FORT SILL, Okla.-- With Air Defense Artillery now a huge part of Fort Sill, it is only natural that ADA artifacts follow them from Fort Bliss, Texas, to be housed at the Fires Center of Excellence.
Third Battalion, 6th Air Defense Artillery received the first of nearly 20 trucks carrying ADA artifacts that were previously stored at Fort Bliss. The M247 Sgt. York self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon arrived Sept. 15. The 63-ton weapon system was transported more than 650 miles.
Until a more permanent facility is complete, the Sgt. York will be housed at the 3rd-6th ADA. David Christensen, ADA branch historian, estimated construction on the facility will be complete in less than six months.
"The battalion welcomes the opportunity to share this piece of history with the newest air defenders as they complete their training here," said Lt. Col. Elizabeth Smith, 3rd-6th ADA battalion commander. "This piece is really going to bring us together as a Fires Center. It is important for our students to understand our history and our heritage. The Sergeant York marks the link between our past and our present."
The Sgt. York was developed in the late 1970s with the intention that it would keep pace with maneuvering forces. Unfortunately, it was too heavy to keep up with the vehicles it was meant to protect. The project was canceled in 1985 with around 50 weapons in existence. The Sgt. York was the first and only weapon system in the United States to be named after a noncommissioned officer.
It wasn't the only ADA artifact to make its journey to Fort Sill.
The anti-aircraft Eve of Destruction contains four .50-caliber machine guns. Medal of Honor awardee Sgt. Mitchell Stout served on it. The 90mm Sky Sweeper from WWII has a history with the 200th Battalion, whose members were captured and forced on the Bataan Death March.
"They were the first to fire and last to lay down their arm," declared Maj. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright IV, commander of allied forces in the Philippines at the time of their surrender to Japan.
The Korea and Vietnam-era Duster, a 30mm cannon designed to shoot down aircraft, arrived here as well.
"We even have a Patriot missile and a Scud missile," said Christensen. "We now have the first anti-aircraft, the front 75mm that was programmed to shoot air bursts near aircraft using a 3-inch cannon."
Additional ADA artifacts will arrive here in the coming months.
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