Air Defense Artillery In World War I

This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the U.S. participation in World War I. It was in 1917 that Gen. John Pershing and his American Expeditionary Force embarked onto the shores of France to begin training and readiness into what became known globally as The Great War. As America entered World War I, new technologies from the Industrial Age were introduced into combat.

- David Christensen

This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the U.S. participation in World War I. It was in 1917 that Gen. John Pershing and his American Expeditionary Force embarked onto the shores of France to begin training and readiness into what became known globally as The Great War. As America entered World War I, new technologies from the Industrial Age were introduced into combat. These became overwhelming combat force multipliers to those who mastered their lethality; one such asset was the introduction of the aero-plane. The aero-plane soon became adapted by war planners to serve in a variety of missions ranging from aerial observation to long-range bombing missions deep behind enemy lines. By 1915, the Germans developed bombers that terrorized Paris and by 1917 Germany’s Goth bombers were crossing the English Channel and successfully bombing London. To counter this new emerging threat, the war department reached out to the coastal artillery and elected Brig. Gen. James Shipton to be the first chief of the Anti-Aircraft Service. Shipton soon departed for France where he stood up the first American Anti-Aircraft School Sept. 26, 1917, while in theater with the AEF.

Original class of 1917