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2nd Battalion - 174th Air Defense Artillery (AVENGER)

The Mission of 2-174 Air Defense Artillery Avenger line batteries is to provide low altitude air defense coverage to our assets. This includes Fixed Wing aircraft, Helicopters, Unmanned Air vehicles, and Cruise Missiles. The Strength Goal for the 2nd Bn 174th ADA is 450 Quality Soldiers for TY-01.

The growing sophistication of air power in combat, developed prior to and during World War II, necessitated the diversification of combat artillery to include air defense. Consequently the 2d Bn (AW)(SP) 174th ADA, Ohio Army National Guard, was first established on 19 May 1944, as the 180th Coast Artillery Battalion. On 31 May 1944 the Battalion was activated at Fort Ruger, Hawaii and remained active in the Western Pacifica Theater until 13 December 1945 when it was returned to inactive status in the Mariana Islands.

On 1 March 1951, the 180th Coast Artillery Battalion was allotted to the Ohio Army National Guard as the 180th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion. Federal recognition was granted on 29 May 1951 with the Headquarters being established in Dayton, Ohio.

The Battalion was again reorganized and redesignated on 1 September 1959 as the 174th Artillery, a parent regiment in the Combat Arms Regimental System, to consist of the 1st Gun Battalion, the 2nd Automatic Weapons Battalion, and the 3rd Detachment. 1 April 1963 saw a further development as reorganization brought about the 174th Artillery, 1st and 2nd Automatic Weapons and the 3rd Detachment.

In 1968 there was a reorganization of the Ohio National Guard. The 2/174 ADA Bn emerged as a consequence of this reorganization. A maintenance battalion in Zanesville, a supply and transportation platoon in Cambridge and an artillery battery in Steubenville were added to the existing battalion locations in Athens, McConnelsville, Logan, New Lexington, Caldwell, and Marietta. The Battalion official designation was then changed from the 2nd Automatic Weapons Battalion (Self Propelled) 174th Artillery to the 2nd Battalion (Automatic Weapons) (Self Propelled) 174th Artillery.

The development of the constitutive units of the 2nd Bn (AW)(SP) 174th ADA is demonstrated in the following outline:

During FY2000, the 2-174th Air Defense Artillery Battalion's participated in Roving Sands, the U. S. military's largest joint service air and missile defense livefire exercise at Fort Bliss, TX. Earning deployability certification, the unit fired missiles at moving targets from both the Stinger and Avenger air defense systems.