July-August - Air Defense Artillery School

Group Subscription Orders
1he 198th Coast Artillery is not the unit to permit diffi-
,'ulties to stand in its way. Ahhough it is occupying scattered
InOsitions at an APO address.
;hrough Lieutenant Colonel
this wide-awake regiment,
I-Ierman \V. Cook, Execu-
'tire. sent in sixty-nine individual subscriptions and fourteen
unit subscriptions, to attain a real 100% record-every officer.
warrant officer. and subordinate unit a subscriber.
IColonel George J. Schulz commands the regiment.
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas t\. Baker, commanding the
•S33d A \ V Battalion (AA), submitted thirty-five subscrip-
Irion orders to place the unit in the select 100% circle, and a
te\\' dars later forwarded six more to keep the 833d where
I t belo~gs. Colonel Baker is a real JOURNAL booster-his
I'ener expressed satisfaction that his fonner battalion. the
2dof the 204th Cr\. is still in the 100% class where he put
11 originally.
I Batten' H, 369th CA (AA), commanded by Lieutenant
\Ider F.\Vatts, mailed in a group order for eight subscriptions,
all for noncommissioned officers
I \nother unusual order came from ?\lajor
in the battery.
Earle D. Button,
l )f the Coast Artillery School. 1\ lajor Button showed the
, JOURNALto a class of officers-fourteen subscriptions re-
I~ulted. It seems the JOURNAL sells on sight.
The 120th CA Battalion (AA). Lieutenant Leonard De
I"ita. Adjutant, and the 398th
manded by Lieutenant Colonel
100% units. The 120th sent
A1\A AW Battalion, com-
Albert A Moren, are new
in thirty-one to make the
,grade, and the 398th thirty-seven. C~lonel Vlilliam P.
Bra\', another Ion a-time friend of the JOURNAL, now with
, 0
(headquarters of an AAA group at Camp Hulen, submitted
thirtv-eiaht subscriptions to bring Lieutenant Colonel
• 0
Frank R. Sack's 788th A1\1\ Battalion into the 100%
~ociety.
I
Otl{er orders
()()Ist CA (AA)
included fourteen subscriptio.ns from t.he
(Lieutenant John A l\Idvbchen, AdJu-
(:ant). and twelve from the Harbor Defenses of San Diego.
Colonel P. H. Ottosen, Commanding HDSD, gave credit
1'0 Captain Howard B. Breeding for the initiative and effort
I xpcnded to bring his organization's
I ~Iajor Carl E. Schnetz, Adjutant
percentage up to 90}.2.
of the 249th CA, came
.n under the wire for this issue with an order for seventeen
:,ubscriptions,
I As we go to press, the mail brought us two more gratifyng
orders: the 85th CA(AA), came through with a group
tderfor seventy-nine subscriptions, forwarded by Captain
C. H. Du Val, and that charter member of the JOURNAL
sters. Colonel W. C. McFadden, of the 69th Coast Artilcry
sent in eleven subscription orders. Long ago we lost
"ack of how man v subscriptions I •
1'"' u, thmugh the ye,:_ ,
Colonel McFadden has
Wanted-Liaison
From October 4, 1918, to January 3, 1920, the COAST
\!tTILLERYJOURNAL-or as it was then called, THE JOUR-
AL OF U. S. ARTILLERY published another magazine
4lIJed Liaiso11 which was devoted .to furnishing newly
:ommissioned officers with various items of pertinent in-
Ormation.
i\'E\VS A~D COi\l?\lEi\'T 61
Liaisoll also carried articles on the operation of Coast Artillery
regiments overseas in \\'orld \Yar I and so pro\'ides
a primary source of information for certain phases of historical
research.
\ \' e are very anxious to complete our set of this publication
so that ,,'e may place bound volumes in our library and
make them available for historians to consult.
The JOURNAL needs the following numbers:
No, 1 (October 4, 1918) through No.9 (No\'Cmber 30,
1918)
No. 26. Volume 1 (June H. 1919)
No. I Volume II (July 5, 1919) through No. 26 Volume
II (December 27,1919)
0Jo. I Volume III (January 3. 1920) through No. 13
Volume III (?\Iarch 27, 1920)
It is hoped that some of our older officers may have some
of these copies in their private libraries and that they may
be willing to furnish them to the JOURNAL. The Editor will
be glad to make any necessary arrangement.
AAA Units
Under date of 6 January 1943, the \Var Department
approved the recommendation of the Commanding General,
Antiaircraft Command, that the designation of antiaircraft
units in the current revision be simplified by using
the title AAA instead of the title. CA(AA).
In compliance with the above, antiaircraft units organized
under Tables of Organization in the 44 series have been
designated as, for example He} & Hq Btry, 61st AAA Brig;
I-1q & I-Iq Btry, 55th A1\A Gp; 139th A1\A Gun Bn; 660th
AAA 1\ IG Btry; 577th AAA AWpns Bn.
AAA Scores in North Africa
Achieving a two-a-day record average, American antiaircraft
units fighting in North Africa accounted for a
total of 180 enemy airplanes destroyed or probably destroyed
during one period of 90 days, according to a report received
by the "Var Department. Of this number, 131 were
listed as definitely destroyed.
"It is believed,"
conservatl\'e. . "
the report stated, "that the figures are
One gun crew reported that "pieces of 'glasshouse' and
two machine guns were found after the engagement, indicating
the improbability of safe return." But that enemy
plane was recorded as probably destroyed.
There was no doubt, however, in another instance. The
report noted that destruction of the plane was "confirmed
by fact that the pilot was last seen walking."
Antiaircraft units, highly mobile, operated in cOOrdination
with infantry and field artillery organizations, providing
not only protection to them but a potent offensive
threat to the en em\'o Their activities covered a wide area
of combat against afI types of enemy aircraft.
"Many of those 131 planes were fast l\lesserschmitts and
Focke-\Vulfs which are hard targets for any gunners, while
others were J U 188s on reconnaissance and Stuka dive
bombers," an Anny Ground Forces obserwr stated. H\Vhat-