C Battery, 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment
"Cold Steel"
In the summer of 2005 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, including C Company, was inactivated as part of the transformation of the 25th Infantry Division to the US Army's modular force structure.
C Battery, 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery was organized into 3 "Strike" platoons consisting of 4 Avengers, 2 Man Portable Air Defense (MANPADS) teams, and 2 command and control vehicles. The role of these Strike platoons was to provide air defense in a direct support role to the infantry battalions of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Light). Unit air defense and early warning assets also provided general support protection to the rest of the brigade.
Since the battery was light and extremely flexible, the individual teams were found at all levels of the battlefield. More often than not, each team usually fought independently and relied on their well-trained fighting skills to survive. Originally, the unit was authorized 4 officers, 1 warrant officer, and 76 enlisted for a total of 81 personnel. The manning strength as of April 1999 was 82 personnel due to the deletion of one 63B MOS and the addition of two 14J's MOS personnel to the unit.
The history of the 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery spanned 200 years. Prior to its inactivated it was the oldest battalion in the 25th Infantry Division (Light) and had earned 46 campaign streamers and a Navy Presidential Unit Citation through the course of 8 wars. The first time the Battalion saw combat was during the War of 1812 under the command of Captain James R. Hanham. However, 1st Battalion could trace its lineage to Captain Callendar Irvines's Company organized on 27 April 1798.
In 1821, the Company was designated as Company G, 2nd Regiment of Artillery where it would retain this distinction for the next 88 years earning 23 battle streamers and participating in 6 campaigns.
From 1942, the unit earned numerous awards and praises for combat in Morocco, Italy, and France during the Second World War, and during the Korean War. Only for brief periods has the unit been deactivated temporarily. However, the needs of the Army and the battalions' tremendous history and lineage always compelled the unit to reactivate.
From 1959 until its inactivation in 2005, 1st Battalion, 62nd Artillery transformed from their traditional Coastal and Field Artillery role to the Air Defense Artillery role. At first, the Battalion became a heavy air defense unit armed with the Nike-Hercules missile. However, the Battalion gradually transformed into a short range Air Defense unit (SHORAD) with the introduction of the Chaparral, Vulcan, and Avenger weapon systems.
In June 1995, C Battery, 1-62nd Air Defense Artillery was inactivated, moved and reactivated at Fort Lewis, Washington in support of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, which had been detached from the rest of the Division in Hawaii. 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Regiment (serving also as the Regimental Headquarters for the 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment) supported the 25th Infantry Division (Light), and remained headquartered at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. The permanent orders that established C/1-62nd Air Defense Artillery, "Cold Steel," as a separate battery attached to the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Light) were orders #325-16. The effective date of the unit establishment was 16 October 1997.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
