Fort Sherman History |
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| SECTION 1 - Canal Defense  The
History of the Panama Canal Coastal DefenseAN AMERICAN LEGACY
IN PANAMA1st AIR DEFENSE
ARTILLERY2d BATTALION, 1st
AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERYCoastal Artillery photos The American Harbor Defenses of the Panama CanalSECTION 2 - SECTION 3 - SECTION 4 - |
Please be
patient as I continue to construct the units that occupied Fort Sherman and the missions
they carried out while here in Panama. The first US Army troops, 812 enlisted men and 33 officers of the 10th Infantry, arrived on October 4, 1911, to be followed by other infantry, cavalry, engineer, signal, and field artillery units that made up what was known as the Mobile Force. Initially, these troops operated under the Isthmian Canal Commission with the general designation of Panama Canal Guard. Concurrent with the Canal construction, giant artillery guns were built and manned, and Army posts such as Fort Sherman on the Atlantic and Fort Amador on the Pacific side of the isthmus, were planned and constructed between 1911 and 1912. The best of their day, the guns were mounted in massive concrete emplacements at each end of the Canal. 1st AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY Reconstituted 1 July 1924 in the Regular Army as the 1st Coast Artillery and partially organized with Headquarters at Fort de Lesseps, Canal Zone (1st Battalion activated 1 June 1926 at Fort Randolph, Canal Zone; inactivated 31 July 1926 at Fort Randolph, Canal Zone. 1st and 2d Battalions activated 15 April 1932 at Forts Randolph and Sherman, Canal Zone, respectively. 3d Battalion activated 15 March 1950 at Fort Randolph, Canal Zone. 1st and 2d Battalions inactivated 30 March 1941 at Forts Sherman and Randolph, Canal Zone, respectively; activated 17 April 1942 at Fort Sherman, Canal Zone) Regiment broken up 1 November 1944 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as follows: Headquarters and Headquarters Battery as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Coast Artillery Group Remainder of regiment as the 1st Coast Artillery Battalion After 1 November 1944 the above units underwent changes as follows: Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Coast Artillery Group, reorganized and redesignated 2 January 1945 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, Harbor Defenses of Cristobal Inactivated 15 January 1947 at Fort Sherman, Canal Zone Redesignated 21 June 1950 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Antiaircraft Artillery Group Consolidated 18 November 1952 with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Antiaircraft Artillery Group (see ANNEX), and consolidated unit designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Antiaircraft Artillery Group Activated 15 April 1953 in Germany Inactivated 26 December 1957 in Germany 1st Coast Artillery Battalion disbanded 1 February 1946 at Fort Sherman, Canal Zone Reconstituted 21 June 1950 in the Regular Army as the 1st Coast Artillery to consist of the 1st and 2d Battalions; 1st and 2d Battalions concurrently redesignated as the 1st and 54th Antiaircraft Battalions, respectively 2d BATTALION, 1st AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY Activated 1 June 1926 at Fort Randolph, Canal Zone Inactivated 31 July 1926 at Fort Randolph, Canal Zone Activated 15 April 1932 at Fort Randolph, Canal Zone Inactivated 30 March 1941 at Fort Sherman, Canal Zone Activated 17 April 1942 at Fort Sherman, Canal Zone Reorganized and redesignated 1 November 1944 as Battery B, 1st Coast Artillery Battalion Disbanded 1 February 1946 at Fort Sherman, Canal Zone 14th Infantry "Jungleers." |
