32nd Army Air & Missile Defense Command The 32d Army Air and Missile Defense Command ( AAMDC ) is a theater level Army air and missile defense multi - component organization with a worldwide , 72 - hour deployment mission . 32d AAMDC consists of four brigades , 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade , 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade , 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade , and 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade ; all stand ready to accomplish any mission – anywhere , anytime in support of the warfighting CINC . Recent contingency deployments to Southwest Asia ( SWA ) and an intense exercise schedule in Korea exemplify the vital role and mission that the organization plays . Mission . On order , 32nd AAMDC rapidly deploys forces to conduct joint and combined / coalition air and missile defense operations for the regional combatant commander . Function . The 32d Army Air and Missile Defense Command ( AAMDC ) is the Army Forces and Joint Forces Land Component Commanders ' ( ARFOR / JFLCC ) organization that performs critical theater air and missile defense planning , integration , coordination , and execution functions . The 32d AAMDC coordinates and integrates the four operational elements ( or pillars ) of theater missile defense ( TMD ) : passive defense , active defense , attack operations , and battle management / command , control , communications , computers , and intelligence ( BM / C4I ) to protect contingency , forward deployed , and reinforcing forces , as well as designated theater strategic assets . The 32d AAMDC commands echelon above corps ( EAC ) ADA brigades and other assigned forces . The 32d AAMDC is based at FT Bliss , Texas and falls within the authority and under the operational control of U . S . Forces Command . Current Army authorization documents provide for four AAMDC ' s ( three Active Component , and one Reserve Component ) . Used for attack operations , standard Army processes are unwieldy and inefficient . A more streamlined method is needed that places TMD responsibility under a single executive agent . Such a method exits and is being refined in SWA . Commander in chief , USARCENT and CFLCC , has designated a single authority for the conduct of TMD operations in the SWA theater of operations — in this case , the Commander , Air Component Command , and Commanding General , Ninth Air Force . In a break with Army tradition , the Commanding General , CFLCC , gives up operational control of 32d AAMDC when Ninth Air Force is in theater , effectively establishing a single focused authority over theater missile defense on the peninsula . The theater missile defense operations center functions as a staff under the combined forces air component command and is responsible for planning , coordinating , and integrating theater - level missile operations . The center is split - based with Ninth Air Force in theater and 32d AAMDC in Ft . Bliss , TX . During either an exercise or in wartime , 32d AAMDC collocates in the JAOC and integrates operations with the Ninth Air Force cell . In addition , it dispatches liaison teams to the separate ADA Brigades . Joint attack operations is an ongoing venture , beginning with intelligence preparation of the battle space conducted jointly between AAMDC and the Ninth Air Force intelligence cell . Information sharing aids the process . Attack strategy is jointly drafted and approved . Pre - planned and immediate attack mission requests are developed . AAMDC brings experience as well as considerable technical capabilities with its intelligence tools such as the generic area limitation environment and all source analysis systems . The in - country analysts bring enormous SWA - specific knowledge and access to quick - response Air Force collection systems . With these resources , joint intelligence identifies the enemy theater missile order of battle , operational patterns and techniques , capabilities and weaknesses , likely operating areas , and other exploitable information . History . To date , the 32d AAMDC has proven itself as the premier example of success with the Total Force concept . Composed of in excess of 200 active duty ( FT Bliss ) soldiers , 10 civil service personnel , and numerous contractors , the 32d AAMDC has performed and validated its critical TMD mission and conducted extensive training during numerous joint and combined exercises – including Prairie Warrior 96 , Ulchi Focus Lens 96 , 97 & 98 , Roving Sands 96 and 97 , Coherent Defense 97 , U . S . / Russian TMD Exercise ( Jan 98 ) , and JTFEX / TMDI ( Feb 99 ) . The successes identified during these exercises , and during individual and collective training , demonstrate both the Active and Reserve Components ' willingness and commitment to the Total Force concept . In early February 98 , and prior to its official activation ( 16 Oct 98 ) , the 32d AAMDC deployed to support Combined Task Force - Kuwait during Operation Desert Thunder . The 32nd AAMDC performs critical theater - level air and missile defense planning , integration , coordination and execution functions . The unit coordinates and integrates the operational elements of theater missile defense in support of the ground maneuver forces . The unit commanded the echelon above corps ADA brigades , which in this case are TF 1 - 1 ADA and TF 3 – 43 ADA . After successfully deploying into Kuwait with little notice , the 32d AAMDC assumed command of one Patriot Task Force , conducted RSOI and assumed command of a second patriot task force , wrote the air and missile defense plan for Operation Desert Thunder , and executed the TAMD mission in a contingency theater . Further , the 32d AAMDC played the pivotal role in developing procedures for combined U . S . and Kuwaiti theater air and missile defense , interoperability , and training ; expanding the TBM alert and warning architecture within CTF - Kuwait ; and conducting distributed interactive simulation ( DIS ) training while performing its mission