3:81st Arty

The 3rd Battalion, 81st Artillery (3/81st Arty) was originally constituted in the Regular Army and has a lineage tracing back to World War I-era artillery formations. It was activated during the Cold War as part of the U.S. Army’s efforts to bolster artillery firepower in Europe, particularly within the 32nd Army Air Defense Command. Stationed in Germany, the battalion operated as a key Nike-Hercules missile unit tasked with air defense against potential Soviet aerial threats. The 3/81st Artillery was eventually inactivated in the 1980s as the Army modernized its air defense systems and restructured its European forces.