was a military installation on Long Island, New York. It was located about ten miles from the eastern boundary of New York City on the Hempstead Plains within what is now the village of Garden City. In September 1 ...
New York arrived in France 21 July 1918; returned from France 19 February 1919, Demobilized at
Camp Eustis March 1919.
* Reconstituted 1 August 1921 as the 2nd Antiaircraft Battalion (CAC) and organized 4 September 1921 at
Fort Totten (New York)
Fort Totten is a former active United States Army installation in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located on the Willets Point peninsula on the north shore of Long Island. Fort Totten is at the head of Little Neck Bay, where the E ...
, with HHD&CT, Search Light, Gun, and Machine Gun Batteries.
*Redesignated 1 June 1922 as 62nd Antiaircraft Battalion, (CAC), and firing batteries consolidated with inactive serially numbered companies as follows
* Searchlight Battery as Battery A. consolidated with 82nd Company (CAC)
* Gun Battery as Battery B. consolidated with 165th Company.
* Machine gun Battery as Battery C. consolidated with 167th Company
* HHD&CT redesignated 258th Company (CAC).
Battalion expanded to a regiment 27 August 1922 with HHB, Service Battery, HH&CT 1st Battalion, and nine lettered firing batteries as follows.
* Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, from 9th Company (CAC)
* Service Battery from 37th Company (CAC)
* Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment & Combat Train 1st Battalion, from HHD 1st Battalion 62nd AA.
* A. Battery from 82nd Company (CAC)
* B. Battery from 17th Company (CAC)
* C. Battery from 29th Company (CAC)
* D. Battery from 33rd Company (CAC) (Inactive)
* E. Battery from 30th Company (CAC)
* F. Battery from 32nd Company (CAC)
* G. Battery from 165th Company (CAC) (Inactive)
* H. Battery from 167th Company (CAC) (Inactive)
Regiment Redesignated from 62nd Artillery (AA)(CAC) to 62nd Coast Artillery (AA) Regiment on 1 July 1924. and reorganized.
* on 1 July 1939 Batteries D, G, and H activated.
* 20 January 1941 personnel from Battery B, and Search Light Platoon Battery A. reassigned to Newfoundland and redesignated Battery A 421st CA (AA) Battalion 1 August 1942
* 16 June 1941 Battery H, with Searchlight Platoon A battery attached, transferred to
Tungdliarfik Fjord, and
Bluie West, Greenland.
* I. Battery (SL) Constituted from Battery H. 16 June 1941 and assigned as part of the garrison at
Bluie
Bluie was the United States military code name for Greenland during World War II. It is remembered by the numbered sequence of base locations identified by the 1941 United States Coast Guard South Greenland Survey Expedition, and subsequently us ...
West.
* H. Battery (37mm AW) transferred less personnel and equipment back to Fort Totten 26 July 1941.
* I. Battery inactivated and disbanded 12 December 1942, personnel and equipment transferred to Battery A 424th CA (AW) Battalion. Battery I transferred to Fort Totten less personnel and equipment.
* 3rd Battalion constituted 27 May 1942 and activated at Fort Totten 15 June 1942.
Regiment moved to
Camp Kilmer
Located in Central New Jersey, Camp Kilmer is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service ...
, NJ. and staged for overseas shipment. sailed for United Kingdom on 6 August 1942 on S.S. Monterey. Disembarked at Greenock, Scotland.
* Landed at
Oran, Algeria
Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...
, (
Operation Torch
Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...
), 11 November 1942. moved to Tunisia 10 June 1943.
* Landed
Licata, Sicily
Licata (, ; grc, Φιντίας, whence la, Phintias or ''Plintis''), formerly also Alicata (), is a city and ''comune'' located on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Salso River (the ancient ''Himera''), about midway between Ag ...
23 July 1943
* Inactivated at
Palermo, Sicily
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its hi ...
10 November 1943. broken up as follows-
* HHB redesignated 80th AAA Group.
* 1st Battalion redesignated 62nd AAA (Gun) Battalion.
* 2nd Battalion redesignated 893rd AAA (AW) Battalion.
* 3rd Battalion redesignated 331st AAA (SL) Battalion.
62nd Coast Artillery (AA) disbanded 4 December 1943.
:62nd AAA Battalion moved to Italy 7 July 1944 and landed in southern France 16 August 1944. inactivated 13 March 1946 at
Camp Kilmer
Located in Central New Jersey, Camp Kilmer is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service ...
* Redesignated 9 December 1948 as 62nd Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, and reactivated 15 January 1949 at
Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of William Wallace Smith Bliss, LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President ...
.
* assigned to
2nd Armored Division 4 November 1949
* Relieved from 2nd Armor 20 October 1950.
