301st ASA Bn 1968-70
byof Duncan Brown
A short history of the 301st ASA Battalion.
(Short because it is only what I know of it during the two years I was
a part of it: May '68 to March '70.)
301st ASA pin (worn on cap), about an inch in diameter: black bat with
outstretched wings above a yellow moon; inscription "THROUGH THE NIGHT"
in blue on chrome background. 1968-1970.
In 1968-1970, the 301st ASA Battalion was located on Ft. Bragg, NC.
Its member units consisted of:
Headquarters & Headquarters Co.
358th ASA Co. -- Supported the 82nd Airborne Division,
376th ASA Co.(EW) -- Supported XVIII Airborne Corp,
370th ASA Operations Co. (A) -- Supported XVIII Airborne Corp.
The 358th wore the 82nd Airborne patch, the rest of us wore the XVIII
Airborne patch ("Puff the magic dragon")
These units were all located in old wooden baracks at the north end of
Ft. Bragg, next to Pope Airbase. The 376th specialized in Electronic
Warfare (EW), and was very small. It may have been reclassified as a
detachment and/or closed down while I was there.
There was also the 414th ASA Det, located at Ft. Mead.
The 370th ASA Opns Co moved to Ft. Bragg on 27 May 1968 from Vint Hill
Farms. The 370th was a "transportable" field station, with all the
"operations" equipment mounted on seven low-boy trailers that could be
connected together into one operations center. The official name for
the trailers was "Operations Unit Transportable System (OUTS)", aka
"the outhouse". (See "Duty Roster" for more details.)
The 370th was probably one of the few organizations at Ft. Bragg (other
than training units) with a real mission during thoes years. We had
trailer mounted log-periodic antennas pointing south and listened 24
hrs a day.
I don't remember any other secure operations center in the the 301st Bn
area.
According to Bill Jackson (wmjake@erols.com) the 370th returned to Vint
Hill around 1971. Dave Davis[drdavis@lmtas.lmco.com] says he worked
on/in the Outhouse at VHFS in 1972.
According to the Phantom Chapter MI web page
http://www.genstar.net/mil-link/localorg/mica/phantom3.htm the 376th
& 370th became companies A & B of the 303rd MI Bn (formerly the 303rd
ASA Bn) of the 504th MI Group (now 504th MI Brigade) in 1978.
Duncan Brown, K2OEQ
SP6 31J20/33F30
337th RRC '67
370th ASA OPS '68-70
duncanancy@mindex.com