4th Battalion - 3rd Air Defense Artillery
The 4th Batallion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, at the time the oldest air defense battalion in the active Army, held an inactivation ceremony on Sept. 15, 2005 at Leighton Barracks. The battalion’s Soldiers had seen action in almost every major conflict in U.S. history, including in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II.
At the time of its inactivation, the colors of the Air and Missile Defense Detachment were presented to the 1st Infantry Division command. The Air and Missile Defense Detachment was created in order to serve as the 1st ID commanding general’s advisor on all matters related to air and missile defense, as well as provide early warning and perform airspace management functions for the division. Plans called for the detachment to serve as an interim organization until the 1st ID transforms into a Unit of Employment.
Prior to its inactivation, the 4th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery mission was to stand poised for deployment to designated contingency areas to provide Air Defense and Early Warning in support of combat operations as part of the 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) or other designated force headquarters.
Additionally, on order, the Battalion was to conduct military operations in support of regional stability requirements and peacekeeping operations.
At the time of its inactivation, the 4th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery was the oldest Air Defense Battalion in the Active Army. It was originally constituted on 09 May 1794 in the regular Army as the 3rd Company, 4th Battalion, Corps of Artillerists and Engineers, and Organized on 07 August 1794 at West Point New York.
The Battalion's distinctive and illustrious lineage spans two centuries and almost every major conflict throughout the world in defense of the United States homeland in field, Costal and Anti-aircraft Units. The unit was first designated CPT Robert Sweeney's Company of artillery in 1802, and served actively in the War of 1812, in operations against British forces in Canada. From 1821 to 1831, the unit occupied various costal fortifications from Boston Harbor to Ft. Munroe. In 1832, it was one of the units sent by President Jackson to South Carolina to put down the nullification movement.
In 1834, the unit moved to Florida, and for the next twelve years, it fought the Seminole Indians. When war was declared with Mexico the unit fought with General Winfield Scott's army from Vera Cruz to Mexico City. In 1854, the unit was sent to California and for the five years, it campaigned against the Indians in Oregon and Washington. The Battery spent the next seven years on the west coast. During World War II, the 3rd Regiment was broken up into Battalion, and the unit was designated briefly as the 520th Coast Artillery Battalion, then as the 3rd Coast Artillery Battalion and Deactivated following the end of the war.
In January 1950, the Battalion was reconstituted in the regular Army and consolidated with the 3rdAnti-aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, an element of the 3rd Infantry Division. It fought throughout the Korean War with the division. In 1962, the battalion was redesigned as the 4th Battalion, 3rd Artillery and assigned to the 1st Armor Division in Ft. Hood, TX. The Battalion was then reassigned to the 3rd Infantry in Germany.
In February 1996, the Battalion was relieved from assignment to the 3rd Infantry Division and assigned to the 1st Infantry Division as the first BSFV Battalion in the U.S. Army.
In 2004 the Department of the Army approved an initiative to rebalance forces between its active and reserve components. As a part of this Army initiative, air defense artillery battalions in all 10 active-duty Army divisions will be removed from the division structure. The plan called for the 4-3 ADA (1st Infantry Division), Kitzingen, Germany, to be be either inactivated or realigned sometime after its redeployment to Germany from Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005.