* redesignated as the 62nd Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion 1 October 1953
* Inactivated 15 September 1958 in Germany
* Consolidated 24 June 1964 with 62nd Artillery a Parent Regiment under the
Combat Arms Regimental System
The Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS), was the method of assigning unit designations to units of some of the combat arms branches of the
United States Army, including Infantry, Special Forces, Field Artillery, and Armor, from 1957 to 1981. A ...
.
Current units
* 1st Battalion 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regimen
* 2nd Battalion 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment
* 3rd Battalion 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment Deactivated 200
* B Battery (
THAAD
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), formerly Theater High Altitude Area Defense, is an American anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to shoot down short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their termina ...
)
[Ft Hood Sentinel (8 December 2016) B-62 (THAAD) activated]
/ref>
* E Battery (THAAD) U.S. Army website (26 October 2017) 69th ADA Brigade's THAAD Battery is Mission-Qualified
/ref>
Distinctive unit insignia
* Description
A Silver color metal and enamel device 1 1/32 inches (2.78 cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Gyronny of six embattled Azure and Gules, a circle of sixteen mullets Argent.
* Symbolism
Units of the 62d Coast Artillery Regiment, from which the 62d Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion descended, participated in six wars- The War of 1812, Indian Wars, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish–American War, and the Philippine Insurrection. This participation is symbolized by the six embattled sectors. At the time the first unit was organized the uniforms worn by the Artillery were dark blue faced with scarlet, and there were sixteen states in the Union, commemorated by the blue and red of the shield and the sixteen mullets, respectively.
* Background
The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 62d Coast Artillery Regiment on 21 February 1929. It was redesignated for the 62d Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion on 23 August 1949. It was redesignated for the 62d Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion on 4 January 1956. The insignia was redesignated for the 62d Artillery Regiment on 19 December 1958. It was redesignated for the 62d Air Defense Artillery Regiment effective 1 September 1971.
Coat of arms
Blazon
* Shield
Gyronny of six embattled Azure and Gules, a circle of sixteen mullets Argent.
* Crest
On a wreath of the colors Argent and Azure, on a saltire Azure fimbriated Argent two arrows of the last, all entwined with a serpent Vert. Motto: NITIMUR IN ALTA (We Aim at High Things).
Symbolism
* Shield
Units of the 62d Coast Artillery Regiment, from which the 62d Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion descended, participated in six wars- The War of 1812, Indian Wars, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish–American War, and the Philippine Insurrection. This participation is symbolized by the six embattled sectors. At the time the first unit was organized the uniforms worn by the Artillery were dark blue faced with scarlet, and there were sixteen states in the Union, commemorated by the blue and red of the shield and the sixteen mullets, respectively.
* Crest
The saltire is from the Confederate flag and is blue to indicate that the service during the Civil War was with the Northern Army. The two arrows represent the Indian Wars and the serpent the Mexican War.
Background
The coat of arms was originally approved for the 62d Coast Artillery Regiment on 21 February 1929. It was redesignated for the 62d Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion on 23 August 1949. It was redesignated for the 62d Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion on 4 January 1956. The insignia was redesignated for the 62d Artillery Regiment on 19 December 1958. It was redesignated for the 62d Air Defense Artillery Regiment effective 1 September 1971.
Campaign streamers
War of 1812
*Streamer without inscription
Mexican War
* Monterey
* Vera Cruz
* Contreras
* Cerro Gordo
* Molino Del Ray
* Chapultepec
* Puebla 1947
Indian Wars
* Seminoles
* Washington 1856
* Washington 1858
Civil War
* Bull Run
* Mississippi River
* Peninsula
* Antietam
* Fredericksburg
* Chancellorsville
* Gettysburg
* Wilderness
* Spotsylvania
* Shenandoah
* Maryland 1862
* Maryland 1863
* Tennessee 1863
* Virginia 1863
* Tennessee 1864
War with Spain
* Manila
Philippine Insurrection
* Manila
* Malolos
* Luzon 1899
World War II
* Algeria-French Morocco
* Tunisia
* Sicily
* Rome- Arno
* Southern France
* Rhineland
* Ardennes-Alsace
* Central Europe
Decorations
*Presidential Unit Citation (Navy)
*Meritorious Unit Citation (Army)
*Presidential Unit Citation (Korea)
References
*
*
*
*
lineage
* Coast Artillery Journal August 192
page 139
* Coast Artillery journal May 193
* Coast artillery Journal May 193
External links
* http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lh.html
* http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cacunithistories/62nd_Arty.html
*
*
{{Artillery Regiments (United States)
Coast artillery regiments of the United States Army, 062
062
Military units and formations established in 1917