Fort Sill To Welcome Air Defense Artillery Unit

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) -- Fort Sill will roll out the red carpet Friday for the first air defense artillery unit to relocate to the Comanche County Army base.<br/><br/>The Sixth Battalion, 52nd Air Defense

Thursday, July 13th 2006, 6:21 am

By: News On 6

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) -- Fort Sill will roll out the red carpet Friday for the first air defense artillery unit to relocate to the Comanche County Army base.

The Sixth Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery will unfurl its colors in a welcome ceremony at Fort Sill's Polo Field Friday morning.

The unit's arrival from Germany is the first part of Fort Sill's implementation of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decision. The Pentagon ordered air defense artillery training to be merged with Fort Sill's field artillery school. The merger is scheduled to be complete at Fort Sill in 2010.

Lawton is preparing for an estimated 11,000 new residents, including military, civilian and contract employees and their dependents, over the next several years.