Archived Historical Documents

Operational Documents

A few of the operational documents that guided Air Defense Artillery during the Vietnam War.

FM 44-1 U.S. Army Air Defense Employment

Field Manual No. 44-1 U.S. Army Air Defense Employment is a guide for commanders and staff officers concerned with the organization, training, deployment and employment of Army Air Defense (AD) units and the integration of that capability with other U.S. forces.  Hq, D.A. October 1965

FM 44-2 Air Defense Artillery Employment (Automatic Weapons) M42/M55 c1May 1967

FM 44-2 is a guide for air defense artillery automatic weapon (ADA) (AW) commanders at all levels from battalion to squad, and for commander and staff responsible for the employment of these weapons. The manual discusses the employment of ADA AW units; the procedures to support them in various tactical situations; and the organization of ADA AW units.  Automatic Weapons are the M42 and the M55. The M42 consists of a full tracked, lightly armored 40mm gun motor carriage with two 40mm guns,  often called the Duster. The M55 is a multiple caliber .50 caliber machine gun mount with four .50 caliber machine guns. It can be towed for short distances, loaded into a truck bed, or sling loaded from helicopters. It is often called the Quad. 

Historically this is the first manual to give guidance for ADA AW in its secondary ground support role.  Our copy includes change 1 effective 19 May 1967. 

Organizational Documents

A few of the organizational documents that document Air Defense Artillery to include during the Vietnam War.

CMH Pub_60-5 ADA history

Center of Military History Publication 60-5 is the source document for unit linage and heraldry.

Our archived document is 2000

Maps

A few of the maps and other source documents that map help historians or other visitors interested in Air Defense Artillery during the Vietnam War.

Texas Tech Fire Bases (FB or FSB), Landing Zones (LZ) asof 2024

Texas Tech has worked for years developing a listing of US and allied places and names in the Republic of Vietnam Area of Operations (RVN AO). The data are from AAR’s (After-Action Reports),
ORLL’s (Operational Reports—Lessons Learned), DSJ’s (Daily Staff (S2/S3) Journals), published works as
attributed, and other documents.

Our archived document is as of 2024

Historical Documents

A few of the historical documents that preserve the heritage of Air Defense Artillery during the Vietnam War or other conflicts.

Fisher Body Cleveland Plant 2 in World War Two

The Fisher Body Cleveland Plant 2 was the primary assembly location for the M42 Duster in World War Two. This file contains some information about the facility and pictures.