Seventh Army Training Center
Seventh U.S. Army
Looking for more information from military/civilian personnel assigned to or associated with the U.S. Army in Germany from 1945 to 1989. If you have any stories or thoughts on the subject, please contact me.

7ATC JMTC HISTORY

The Seventh US Army Joint Multinational Training Command, and associated training facilities have a long history of preparing Soldiers for combat operations.

The area that JMTC now occupies at Grafenwoehr and Vilseck, was first used in 1907 by Prince Luitpold, Regent of Bavaria, to train the Third Bavarian Corps. The first artillery round fired at Grafenwoehr went downrange at 8 a.m., June 30, 1910 and by 1911, the Camp of Grafenwoehr was declared fully operational with about thirty-seven square miles of fir forest as a training area.

After World War I, Grafenwoehr was taken from the control of the Bavarian Army and placed under the Berlin High Command. At the same time Grafenwoehr was used to train the German Reichwehr, the 100,000 man army authorized under the Versailles Treaty. In 1933, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany and by 1935 the Reichwehr had been forgotten. Completely disregarding the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler’s Wehrmacht was created and grew to the point where available manpower was its only limitation. During this period, Grafenwoehr expanded and local inhabitants were evacuated to make room for larger training facilities until the training area covered fifty square miles.

In 1937, the Vilseck installation was constructed by the German Army as a horse artillery post which could accommodate a complete regiment in permanent barracks. Later a tank shop was added and some of the horse stables were converted into tank sheds. In 1938 the training area was expanded to its present size of approximately eighty-nine square miles.

The Wildflecken and Hohenfels Training Areas were established in 1937 and 1938 to support the expansion of the Wehrmacht. A story states that Hitler not only used Grafenwoehr as the training area for his massive army, but had what is now Route 22 constructed as an invasion route to Czechoslovakia. It was not marked on any maps at that time. On 29 August 1939, troops of the German 2nd Artillery Regiment left Grafenwoehr to join the Polish Campaign. When Czechoslovakia surrendered, all ammunition and equipment belonging to its deposed army was moved to and stored in Grafenwoehr. During World War II, these training areas were used for training of the German Army and eastern auxiliary units, and for confinement of prisoners of war. During this period, Hitler's personal bodyguard, the Leibstandarte SS, was trained in Grafenwoehr, as were units of Rommel's famed Afrika Corps and the Spanish Blue Division. The curving road paralleling the eastern border of the Grafenwoehr Training Area, leading to Vilseck was also built. SS troops trained there to drive in the dark under blackout conditions. Several foreign divisions, including Italian, Spanish, and Hungarian forces, also trained in this area.

The last few weeks of World War II brought chaos to Grafenwoehr as allied bombers sent a hail of bombs into the camp and town. A bombing raid on 5 April 1945, and another three days later, destroyed nearly 80 percent of the buildings in the camp. Two weeks after the bombing, elements of the 90th Infantry Division of the Third U.S. Army, entered Grafenwoehr, occupying the town and camp without resistance. The lower gate in the town was demolished because it was too narrow for the passage of tanks. With its destruction, the last remnant of the middle age entrance to the town disappeared.

Immediately following World War II, Grafenwoehr was inactive with the exception of the American Army of Occupation. Vilseck was used as the Third Army Stockade for German Prisoners of War and a camp for Polish and Jewish displaced persons. There was no extensive training conducted in the training area until May 1947, when the American 370th and 371st Infantry Battalions were activated and trained in Grafenwoehr. Training was later carried on by the United States Constabulary and the First Infantry Division. Vilseck was selected by the US Constabulary in 1948 as the site for the Tank Training Center. In 1951, with the start of the Cold War, Grafenwoehr, Wildflecken, and Hohenfels became the main training areas for the United States Army, Europe.

JMTC traces its heritage to February 1958 when the Seventh Army Training Center in Vilseck was activated. The entire Grafenwoehr reservation, which included the Grafenwoehr and Vilseck Sub-Posts, became one training center. In 1959, a newly remodeled Grafenwoehr Post became the headquarters of the Seventh Army Training Center.

With the re-establishment of Grafenwoehr as the headquarters of the new Seventh Army Training Center, a number of other changes also took place. The area near Vilseck became the Seventh Army Combined Arms School, and at the same time, the Hohenfels Training Area, about 41 miles southwest of Grafenwoehr, with 40,000 acres, was assigned to the new Training Center. Thus, the Seventh Army Training Center became the largest training complex in Western Germany. The two areas of Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels gave the U.S. Army in Europe the ability to train in all the combat arms. Grafenwoehr became the area for live fire exercises of armor and artillery, while Hohenfels, with its hills and small ranges, was better suited for infantry training. This, plus the Combined Arms School in Vilseck, gave the American fighting soldier in Europe not only classroom training in Armor, Artillery and Infantry tactics, but with the many ranges and training areas, he was also able to go into the field for practical application.