in a contingency environment . While deployed to the Southwest Asia ( SWA ) theater of operations , the 32d AAMDC commander also performed the functions of Theater Army Air Defense Coordinator ( TAADCOORD ) and Deputy Area Air Defense Commander ( DAADC ) – ensuring that Army Air and Missile Defense was integrated with counterair , active defense operations , and planning at the theater level . The 32d AAMDC provided liaison officers to each of the major theater elements : Air Component Commander ( ACC ) , Land Component Commander ( LCC ) , Battlefield Coordination Detachment ( BCD ) , Joint Special Operations Task Force ( JSOTF ) , and Allies to provide coordinated execution of integrated AD and TMD operations . With the addition of the 32nd AAMDC to the joint coalition task force , soldiers on the ground now have access to a new early warning system . This system , which is basically a redundant system relying on digital pagers , can alert soldiers to possible biological and chemical agents before they are released by incoming Scud missiles . Within seconds of a Scud launch , the 32nd AAMDC TOC can predict its trajectory and where a warhead will impact . In less than two minutes , this information will then be relayed to the unit commanders who are at the predicted impact site . These commanders will then pass the word to the troops , giving them time to protect themselves . By monitoring the air picture , the 32nd AAMDC TOC can also pinpoint where a Scud missile has been launched . Once the location has been discovered , it ' s just a matter of calling in to the land - component command to counterattack the site . This assures that no further missiles will ever be launched from that site again . In Nov 98 , the 32d AAMDC deployed to Kuwait to conduct contingency planning and coordination in support of CTF - Kuwait during Operation Desert Thunder II / Southern Overwatch . During the period Dec 98 – Jan 99 , the unit was again deployed to SWA in support of Operation Desert Fox . Lineage . The unit was first constituted in January 1918 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 32d Artillery Brigade ( Coast Artillery Corps ) and organized at Key West Barracks , Florida Demobilized 18 January 1919 at Camp Hill , Virginia Reconstituted 18 October 1927 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery , 32d Coast Artillery Brigade Activated 20 November 1942 at Fort Bliss , Texas Redesignated 28 May 1943 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery , 32d Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade . Inactivated 30 May 1947 in the Philippine Islands . Activated 6 February 1951 in England . Redesignated 11 March 1958 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery , 32d Artillery Brigade . 32nd AADCOM also had a presence in Germany in the 1960s and 70s , basing its headquarters in Kaiserslautern ( until 1976 ) and thereafter at Darmstadt . There was a Nike - Hercules missile battery in Hontheim , Germany . There were also HAWK missile batteries in Schweinfurt , Germany The battalion headquarters was in Baumholder ( Birkenfeld , Rhineland - Palatinate ) They were supplied by the Spangdahlem Air Force base ( Bitburg - Prüm , Rhineland - Palatinate ) . After overcoming some reliability problems , the Patriot was issued in 1985 to units of the 32d Army Air Defense Command , a major subordinate command of U . S . Army , Europe . At this point , the Patriot was capable only of shooting down aircraft , including helicopters . A major effort to improve the capabilities of the Patriot system was already under way . Two Patriot batteries from the 32d Army Air Defense Command ' s 10th Air Defense Artillery Brigade were designated for the airlift to Israel the Gulf War . All of the American Patriot units that fought in DESERT STORM were drawn from the 11th Brigade and from several similar brigades of U . S . Army , Europe ' s 32d Army Air Defense Command . Inactivated 15 July 1995 in Germany . Formerly a provisional organization assigned to TRADOC , the 32d Army Air and Missile Defense Command ( 32d AAMDC ) , Fort Bliss , TX , officially activated as a theater level command on 16 October 1998 . It is assigned to Headquarters , United States Army Forces Command ( FORSCOM ) , per FORSCOM Permanent Orders 271 - 2 dated 28 September 1998 . Effective with the activation , 32d AAMDC assumes C2 of the 11th and the 35th ADA Brigades . The 32nd AD also tested the Patriot Missile in Crete during " Reforger " a mission that was conducted around 1983 – 1985 this was essential in making the Patriot system mission capable . Soon after Validation . Patriot was passed off to allies such as Israel , to ward off attacks from neighboring , hostile countries in the Middle east region . Many believe this was the intention of the American government all along . Heraldry . Nickname : The 32nd AAMDC adopted the nickname “ Blackjack ” shortly after its activation in 1998 . This nickname was originally given to Gen . John J . Pershing . Gen . Pershing was born in Laclede , Missouri on 13 Sept . 1860 . He graduated from the U . S . Military Academy in 1886 and served in several Indian wars . In 1895 , after leading an all - black unit in a clash with the Cree Indians in Montana , he received the nickname “ Black Jack . ” Gen . Pershing was assigned to Fort Bliss in April 1914 , where he served until 1917 , when he was appointed to command the American Expeditionary Force in Europe . Patch : The red and yellow colors of the 32nd AAMDC patch represent the Artillery . The five arrowheads ( representing missiles ) allude to the air defense mission of the command . Their placement three and two , respectively , refer to the unit ’ s numerical designation . Insignia : The star is a symbol of achievement , and represents the command . The five points of the star allude to the organization ’ s participation in World War I ( St . Mihiel and Meuse - Argonne ) and World War II ( New Guinea and Leyte ) as well as the command ’ s Philippine Presidential Unit Citation .