Counter-drone expert takes charge of Army air-defense brigade for Japan, Guam

SAGAMI GENERAL DEPOT, Japan — A former director of the military’s joint counter-drone training center took command Wednesday of the Army brigade responsible for air and missile defense in Japan and Guam.

Col. Moseph Sauda assumed command of the 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade from Col. Joseph Scott during a ceremony attended by soldiers, family members and representatives of the Japan Self-Defense Forces.

Sauda previously served as the first director of Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems University at Fort Sill, Okla. The school trains troops to operate counter-drone systems, develop defense plans and instruct others in responding to unmanned-aircraft threats.

“To our U.S. and Japanese leaders, it is an honor to serve alongside you at a moment where our nations depend on unity, discipline and resolve,” Sauda said at the ceremony led by Brig. Gen. William Parker, commander of the Hawaii-based 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command.

Scott commanded the brigade for 25 months and will move to a position with the 94th at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, according to Scott. The command oversees Army air-defense forces throughout the Indo-Pacific.

“It’s bittersweet,” Scott told Stars and Stripes after the ceremony. “Even with all of the things that we’ve accomplished in the last 25 months, there’s still so much more I would have liked to get done.”

Scott said brigade soldiers who deployed to U.S. Central Command on short notice took part in the largest Patriot missile volley in history.

Col. Joseph Scott, right, outgoing commander of the 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, passes the unit colors to Brig. Gen. William Parker, head of 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, at Sagami General Depot, Japan, Aug. 5, 2026. (Marc Castaneda/Stars and Stripes)

Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in June 2025 that 44 Army air-defense soldiers at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar fired a record single volley of Patriot interceptors at incoming Iranian missiles.

The attack followed Operation Midnight Hammer, the U.S. bombing campaign against Iran nuclear facilities on June 22, 2025.

The 38th brigade was reactivated in Japan in 2018 and is responsible for Army air and missile defense forces in Japan and Guam, according to the command’s website.

The brigade traces its history to World War I, when it was organized as a coastal artillery unit. It was reactivated during World War II as the 38th Anti-Aircraft Brigade and participated in five campaigns in Europe before being deactivated in 1946.