The next big change for the Seventh Army Training Canter came in July 1967 when it was determined that all major U.S. Army training areas should be under one command. The Wildflecken Training Area was included and the merger added some 18,000 acres of training facilities to the 97,000 acres already in use at Grafenwoehr, Vilseck and Hohenfels. Within this total area facilities existed, and continue today, which can be used for firing combat weapons from a .45 caliber pistol to the Honest John Rocket. Maneuver areas, swim sites, artillery firing points, helicopter firing ranges and the vast amounts of space needed, encompassing various types of terrain, afford realistic training to keep the NATO soldier in general, and the U.S. soldier in particular, combat ready.

The year 1970 saw still another move toward combining the training facilities for U.S. soldiers in Europe under one major headquarters. Kimbro Kaserne, near Murnau, began to phase out and in November, the Officer and NCO Maintenance Supervisors' Courses were moved to Vilseck. With this move, the Seventh Army Combined Arms School was re-designated as the USAREUR Combined Arms Training Center (CATC) on 1 July 1971. Another page in the book of the Seventh Army Training Center's constantly expanding support role was added in 1973 with the announcement that it would assume the support and command roles for all USAREUR individual training activities in Europe. Combat support courses from the Combat Support Training Center, Oberammergau, were moved to Vilseck. In addition, though remaining stationary at Bad Toelz, the Non-Commissioned Officers Academy and the Communications-Electronics Training courses were placed under supervision of Vilseck. First to move to Vilseck were the NBC Defense Officer and NCO Courses and the Data Processing Courses in November 1973. In January 1974, with the movement of the Intelligence, Military Police, Legal, Logistics, Card Punch, Systems Design and Analysis, and the Command and Training Management Courses to Vilseck, the military training activity again was renamed. The USAREUR CATC was re-designated the Seventh Army Combined Arms Training Center (7A CATC).

Until 1 July 1974, the 7th Army Training Center was a USAREUR assigned unit. Seventh ATC's Major Training Areas (Grafenwoehr, Hohenfels, and Wildflecken) and the 7A CATC at Vilseck were under the supervision of HQ, 7th ATC in Grafenwoehr which answered directly to U.S. Army, Europe, (USAREUR) headquarters in Heidelberg. Consolidation of Headquarters and Area Support Elements was implemented on 1 July 1974. Under this re-organization, three headquarters -- 21st Support Brigade in Kaiserslautern, V Corps in Frankfurt and VII Corps in Stuttgart -- assumed all logistic and base support functions in West Germany. As part of PROJECT CHASE, 7th ATC began reporting directly to VII Corps as its higher headquarters. This new concept gave local community commanders a more responsive means of improving local support services. Under the control of a regional headquarters, the necessity of sending actions through a distant headquarters that assigns priorities was eliminated.

On 4 March 1975, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Armored Division, with the motto of "Hell on Wheels", was deployed from Ft. Hood, Texas, to the 7th Army Training Center. Called "Brigade 75", it increased NATO combat power. The Mechanized Heavy Brigade consists of the Brigade Headquarters and 498th Forward Support Battalion on a permanent basis at Grafenwoehr, while a cavalry troop, a field artillery battalion, an armor battalion and an engineer company at Grafenwoehr, and a mechanized infantry battalion at Hohenfels and Wildflecken, all rotated to and from the United States on a six month basis.

During the American Bicentennial year of 1976, many changes occurred within the 7th Army Training Center's structure. Effective 1 July 1976, the 7ATC was re-designated as the Seventh Army Training Command and re-organized to serve as the focal point for training management in the United States Army, Europe. Previously, in March 1976, 7ATC Commander Colonel Thomas P. Lynch was promoted to Brigadier General. With the re-designation of the 7ATC, General Lynch became the former Training Center's last and Training Command's first Commander. The Major Training Areas and the 7A CATC became sub-communities of the new command. Two new sub-communities were incorporated into the command, Amberg and Bindlach. The 7ATC Military Community now encompasses 7,540 square miles.

To accomplish the command's expanded role, many training functions previously performed by the USAREUR staff were transferred to 7ATC. Two new organizations, the Combined Arms Training Directorate (CATD) and the Training Support Activity, Europe, (TSAE) were established. In July 1976, 7ATC acquired the directorate, CATD. Its mission: to assist USAREUR commanders in their goal of maximizing available time and resources. CATD stresses dissemination and implementation of TRADOC developments. CATD also evaluates training activities at the Major Training Areas. Through CATD, major USAREUR training needs are identified and data collected and evaluated to determine the validity of training programs and activities. The directorate consists of three branches -- Training Management Branch, Collective Training Branch and the Individual Training Branch. Effective 1 July 1976, the TSAE was activated under 7ATC supervision. It provides audiovisual guidance and coordinates resource management of audiovisual activities throughout USAREUR. TSAE has technical supervision over the Training and Audiovisual Support Centers (TASC) in USAREUR's five major commands (21st Support Brigade, V Corps, VII Corps, 7ATC and Berlin) and over the Training and Audiovisual Support Offices (TASO) in their sub-communities.

