Is ADA really looked at as a whole different Army by other branches?

2015-03-21T05:32:36-04:00

I have heard several times over the course of my career in Air Defense Artillery that ADA is a whole different Army and we do things crazy compared to other branches of the Army. I'm curious to hear from others how ADA is viewed and what reasons you may have for your opinion of ADA. For the Record I have always been proud to have served in ADA and proud to continue to serve with so many wonderful Soldiers, NCOs and Officers working with the Patriot Missile System.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 21 at 2015 5:35 AM

2015-03-21T05:35:03-04:00

I am a 74D in an ADA unit right now, and it is not really that different. I was in a Chemical Unit, MP unit and now ADA, and maybe the MPs prepared me for it. I really don't see how things are "so different" in this world.

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Mar 21 at 2015 7:22 AM

2015-03-21T07:22:43-04:00

The Army explained...

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 21 at 2015 9:58 AM

2015-03-21T09:58:02-04:00

Sir - I was stationed at Fort Bliss for about three years and though I never worked with any Air Defenders, I never noticed anything different.

With that being said, I am now on a deployed air base and see the ADA Soldiers act a lot like the Air Force members they support. I have noticed a distinct difference in their mannerisms which seem more similar to the Air Force members they support. Maybe it's just spending so much time around a different service. I know prior to the Patriot Missile the ADA was nice to have around i.e. Avenger/Stinger teams.

Just my observation from the current foxhole.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 21 at 2015 10:36 AM

2015-03-21T10:36:16-04:00

From a mission standpoint, I can't think of another branch in the Army that is purely defensive as ADA is. Maybe CBRNE? That and perhaps the automatic assumption that any jet or helicopter flying around the FOB is friendly makes us non air defenders scratch our heads at what the Avenger batteries are there for.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 29 at 2015 4:04 AM

2015-04-29T04:04:51-04:00

I would agree that the Air and Missile Defense units are different to the rest of other military units. Point being they are the only units in the numerous branches that do that function.

Response by SPC Charles Brown made May 2 at 2015 1:36 PM

2015-05-02T13:36:45-04:00

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member I started off my military service in the ADA as a 16R, Short range gunnery crew member, Vulcan Weapon System way back in 1979. I don't believe that the things we as ADA did to complete our missions were/are any stranger than the things the other branches did/do. It is just strange in a different way.

Response by CPT(P) Private RallyPoint Member made May 2 at 2015 3:38 PM

2015-05-02T15:38:24-04:00

The Air Defense Artillery Branch is one of the few elements of fires and maneuver that is self-sustaining. That and a plethora of many other reasons, i.e. mission set, operational tempo, demand for theater presence, political influence, and a utilization of deterrence do in fact influence the stereotype (ADA= Another Damn Army). Our branches SOPs support our missions to support and defend geopolitical assets. Sir, sources from outside of the branch do not KNOW what ADA consist of! And simple minded people typically tend to fear the unknown. Therefore the sceptics take the terminology and utilize it as negative connotations. I am a proud member of the Air Defense Artillery Branch and wouldn’t have it any other way.

BLUF- Bottom Line Up-Front: I have never witnessed a team that didn’t win without a badass defense!

For the Nay Sayers trying to discredit my branch! Or simply poke fun at it! When the sky’s come a blazing and you’re in your foxhole praying to god, don’t worry we will be there to answer them!

Respectfully,
Jason T. Blanco

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made May 13 at 2015 2:41 PM

2015-05-13T14:41:51-04:00

ADA units have very unique training, maintenance and tactical capabilities that other branches don’t have and that’s just the nature of the beast and ADA’s mission. I have served in a PATRIOT ADA Battalion on two separate occasions, once as a PVT-SSG and once again as a WO1-CW2 and between those two times, I served as a SSG-SFC in an Air Traffic Control Battalion in a Combat Aviation Brigade and let me tell you, Aviation has its own unique features and characteristics on how they conduct training and real world operations too. After my last stint with ADA, I served as a Battalion Maintenance Tech for an Army watercraft Transportation Battalion and a Movement Control Transportation Battalion and those types of units did things in a different way as well. From the BDE CDR on down to the lowest Private, core competencies and Army standards were the same across all branches that I have served but the way they those standards are enforced are completely different. Each branch and unit believes that their mission is the most important in the Army and in some aspects that might be true but I have come to realize that each branch has unique differences and that’s what makes our military so diverse and so strong.

Response by SSG Odell Brown made Jan 10 at 2017 8:06 PM

2017-01-10T20:06:38-05:00

yep , i was in 83 to 86 ada cook in the 2nd 59th ada , bad ass mo fo's all of them , [login to see]

Response by SSG Diane R. made Jul 6 at 2017 12:41 PM

2017-07-06T12:41:18-04:00

The Air Defense Artillery has the most unique structure of any organization in the army, and most modern technology.

ADA was was often called 'another damn Army'. I started my Career in Safeguard (ABM System), when it was scrapped I was sent to Vulcan / Chaparral, then Hawk, and finally Patriot.

There was some discussion in the 1980s about transferring air defense to the Air Force, the bone of contention at the time was that the Air Force did not want Army personnel.

Which is ironic as all of our air defense units were under COM4ATAF (Air Force) command in Germany from the 70s until 91.