202nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment

202nd Air Defense Artillery

Coat of arms
Active 1924
Country  United States
Allegiance Illinois
Branch Illinois Army National Guard
Type Antiaircraft
Motto(s) "Arte et Armis" (Art of Arms)
Mascot(s) Oozlefinch

The 202nd Air Defense Artillery is an antiaircraft regiment of the Illinois Army National Guard.

History

On 19 March 1921, the 6th Illinois Infantry was converted to the 1st Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps.[1]

On 13 December 1921, redesignated as Provisional Battalion, 202nd Artillery (Antiaircraft) with six companies. redesignated to the 202nd Artillery Regiment (Antiaircraft), Coast Artillery Corps and on 26 August 1924, again, to the 202nd Coast Artillery (Regiment)(Antiaircraft)(Mobile).

On 10 September 1943, the 202nd Coast Artillery Regiment was broken up and re-designated as follows-

In January 1957, HQ & HQ Btry, A, B, and D Batteries, 698th Missile Battalion assumed an active role in the Air Defense of Chicago by taking over two Active Army gun sites on the north side of Chicago. C Battery joined the other three firing batteries, under the operational control of the 45th Artillery Brigade, two months later.[3]

Batteries E and F, 1st Battalion, 202nd Air Defense Artillery, were respectively assigned during the 1990s to the 45th Infantry Brigade and the 39th Infantry Brigade.[4] Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 202nd Air Defense Artillery, deployed to Iceland to take part in the 2001 Northern Viking exercise.

Distinctive unit insignia

A Gold color metal and enamel device 1 1/4 inches (3.18 cm) in height overall consisting of a shield and crest blazoned: (Shield) Azure, three piles in point Or, overall a winged projectile palewise wings displayed Gules, that portion on the field fimbriated of the second. Attached below the shield a scroll inscribed “ARTE ET ARMIS” in Blue letters. (Crest) On a wreath Or and Azure, upon a grassy field the blockhouse of old Fort Dearborn of the first.

The shield is blue to indicate the Infantry origin of the Regiment; the three piles represent the rays of the Artillery searchlights; the winged projectile is scarlet for Artillery; and the wings indicate the antiaircraft aspect of the parent organization. The motto translates to “By Skill and Arms.”

The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 202d Coast Artillery on 31 October 1925. It was redesignated for the 768th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion on 31 July 1951. It was redesignated for the 768th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion on 19 February 1957. The insignia was redesignated for the 202d Artillery Regiment on 6 January 1961. It was redesignated for the 202d Air Defense Artillery Regiment on 6 July 1972. The insignia was amended to revise the description and symbolism on 21 September 1989.

Coat of Arms

References

  1. 6th Illinois infantry
  2. John A. Hamilton, Blazing Skies: Air defense artillery on Fort Bliss, Texas, 1940-2009, Government Printing Office ISBN 0160869498, 9780160869495, 22.
  3. Nike Preservation Group, accessed June 2013.
  4. Globalsecurity.org, 1-202 Air Defense Artillery, accessed June 2013.
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