US Army Air Defense Training - Yearbook (Fort Bliss, TX)

Page 9 text:

,x. ll . --we-N M- .- va- ' A -W rar: L - 'L -.W-, - 1- -1, --M f f.s'f : 'fr-H N - 'T 'Y' -'Ji'-: -f 'f-:.- v ' N-nw: .Q Ef5f539?ifiBT '.Q' ii' il: 'T5-'fi-3i?fQ55iii1f-:TiA iiTiF?.??iTf'L5-'PT-'iff i'fT'-1.-E575-lii' ' VifT1V17x157ii gqggfl-3'ifg:-. '11 -' . 'fgqw 2-if,j.:'2fg',ifj.f.'-31 -13 gig fifty raif-l gil Tfglif -' K ' 'X' ' 1 f-,aj ixfi--IS gijjgf -13-.FQ .- - . QA , sg i -:QQ-'QR if-g 1' -gqfgw. y 'ii-,:g:-jg lk - .-ty , x 1 2 e i w . 1 . ' - . .. l 3, iffy' .A ,0,f-f- . 'virg- MIMXIJ, FORT BLISS, TEXAS Fort Bliss, now the Free World's largest and foremost Air Defense center, took root in the then-unsettled American South- west 55 years before the airplane was invented. The first U.S. soldiers were dispatched to this area by a War Department order on 7 November 1848. A few months later, necessary reconnaissance was completed and the 3rd Infantry was di- rected to set up an Army post in The Pass of the North - El Paso del Norte. The next June a military caravan, along with settlers and supplies, set out on a 673-mile, three-month march from San Antonio to establish the new installation. Arriving on the flood- ing banks of the Rio Bravo Know called the Rio Grandej, they rented a few existing ranch buildings and began the primitive frontier life of the early Southwest. First known as the Post of El Paso, the station was renamed Fort Bliss in 1854, in honor of Brevet Lt. Col. William Wallace Smith Bliss. Col. Bliss, brilliant son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor, had died of yellow fever the previous year in New Orleans. The post's early existence was shaky. Twice it was declared excess by the War Department: four times it was moved: briefly during the Civil War the flag of the Confederate States of America flew over its walls. Soldiers of many branches were stationed in it. But when a railroad was put through to El Paso in 1881, Fort Bliss began' to assume more importance. Twelve years later a number of permanent buildings were erected. One now houses the Main Post Exchange: more than 20 others are still in use today. In 1912 Fort Bliss became one of the nation's leading cavalry posts: and two year later General John J. fBlackjackJ Pershing arrived to assume command. CThe house that was built in 1910 and later used by Gen. Pershing now houses the Assistant Commandant of the U.S. Army Air Defense School and his famiIy.J Gen. Pershing arrived during the Mexican Revolution, and in 1916 he led the Punitive Expedition into Mexico. Soon afterward the border fort expanded to accomodate 60,000 'troops in tents reaching from Logan Heights to the very banks of the Rio Grande. In 1921 the lst Cavalry Division set up headquarters here, and stayed at Fort Bliss until the division was sent into World War Il combat in the South Pacific in 1942. The departure of the First Cav started what might be called the modern history of Fort Bliss. That same year, five antiaircraft artillery units moved in. These outfits formed a training vanguard at Fort Bliss for nearly every ack-ack unit that saw action with American forces in World War ll. As early as 1944, Air Defense planning ofhcers saw that the headquarters-u. s. army training center increasing speeds of modern aircraft would make tube-type artillery ineffective in many Air Defense missions. They devel- oped the idea of a rocket, armed with a warhead, and guided from the ground. This dream became a reality in the early 1950s, when the Nike system became operational. Meanwhile, the citizens of EI Paso had not forgotten Fort Bliss' influence as a guardian during the earliest days of their city's existence. In 1948, to mark the centennial of the post's founding, they presented th Army with a replica of the original fort. The Replica now stands just southeast of the U.S. Army Reception Station. Today, Fort Bliss is the home of the U.S. Army Air Defense Center. Almost every Nike and Hawk battalion in the Free World is formed and trained here. Every second of the day and night, these units send powerful radar beams to form a protective shield over the Free World-and over its powerful missiles that stand ready to strike down any enemy aircraft which might penetrate the shield. The missilemen using this equipment, from Turkey and Germany to Japan and Korea, speak many languages, but they all know of Fort Bliss. Most of them were trained here. U.S. ARMY TRAINING CENTER IAIR DEFENSE! On 17 September 1965, the Department of the Army publicly announced that existing training centers would be beefed up, and that new centers for Basic Combat Training QBCTJ would be opened at Fort Bliss and Fort Benning, Ga. Fort Bliss offi- cials set up the U.S. Army Training Center KADJ, and by 4 Octo- ber the new command was ready for activation. The old 1st Air Defense Guided Missile Brigade CTrainingJ was incorporated into the new USATC, becoming the lst Train- ing Brigade CAir Defensej. Its primary mission of conducting Advanced Individual Training in AD Artillery was retained. To satisfy the requirement for conducting BCT, the new command set up two entirely new training brigades, each capable of training 4,400 soldiers at the same time. Men, equipment and buildings were made available for this mission, and by. 29 November 1965 the 'Training Center was ready for the 40 young Kansans who became Fort Bliss' first basic trainees since the Korean War era. Since 13 December 1965, the USATC has started about 880 recruits and inductees through the eight-week BCT program each week. Forty com- panies have been set up to handle this training load. The first BCT cycle graduated on 5 February 1966: and its men went for AlT and assignments with other units to Army posts through- out the nation.

