2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment

The 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an air defense artillery regiment of the United States Army first formed in 1821.

Lineage

Constituted 1 June 1821 in the Regular Army as the 2d Regiment of Artillery and organized from existing units with Headquarters at Baltimore, Maryland

Regiment broken up 13 February 1901 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as separate numbered companies and batteries of Artillery Corps

Reconstituted 1 July 1924 in the Regular Army as the 2d Coast Artillery (Batteries E, G, and H concurrently reorganized and redesignated from existing units in the Canal Zone)

(Battery C activated 30 April 1926 in the Canal Zone; Battery G concurrently inactivated in the Canal Zone. Batteries C, E, and H inactivated 15 April 1932 in the Canal Zone)

Regimental headquarters and Batteries C, E, and H activated 30 April 1932 at Fort Monroe, Virginia

(Battery A activated 1 September 1935 at Fort Monroe, Virginia; Battery H concurrently inactivated at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Batteries B and D activated 1 November 1938 at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Battery F activated 1 February 1940 at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Remainder of 1st and 2d Battalions activated 1 August 1940 at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Battery G activated 1 March 1941 at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Remainder of regiment activated 30 April 1942 at Fort Monroe, Virginia)

Regiment broken up 1 October 1944 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as follows:

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery and Batteries A, B, C, G, H, and I as the 2d Coast Artillery Battalion (2d Coast Artillery Battalion inactivated 1 April 1945 at Fort Monroe, Virginia; activated 1 August 1946 at Fort Winfield Scott, California; inactivated 25 November 1946 at Fort Winfield Scott, California)

Batteries D, E, and F as elements of the 175th Coast Artillery Battalion (inactivated 20 July 1946 at Fort Monroe, Virginia)

Former elements of the 2d Coast Artillery reconstituted and/or consolidated 28 June 1950 to form the following units:

Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 2d Coast Artillery Battalion, consolidated with Headquarters Battery, 2d Antiaircraft Artillery Group (see ANNEX 1), and consolidated unit designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2d Antiaircraft Artillery Group

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 2d Coast Artillery, reconstituted in the Regular Army and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2d Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion; concurrently Battery A, Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay (formerly Battery A, 2d Coast Artillery Battalion), Batteries B and C, 2d Coast Artillery Battalion, and Battery F, 2d Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay (formerly Battery A, 175th Coast Artillery Battalion), redesignated as Batteries A, B, C, and D, 2d Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion, respectively

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2d Battalion, 2d Coast Artillery, reconstituted in the Regular Army and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 12th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion; concurrently Batteries B, C, D, and E, Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay (formerly Batteries E, F, G, and H, 2d Coast Artillery), redesignated as Batteries A, B, C, and D, 12th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion, respectively; battalion concurrently consolidated with the 136th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion (see ANNEX 2), and consolidated unit designated as the 12th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3d Battalion, 2d Coast Artillery, reconstituted in the Regular Army; concurrently consolidated with Battery F, 2d Coast Artillery Battalion, Battery E, 175th Coast Artillery Battalion, and the 42d Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion (active) (see ANNEX 3), and consolidated unit designated as the 42d Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, an element of the 9th Infantry Division

After 28 June 1950 the above units underwent changes as follows:

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2d Antiaircraft Artillery Group, activated 10 June 1951 at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts

Reorganized and redesignated 20 March 1958 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2d Artillery Group

Inactivated 15 December 1961 at Lockport Air Force Station, New York

2d Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion redesignated 27 February 1951 as the 2d Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion and assigned to the 1st Armored Division

Activated 7 March 1951 at Fort Bliss, Texas

Consolidated 20 March 1951 with the 434th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion (see ANNEX 4), and consolidated unit designated as the 2d Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion

Redesignated 20 May 1953 as the 2d Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion

Inactivated 15 February 1957 at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and relieved from assignment to the 1st Armored Division

12th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion redesignated 13 March 1952 as the 12th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion

Activated 8 April 1952 at Fort Hancock, New Jersey

Redesignated 15 May 1953 as the 12th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion

Inactivated 20 December 1957 at New York, New York

42d Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion redesignated 25 May 1954 as the 42d Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion

Inactivated 1 December 1957 at Fort Carson, Colorado, and relieved from assignment to the 9th Infantry Division

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2d Artillery Group; 2d, 12th, and 42d Antiaircraft Artillery Battalions; and the 2d Field Artillery Battalion (organized in 1907) consolidated, reorganized, and redesignated 15 December 1961 as the 2d Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System

2d Artillery (less former 2d Field Artillery Battalion) reorganized and redesignated 1 September 1971 as the 2d Air Defense Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System (former 2d Field Artillery Battalion concurrently reorganized and redesignated as the 2d Field Artillery - hereafter separate lineage)

Withdrawn 16 January 1989 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System

Annex 1

Constituted 5 August 1942 in the Army of the United States as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2d Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Group

Activated 17 August 1942 at Fort Bliss, Texas

Redesignated 26 May 1943 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2d Antiaircraft Artillery Group

Inactivated 26 October 1945 at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey

Annex 2

Constituted 25 February 1943 in the Army of the United States as the 136th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion

Activated 15 June 1943 at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts

Inactivated 12 December 1945 at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts

Annex 3

Constituted 25 February 1943 in the Army of the United States as the 795th Coast Artillery Battalion

Activated 20 April 1943 at Camp Stewart, Georgia

Redesignated 30 April 1943 as the 795th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion

Inactivated 31 December 1945 in Germany

Redesignated 25 June 1948 as the 42d Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion and assigned to the 9th Infantry Division

Activated 12 July 1948 at Fort Dix, New Jersey

Annex 4

Constituted 31 January 1942 in the Army of the United States as the 434th Coast Artillery Battalion

Activated 1 March 1942 at Camp Hulen, Texas

Redesignated 5 December 1943 as the 434th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion

Disbanded 14 January 1945 in Italy

Reconstituted 20 March 1951 in the Regular Army

Campaign Participation Credit

War of 1812: Canada

Indian Wars: Seminoles

Mexican War: Palo Alto; Resaca de la Palma; Monterey; Vera Cruz; Cerro Gordo; Contreras; Churubusco; Molino del Rey; Chapultepec; Tamaulipas 1846; Puebla 1847

Civil War: Bull Run; Peninsula; Antietam; Fredericksburg; Chancellorsville; Gettysburg; Wilderness; Spotsylvania; Cold Harbor; Petersburg; Shenandoah; Appomattox; Florida 1861; Florida 1862; Virginia 1861; Virginia 1862; Virginia 1863; Virginia 1865; Maryland 1863

World War II: Tunisia; Naples-Foggia; Anzio; Rome-Arno; Normandy; Northern France; North Apennines; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe; England 1944

Vietnam: Counteroffensive, Phase II; Counteroffensive, Phase III; Tet Counteroffensive; Counteroffensive, Phase IV; Counteroffensive, Phase V; Counteroffensive, Phase VI; Tet 69/Counteroffensive; Summer-Fall 1969; Winter-Spring 1970; Sanctuary Counteroffensive; Counteroffensive, Phase VII

Southwest Asia: Liberation and Defense of Kuwait

Decorations

Army Superior Unit Award for 1990-1991
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for KOREA 1978-1981

References

This article incorporates public domain material from 2d Air Defense Artillery Regiment Lineage and Honors. United States Army Center of Military History.