52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment

The 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an air defense artillery regiment of the United States Army first organized in 1917 as a railway gun unit. It continued in that role unit 1943, when the regiment was broken in separate railway gun battalions, and in the following year the units were reorganized and redesignated as field artillery.

Lineage
Organized 22 July 1917 in the Regular Army at Fort Adams, Rhode Island, as the 7th Provisional Regiment, Coast Artillery Corps

Redesignated 5 February 1918 as the 52d Artillery (U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps)

(3d Battalion inactivated 16 May 1921 at Fort Eustis, Virginia; activated 18 August 1921 at Fort Eustis, Virginia; 1st Battalion inactivated 1 August 1922 at Fort Eustis, Virginia)

Redesignated 1 July 1924 as the 52d Coast Artillery

(Battery D inactivated 1 November 1938 at Fort Monroe, Virginia; Battery F inactivated 1 February 1940 at Fort Monroe, Virginia; Batteries D and F activated 8 January 1941 at Fort Hancock, New Jersey; 1st Battalion activated 1 June 1941 at Fort Hancock, New Jersey)

Regiment broken up 1 May 1943 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as follows:


 * Headquarters and Headquarters Battery disbanded at Fort Hancock, New Jersey
 * 1st, 2d, and 3d Battalions as the 286th, 287th, and 288th Coast Artillery Battalions, respectively (Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 288th Coast Artillery Battalion, concurrently inactivated at Fort Hancock, New Jersey)

After 1 May 1943 the above units underwent changes as follows:


 * Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 52d Coast Artillery, reconstituted 28 June 1950 in the Regular Army and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 52d Field Artillery Group
 * Activated 18 January 1952 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma
 * Redesignated 25 June 1958 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 52d Artillery Group
 * Inactivated 30 June 1971 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma


 * 286th Coast Artillery Battalion converted and redesignated 30 August 1944 as the 538th Field Artillery Battalion
 * Inactivated 14 December 1945 at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts
 * Activated 31 December 1946 in the Philippine Islands
 * Inactivated 30 May 1947 in the Philippine Islands
 * Activated 22 March 1951 at Camp Carson, Colorado
 * Inactivated 1 June 1958 in Germany


 * 287th Coast Artillery Battalion converted and redesignated 30 August 1944 as the 539th Field Artillery Battalion
 * Inactivated 28 December 1945 at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts
 * Activated 31 December 1946 in the Philippine Islands
 * Inactivated 30 May 1947 in the Philippine Islands
 * Activated 18 March 1955 in Japan|
 * Inactivated 25 March 1956 in Japan


 * 286th Coast Artillery Battalion inactivated 18 April 1944 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi
 * Disbanded 14 June 1944
 * Reconstituted 28 June 1950 in the Regular Army; concurrently consolidated with the 52d Field Artillery Battalion (active) (see ANNEX) and consolidated unit designated as the 52d Field Artillery Battalion, an element of the 24th Infantry Division
 * Inactivated 5 June 1958 and relieved from assignment to the 24th Infantry Division

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 52d Artillery Group, and the 538th, 539th, and 52d Field Artillery Battalions consolidated, reorganized, and redesignated 30 June 1971 as the 52d Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System

Redesignated 1 September 1971 as the 52d Air Defense Artillery

Withdrawn 16 April 1988 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System

Annex
Constituted 1 October 1933 in the Regular Army as the 52d Field Artillery

Redesignated 26 August 1941 as the 52d Field Artillery Battalion and assigned to the 24th Infantry Division

Activated 1 October 1941 at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii

Distinctive unit insignia
A Gold color metal and enamel device 1+1/8 in in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Gules, a bend potenté Or. Attached below the shield a Gold scroll inscribed “SEMPER PARATUS” in Red letters. The shield is red for Artillery. The gold potenté bend is an adaptation of the cottised bend on the arms of Champagne. The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 538th Field Artillery Battalion on 29 December 1951. It was redesignated for the 52d Artillery Regiment on 19 December 1958. It was redesignated for the 52d Air Defense Artillery Regiment effective 1 September 1971.
 * Description
 * Symbolism
 * Background

Blazon
Gules, a bend potenté Or. On a wreath of the colors Or and Gules, a locomotive affronté Gules, charged with the numeral “52” Or. Motto SEMPER PARATUS (Always Prepared).
 * Shield
 * Crest

Symbolism
The shield is red for Artillery. The gold potenté bend is an adaptation of the cottised bend on the arms of Champagne. The crest alludes to World War I service in France.
 * Shield
 * Crest

Background
The coat of arms was originally approved for the 52d Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps on 9 April 1921. It was redesignated for the 286th Coast Artillery Battalion and amended to delete the crest on 3 August 1944. It was redesignated for the 538th Field Artillery Battalion on 20 November 1944. The insignia was redesignated for the 52d Artillery Regiment and amended to add a crest on 19 December 1958. Effective 1 September 1971, the insignia was redesignated for the 52d Air Defense Artillery Regiment.

Campaign participation credit
World War I: Champagne-Marne; St. Mihiel; Meuse-Argonne; Champagne 1918; Lorraine 1918

World War II: Central Europe; Central Pacific; New Guinea (with arrowhead); Leyte; Luzon; Southern Philippines (with arrowhead)

Korean War: UN Defensive; UN Offensive; CCF Intervention; First UN Counteroffensive; CCF Spring Offensive; UN Summer-Fall Offensive; Second Korean Winter; Korea, Summer 1953

Vietnam: Counteroffensive; Counteroffensive, Phase II; Counteroffensive, Phase III; Tet Counteroffensive; Counteroffensive, Phase IV; Counteroffensive, Phase V; Counteroffensive, Phase VI; Tet 69/Counteroffensive; Summer-Fall 1969; Winter-Spring 1970; Sanctuary Counteroffensive; Counteroffensive, Phase VII

Southwest Asia: Defense of Saudi Arabia; Liberation and Defense of Kuwait

Decorations
Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for DEFENSE OF KOREA

Valorous Unit Award for DAK TO – BEN HET

Valorous Unit Award for SAUDI ARABIA AND BAHRAIN

Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for FLORIDA 1962–1963

Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for VIETNAM 1966–1969

Current configuration

 * 1st Battalion 52d Air Defense Artillery (United States)
 * 2nd Battalion 52d Air Defense Artillery (United States)
 * 3rd Battalion 52d Air Defense Artillery (United States)
 * 4th Battalion 52d Air Defense Artillery (United States)
 * 5th Battalion 52d Air Defense Artillery (United States)
 * 6th Battalion 52d Air Defense Artillery (United States)