The 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade headquarters activated today in Sembach, Germany.
“I’m very excited to be taking command of the Army’s newest air defense brigade,” said Col. Bruce A. Bredlow, the 52nd ADA’s first commander. “Our mission here in Europe is uniquely rewarding thanks to our ability to work closely with NATO on a regular basis. We’re looking forward to building new connective tissue at the tactical level with our Allies and partners and expanding our combined capacity through interoperability.”
The headquarters will provide command and control for all U.S. Army air and missile defense forces within the U.S. European Command area of responsibility, and will report directly to the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command.
The 52nd ADA will assume responsibility for the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment and the future 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, which will be based in Ansbach, Germany; the 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment based in Baumholder, Germany, the 11th Missile Defense Battery based in Turkey; and the 13th Missile Defense Battery based in Israel.
The expansion of U.S. Army air defense capacity in Europe has been long in planning. Since the 10th AAMDC was upgraded to a one-star command in 2019, the role of brigade headquarters over the air defense battalions has been filled on a rotational basis, by Army National Guard air defense brigades from three states.
Adding the active-duty brigade headquarters along with the new 1-57 short-range air defense regiment to theater adds significant capacity to the U.S. contribution to the Alliance’s ground-based air defense in EUCOM.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced this new air defense artillery brigade at the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, in June.
For additional information, contact 10th AAMDC Public Affairs at +49 (0)611.143.528.7506 or robert.d.fellingham.mil@army.mil.
