Air Defense History

Air Defense Artillery is a very important part of The United States Army. Air Defense was a great asset during the Battle of Luzon. The 200th Coast Artillery Regiment provided Air Defense on the Islands of the Philippines for the Filipinos and United States Forces retreating. The United States and Philippine forces provided weapon systems and defense layouts for threats that were encountered. This encounter led The United States Army to replace old weapon systems with new weapon systems, and evolved the United States Army Artillery Branch. “It was the 200th Coast Artillery (Anti-aircraft) — the original full Regiment — who is credited as being the “First to Fire” on December 8, 1941” (New, 2016). This paper will emphasize how The 200th Coast Artillery Regiment contributed to the adaptation of the Artillery Branch in The United States Army. The 200th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) Regiment, also known as “The Regiment” played a very pivotal role in Air Defense history. The 200th Regiment moved all their personnel and their equipment from the mainland to the Philippines, and took up defensive positions at Fort Stotsenberg, which was located roughly 75 miles north of Manila on 26 September 1941. The 200th Regiment spent the coming months training and getting used to their surroundings at Fort Stotsenberg (Staff, 2009). Our leaders in Washington needed to show that they supported MacArthur in the Philippines and the 200th was
They provided air and ground support for retreating troops to the Bataan Peninsula against Japanese heavy bombers and fighter planes. Shortly after the retreat The Regiment introduced new ways to mount weapons on to track systems and vehicles and also upgraded the fire rates per minute to make the air defense weapons more efficient which in turn helped our Air Defense branch into what it is