Army Air Defense Command SSI

One of the biggest questions that I had when I first began collecting militaria was, besides eBay, where does one find this stuff? The boards are full of collectors who routinely discover great items at estate sales, garage sales, flea markets, and antique stores. So, armed with visions of easy pickings, I descended upon my local flea markets, garage sales, antique stores, and the rare estate sale convinced that my collection would grow by leaps and bounds.... and quickly learned that those guys on the boards must be stretching the truth just a touch. Of the very few items of interest that did turn up, most were exorbitantly overpriced or suffering from some sort of damage.

One of the rare exceptions to my streak of antique store strikeouts occurred while back in Michigan over Thanksgiving. Browsing one of my favorite antique malls from back in the day, I spotted this pair of Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM) patches tucked away at the bottom of a locked curio. Although these patches are not uncommon, the fact that they remain in very nice shape in spite of obviously being worn made the $3.00 price tag (for the pair) a no-brainer.

ARADCOM was established in 1957, born from the already existing Army Antiaircraft Artillery Command (ARAACOM), and headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO. The SSI pictured here was approved on 10 April 1958, replacing the insignia previously approved for the ARAACOM. Responsible for the air defense of the continental United States, soldiers assigned to ARADCOM manned antiaircraft gun and missile batteries scattered all across the nation - including several in Detroit and other parts of Michigan. While it would be nice to think that these patches once adorned the shoulders of a Michigan-based soldier, there's no way to know for sure.

As the Cold War raged on, the ever-present Nike missile batteries and watchful antiaircraft gun emplacements kept a watchful eye on the skies above American cities, towns, and "strategic resources". Beginning in 1964, and escalating in the early 1970's, the number of batteries steadily decreased as a direct result of the Soviet Union's nuclear strategy. The switch from long-range bombers to ICBMs resulted in a lessened need for surface-to-air defenses and so, by the end of 1974, ARADCOM no longer fielded any operational batteries. The SSI was rescinded on 20 January 1975.

Judging from the cut-edge construction and moderate abundance of "snow", I would date these patches to be from the early days of the command - say somewhere between 1958 and 1965. I'm tempted to build an Air Defense collection around these finds, but I really need to stick to my own advice and focus, focus, focus. Yeah right!