61st Air Defense Artillery Regiment ( United States ) The 61st Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an air defense artillery regiment in the United States Army Lineage . Constituted 10 December 1917 as the 61st Artillery ( CAC ) . Activated at Fort Moultrie 9 March 1918 , organized at Fort Monroe and transferred to Fort Eustis for shipment to France . Arrived in France 31 July 1918 and assigned to 33rd Brigade ( CAC ) . returned to New York 27 February 1919 National Guard and reserve personnel demobilized at Camp Upton . Redesignated 61st Artillery ( AA ) Battalion ( CAC ) 1 June 1922 and reorganized as follows : Redesignated 61st Coast Artillery ( AA ) Regiment 30 June 1924 and reorganized as follows - Reassigned to Fort Sheridan 14 May 1930 18 November 1939 Batteries C and D activated , 28 November 1939 2nd Battalion activated 10 July 1942 two detachments formed as separate Gun Battalions , and later redesignated 494th AAA Gun Battalion , and 495th AAA Gun Battalion . Regiment deactivated and broken up 14 June 1944 as follows - 28 June 1950 consolidated with elements of the 61st Coast Artillery Regiment which was concurrently reconstituted to form the 61st Antiaircraft Artillery Group with the following composition : Group Headquarters was established at Camp Stewart , Georgia . reorganized and redesignated the 61st Artillery Regiment in 1958 , and consolidated with the 436th Antiaircraft Artillery Missile Battalion ( NIKE ) , the 548th Antiaircraft Artillery Missile Battalion ( NIKE ) , and the 740th Antiaircraft Artillery Missile Battalion ( NIKE ) to form the present elements of the regiment . In addition , the 58th Antiaircraft Artillery Battery ( EW ) at Fort Bliss was reorganized and designated as Battery C ( Electronic Warfare ) , 61st Artillery and assigned to Fourth United States Army . A Gold color metal and enamel device 7 / 8 inch ( 2 . 22 cm ) in height overall blazoned as follows : Per fess dancette Argent and Sable , a thunderbolt bendwise Proper penetrating the chariot wheel of Helios winged with two dexter wings inverted forming a saltire with the first charged all counterchanged and upon the wheel the sun in splendor of the third . The aim and purpose of the unit are told in pictorial form by the story from Greek mythology of the winged chariot of Helios which was brought to earth by a bolt of lightning thrown by Zeus . A summary of the story is as follows : Helios , the sun , drove across the heavens from east to west daily , in a winged chariot drawn by the celestial horses . His son , Phaeton , in order to please his mother , and to satisfy those who doubted that he was really a son of Helios , obtained permission from his father to take his place in the chariot for one day . Phaeton had scarcely taken the reins when the celestial horses , despising their weak driver , turned out of their patch and set everything on fire . When the chariot came so near the earth that the Ethiopians were blackened by the near approach of the sun , Zeus , with a well aimed bolt of lightning , wrecked the chariot and sent it plunging into the river Po . This is the first historical record of a hit being scored against an aerial target . The shield is divided by the saw tooth line taken from Lord Delaware ’ s arms which were the basis of the coat of arms for the Coast - Defense of the Chesapeake . The upper part of the shield is white , the lower half black , for day and knight . The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 61st Artillery Battalion on 16 November 1923 . It was redesignated for the 61st Coast Artillery Regiment on 12 December 1939 . The insignia was redesignated for the 61st Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion on 10 August 1955 . It was redesignated for the 61st Artillery Regiment on 19 December 1958 . It was redesignated for the 61st Air Defense Artillery Regiment effective 1 September 1971 . Per fess dancette Argent and Sable , a thunderbolt bendwise Proper penetrating the chariot wheel of Helios winged with two dexter wings inverted forming a saltire with the first charged all counterchanged and upon the wheel the sun in splendor of the third . On a wreath of the colors Argent and Sable , an eagle ’ s head erased Or . Motto NON EST AD ASTRA MOLLIS E TERRIS VIA ( The Way To the Stars Is Not Easy ) . The aim and purpose of the unit are told in pictorial form by the story from Greek mythology of the winged chariot of Helios which was brought to earth by a bolt of lightning thrown by Zeus . A summary of the story is as follows : Helios , the sun , drove across the heavens from east to west daily , in a winged chariot drawn by the celestial horses . His son , Phaeton , in order to please his mother , and to satisfy those who doubted that he was really a son of Helios , obtained permission from his father to take his place in the chariot for one day . Phaeton had scarcely taken the reins when the celestial horses , despising their weak driver , turned out of their patch and set everything on fire . When the chariot came so near the earth that the Ethiopians were blackened by the near approach of the sun , Zeus , with a well aimed bolt of lightning , wrecked the chariot and sent it plunging into the river Po . This is the first historical record of a hit being scored against an aerial target . The shield is divided by the saw tooth line taken from Lord Delaware ’ s arms which were the basis of the coat of arms for the Coast - Defense of the Chesapeake . The upper part of the shield is white , the lower half black , for day and knight . The crest is from the arms of James Monroe with the colors reversed , a red eagle ’ s head on a gold shield . Coat of arms . Background . The coat of arms was originally approved for the 1st Antiaircraft Battalion on 25 October 1921 . It was redesignated for the 61st Battalion ( Antiaircraft ) on 10 June 1922 . It was redesignated for the 61st Coast Artillery Regiment on 15 December 1939 . The insignia was redesignated for the 61st Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion on 10 August 1955 . It was redesignated for the 61st Artillery Regiment on 19 December 1958 . It was redesignated for the 61st Air Defense Artillery Regiment effective 1 September 1971 . Campaign streamers . World War I World War II Korea