Page 8 text:

H. W. HEFFELFINGER Colonel, Armor Deputy Commander USATC CAD1 Colonel Hugo W. Heffelfinger began his military career in 1941, seeing World War ll combat in Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland and Central Europe as Infantry Platoon Leader and Company Commander, 35th Infantry Division fMay 1941- August 19431, and Company Commander S3 and Execu- tive Officer, Fifth Ranger Battalion CSeptember 1943-July 19451. - He left the military in January, 1946, retuming in October of the same year as S3 and Executive Officer, 41st Armored Infan- try Battalion, Second Armored Division, Fort Hood, Texas. In February, 1948, he was appointed G2 and G3 Advisor of the Second Field Division, Greek Army. After attending the Fort Knox CKy.1 Armor School as both an instructor and student CMarch 1949-June 19501, he was ap- pointed National Guard lnstructor-Advisor for the 49th Armored Division at Fort Hood, holding that post until July, 1953, when he attended the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. A He returned overseas in August, 1954, assigned to GI Sec- tion, Headquarters, Armed Forces Far East, Japan. He became Commanding Officer of the 70th Tank Battalion at Camp Fuji, Hrst Cavalry Division, Japan, in October, 1956. Colonel Heffelfinger returned to the United States in Septem- ber, 1957, as Commanding Officer of the Second Reconnais- sance Squadron, Eight Cavalry, Fourth Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash., sewing in that position one year. He then was assigned to the Office of the Deputy chief of Staff of Operations, Department of the Army, The Pentagon,. Washington, D. C. Following his duties at The Pentagon, he became a student at the United States Army War College in Carlylse, Pa. Uuly 1961-June 19621, during which time he was promoted to his present rank of colonel. From July, 1962, through May, 1963, Colonel Heffelfinger served as Chief of ROTC Section, Headquarters, 12th Corps, Atlanta, Ga., movlng on to the post of Chief of the Organiza- tion and Training Division, G3 Section, Headquarters, Eighth Army, Korea. Q He has been awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Medal, Unit Badge with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart, Combat Infan- tryman Badge, AmericanKCampaign Medal, American Defense Service Medal, ETO Campaign Medal, World War ll Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal and National Defense Service Medal. Service schools attended were Infantry School, Basic Officers Course: Armor School, Advance Officers Course: United States army Command and General Staff College and the Army War ollege. As a civilian, he attended Wentworth Military Academy Junior College at Lexington, Mo., where he graduated with an Associate of Arts Degree, the University of Louisville, University of Texas and Texas Christian University.

Page 10 text:

?T'?'NfN':XE1? w.:y41:F3C-I 5-.X .asv-u.,i x -ew .M ...Q W-wm.p UN-fa-mx , , Hifi fS5 3 Ii ,. X www we-nv .. ,W A xx wvLx v .fa-.f...Ms.x,Q.x X ., P ..,.mn-. ,