 The 71st Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps, reconstituted and consolidated with the 71st Coast Artillery (Antiaircraft) Regiment at Fort Monroe, Virginia, on July 1, 1940, using officers of the 504th Coast Artillery (Antiaircraft) Regiment, Organized Reserve, a 65-man cadre from the 52nd Coast Artillery in Harbor Defense Sandy Hook, and a similar group from 70th Coast Artillery (Anti Aircraft) Regiment at Fort Moultrie and Fort Screven (see Tybee Island, Georgia).The 1st Battalion activated on July 31, 1940, and the 2nd Battalion on Jan. 3, 1941 at Fort Story, Virginia (now Joint Expeditionary Base East).Regiment moved to anti-aircraft positions in the vicinity of Norfolk, VA, December 8, 1941, to January 7, 1942, when the regiment moved to the Washington, D.C., area, to establish anti-aircraft defenses.