The U.S. military and its European allies are turning to defense measures not seen since the Cold War to deal with security threats: air defense artillery.
The 678th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, South Carolina National Guard, arrived in Germany for deployment last week for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“Today is a historic day for U.S. Army Europe, the [10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command], [U.S. Army Garrison] Ansbach and the local Ansbach community,” Col. Richard Wholey, the brigade’s commander, said Tuesday while speaking in Ansbach, Military Times reported. “Here we are in Ansbach uncasing the 678th Air Defense Artillery Brigade colors — the first uncased since the Cold War drawdown in Europe.”
Col. David Shank, commander of the 10th AAMDC, expanded on the renewed need for short-range air defense (SHORAD) capabilities in Europe.
“Back in the 1990s, decisions were made to downsize and there was not much of a need for SHORAD,” he said, the Times reporterd. “It all started in 2004 when the first SHORAD battalion was inactivated and it snowballed from there. … Fast forward to today and what does that mean? We have Stinger teams, Avenger batteries … and why we are here today, the 678th Air Defense Artillery Brigade.”
The unit’s nine-month forward deployment in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve will include training exercises with NATO allies in the region.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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