| Unit Name: | 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade |
| Country: | United States |
| Type: | Air Defense Artillery Branch |
| Branch: | United States Army |
| Dates: | 1907 – Present |
| Command Structure: | 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command (32nd AAMDC) |
| Size: | Brigade |
| Garrison: | Fort Bliss |
| Nickname: | Imperial Brigade |
| Motto: | "Train to Fight!" |
| Colors: | Scarlet and Yellow |
| Commander1: | COL Brennon J. Kavanaugh[1] |
| Commander4: | CSM Albert Fletcher III |
| Identification Symbol Label: | Distinctive Unit Insignia |
The 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade is an air defense artillery brigade of the United States Army stationed at Fort Bliss.
The brigades includes a Headquarters and Headquarters battery, four Patriot Units and three Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Units.[2]
The unit was initially constituted 25 January 1907 in the Regular Army as the 133rd Company, Coast Artillery Corps. Organized 1 August 1907 at Fort Terry, New York. Redesignated 3 July 1916 as the 3d Company, Fort Terry (New York). Redesignated 31 August 1917 as the 13th Company, Coast Defenses of Long Island Sound. Redesignated in December 1917 as Battery A, 56th Artillery (Coast Artillery Corps). Demobilized 31 July 1921 at Camp Jackson, South Carolina.
Reconstituted 1 June 1922 in the Regular Army; concurrently consolidated with the 4th Company, Coast Defenses of Long Island Sound (organized in June 1917 as the 7th Company, Fort H.G. Wright (New York); redesignated 31 August 1917 as the unit was redesignated as the 133rd Company, Coast Artillery Corps.
Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 11th Antiaircraft Artillery Group was constituted 19 December 1942 in the Army of the United States as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 11th Antiaircraft Automatic Weapons Group. Activated 20 January 1943 at Camp Davis, North Carolina. Redesignated 26 May 1943 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 11th Antiaircraft Artillery Group. Inactivated 6 October 1945 in Germany. Allotted 9 December 1948 to the Regular Army. Activated 15 January 1949 at Fort Bliss, Texas.
The brigade served in the Persian Gulf War, during which the brigade recorded the first intercept of a ballistic missile in combat.[5] Prior to its deployment it consisted of:
The 1st Battalion, 2nd ADA was left behind at Fort Stewart when the brigade deployed. Battery D, 1st Battalion, 7th ADA (Patriot) was attached from 94th ADA Brigade, 32nd AADCOM in Europe, and 2nd Battalion, 43rd ADA was attached from 10th ADA Brigade, 32nd AADCOM.
Thomas D. Dinackus notes that every battalion that was part of the brigade received the Valorous Unit Award, despite three of the battalions (those not equipped with Patriot) not having fired a single shot in anger.