108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade

The mission of the 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade was to train and maintain a strategic crisis response air defense artillery brigade capable of deploying worldwide, on short notice, to provide air defense force protection (air breathing threat/tactical ballistic missile) and allow freedom of maneuver for XVIII Corps operations.

The 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade traces its lineage from the 514th Coast Artillery Regiment (Antiaircraft), which was formed in October 1923 at Schenectady, New York.

In January 1943, it was reorganized and redesignated as the 108th Coast Artillery Group (Antiaircraft). In May 1943, it was again reorganized, this time as the 108th Antiaircraft Artillery Group. During World War II, the group was deployed to France, landing at Utah Beach and participating in the European Theater of Operations. The 108th Antiaircraft Artillery Group provided defense of the city and harbor at Cherbourg and for 11 months, defended forward airfields and the French cities of Reims and Rouen. World War II campaign participation included Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, and Central Europe. After the end of the Second World War, the Group was inactivated in December 1945 in Germany.

In September 1956, the Group was reactivated at Los Angles, California, and in March 1958, redesignated as the 108th Artillery Group (Air Defense). In April 1960, the Group was inactivated at Fort McArthur, California.

In May 1967, the Group was reactivated at Fort Riley, Kansas, as the 108th Artillery Group and deployed to the Republic of Vietnam in October 1967. The Group participated in every major operation conducted in northern I Corps from that time and received credit for participation in 11 different campaigns while in Vietnam. The Group was decorated with the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm. The unit cased its colors and departed Vietnam on 22 November 1971 for Fort Lewis, Washington, where it was again inactivated.

On 26 August 1974, the Group was reactivated at Kapun Barracks, Kaiserslautern, Federal Republic of Germany, as the 108th Air Defense Artillery Group, the only Chaparral/Vulcan Group in the US Army. In September 1975, the Group moved from Kapun Barracks to Kleber Kaserne. On 1 October 1982, it was redesignated as the 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. On 15 April 1992, the Brigade was moved to Fort Polk, Louisiana. On 15 August 1996, the Brigade was moved to Fort Bliss, Texas.

300 soldiers from the 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and the 35th ADA Brigade were to depart for Southwest Asia in the coming weeks according to a story by the Associated Press on 3 January 2003. Both units were Patriot air defense units.

In June 2006, the Brigade was moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as part of the restructuring associated with the transformation of the US Army to the modular force structure. Responsible for all the air defense artillery units in XVIII Corps and under the operational control of that unit, the unit was technically subordinate to the 32nd Air and Missile Defense Command, US Army Forces Command. The Brigade also transformed, inactivating the 555th Maintenance Company and the 208th Signal Company. The 2nd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment was reassigned to the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade at Fort Bliss, Texas.