The history of the 62nd Air Defense Artillery spans two hundred years.
The 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment is the oldest
unit in the 25th Infantry Division (Light) and has earned forty-seven
campaign streamers and a Navy Presidential Unit Citation through the
course of eight wars.
The 62nd Regiment traces its lineage to Captain Callendar Irvine's
Company of Artillerists and Engineers, organized on 27 April
1798. Later the unit fought courageously as Captain James R. Hanham's
Company in the War of 1812 earning its first letter designation and
campaign streamer as Company K, Corps of Artillery, Northern
Division. The unit added twenty-three more campaign streamers for
service in the Mexican, Indian, Civil and Spanish-American
Wars. After fighting in the war with Spain and the Philippine
Insurrection, the Regiment was designated as the 62nd Coast Artillery
Regiment on 14 September 1922.
On 7 July 1942, the Battalion entered World War II. Following a brief
training period in the United Kingdom, the unit deployed to North
Africa earning campaign credits for action in Algeria, Morocco, and
Tunisia before deploying first to the Italian Campaign, then France,
and finally Germany. The Battalion inactivated on 13 March 1946, but
was soon raised on 15 January 1949 at Fort Bliss, Texas as the 62d
Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion and assigned to the
2d Armored Division, Fort Hood, Texas. In November 1950, the Battalion
was alerted for movement to Germany. A portion of the Battalion
fought valiantly with the 50th AAA in support of 27th Infantry
Regiment (Wolfhounds) in the Korean Conflict earning the Battalion's
ten campaign streamers and a Presidential Unit Citation.
For seven years between 1959 and 1965, the 62nd served as a
Nike-Hercules Missile unit in the St. Louis Defense Area. After a
brief inactivation, the 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment was with
two Battalions of Divisional Chaparral/Vulcan.
In 1995 the Battalions were rearmed with the Avenger system, the most
advanced Light Air Defense weapon in the world. Both Battalions
possess the Forward Area Air Defense Command, Control and Intelligence
(FAAD C2I) allowing the Battalions to receive real time, digitized air
threat data from a Joint source.
In June 1995, C Battery, 1-62 ADA was moved and reactivated, and is
currently serving at Fort Lewis, Washington. 1st Battalion, 62nd Air
Defense Regiment (the Regimental Headquarters) supports the 25th
Infantry Division (Light), and is headquartered at Schofield Barracks,
HI. 3rd Battalion, 62nd Air Defense supports the 10th Mountain
Division and is headquartered at Fort Drum, NY.
In the summer of 2005 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery
Regiment was inactivated as part of the transformation of the 25th
Infantry Division to the US Army's modular force structure. Some of
its personnel were later used to activate the 94th Army Air and
Missile Defense Command, US Army Pacific.
October 18, 2011, the 1st Battalion 62nd Air Defense Artillery
Regiment. was reactivated at Fort Hood Texas. Under the command of
Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Aaron J. Roth and Command Sergeant Major
(CSM) Robert Navarro, 1-62 ADA is the 15th Patriot battalion to be
added to the ADA force to maintain air and missile defense (AMD)
operations around the world.