On This Day — January 7, 1861 One battery stood up — and air defense history began long before aircraft existed. At the United States Military Academy, Battery D, 5th U.S. Artillery — known as the “West Point Battery” — was formally organized. There were no airplanes. No radar. No missiles. Just Soldiers, guns, discipline — and a mission to defend. That unit would evolve over time into the 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, becoming one of the longest-serving lineages in Army air defense histor