Area defense artillery battalion stands up at Kadena

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KADENA AIR BASE, Japan (AFPN) --  The 1-1 Air Defense Artillery Battalion (PAC-3) stood up during a ceremony Nov. 29 at the 18th Wing Headquarters here.

"Today is an important day for our soldiers and our people -- it is a commemoration and an honoring of our personnel and the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in our unit's history here in Okinawa," said Maj. Kevin Ciocca of the 1-1 ADA Battalion.

"The PAC-3 is purely a defensive system which serves to dissuade potential adversaries from pursuing ballistic missiles by removing their ability to intimidate and coerce the U.S. and Japan. This system also serves to deter adversaries from using ballistic missiles by reducing their military value and increasing the risk that a ballistic missile attack would fail," he said.

The ceremony was a military formality recognizing the stand up of the unit.
Consistent with the May 2006 U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee Roadmap for Realignment Implementation, the Department of Defense relocated the 1-1 ADA from Fort Bliss, Texas, to Kadena AB.

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