As part of the new command, 7A CATC acquired a three-fold mission: to provide theater-oriented training necessary in maintaining and increasing command combat readiness; to provide training on new equipment and theater-oriented combat procedures; and to provide officer, enlisted and civilian personnel training supplementing previous training. To carry out combat readiness missions, 7A CATC supervises the Basic NCO Courses at Vilseck consisting of nine combat arms military specialties in addition to the Primary Leadership Course in Bad Toelz I think this was the grandfather of what is now WLC, yes? . To supplement previous training, 7A CATC supervises training of the Race Relations-Equal Opportunity, Alcohol & Drug Abuse Control, Resource Management and Facility Engineering Courses in Munich and the Automatic Data Processing Course at Zweibruecken. - I would verify these as well.

In 1987, USAREUR formed the Combat Maneuver Training Center at Hohenfels, creating the Army's third Combat Training Center. CMTC was composed of the Operations Group, consisting of observer/controllers and staff; and an opposing force composed of the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment. With the opening of CMTC, Hohenfels became the primary maneuver training area for USAREUR while Grafenwoehr served exclusively for gunnery training.

As part of USAREUR’s transformation, CMTC was renamed the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in 2005. JMRC continues the missions and tradition of CMTC as USAREUR’s premiere in-the-dirt maneuver training center. In 1991, Grafenwoehr became the home of the 100th Area Support Group, now known as U.S. Army Garrisons Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels. The garrisons administer community support functions for the American military communities of Hohenfels, Vilseck, and Grafenwoehr.

Throughout its history, 7th ATC has been the centerpiece of USAREUR's operations in peace and preparation for war. The command was a focal point in USAREUR's and VII Corps training for OPERATION DESERT STORM. More recently, 7th ATC led Army efforts in the creation and practice of stability operations doctrine and use of computer assisted simulations in training.

In 1994, 7th ATC hosted the largest; most technologically complex, joint and combined computer assisted training exercise in the Army to date, ATLANTIC RESOLVE 94. Also in 1994, Wildflecken was returned to the Bundeswehr as part of the re-engineering of USAREUR.

In 1996, 7th ATC participated in Task Force Eagle being certified in peace support operations prior to their departure for OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR. JMTC has maintained an active role in training units and soldiers deploying to the Balkans as part of OPERATION JOINT GUARD and the recent deployments to Albania, Macedonia, and Kosovo for OPERATION JOINT GUARDIAN.

In 2005, the Seventh Army Training Command officially changed its name to the Joint Multinational Training Command to better represent our key role supporting NATO and the US European Command's Theater Security Cooperation program with joint partnership training. The militaries of Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, the Republic of Georgia, and many others in Europe and North Africa, are seeing what we believe "right looks like" as we assist them in transforming their forces, NCO corps, and training to the challenges of operating as part of a coalition. At that same time, CMTC transformed into the Joint Multinational Readiness Center.

The 7th Army NCO Academy at JMTC has trained hundreds of allied and partner nations’ noncommissioned officers. These NCOs study, train and graduate alongside U.S. Soldiers in our Warrior Leader Course and are now having a profound effect in bringing a professional NCO corps to emerging partners’ militaries.

JMTC is ideally situated to conduct interoperability training and exercises for European- and CONUS-based forces at training areas in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, and others. Most of the training areas we use are capable of supporting aviation and artillery deep strike, and up to brigade-sized ground forces. Apart from training areas and ranges at Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels, JMTC has the ability to TAKE ITS TRAINING ON THE ROAD. With deployable simulation and tracking systems, and an attitude that WE GO ANYWHERE TO TRAIN, JMTC and JMRC can project civilian on the battlefield, Observer/Controllers, a professional Opposing Force, and instrumentation capabilities to provide a combat training center experience anywhere forces are located. JMTC proved this capability in 2005 and 2006, when CONUS-based reserve units trained alongside Bulgarian and Romanian military forces in Bulgaria and Romania. JMTC has provided full support to recent exercises in Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, and the Republic of Georgia and even in Russia.

Elements of JMRC’s Opposing Force, and many of the center’s Observer/Controllers have deployed to support the Global War on Terror. Several OPFOR companies deployed to support the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Elements of O/C teams have deployed to Iraq to train and mentor Iraqi Army battalions, and JMTC and JMRC Soldiers have deployed in Special Police Training Teams to train the Iraqi National Police.

There are plans today to deploy more forces to conduct operations and train security forces in all the theaters of the Global War on Terror. During its history, JMTC has been a centerpiece of USAREUR's operations in peace and preparation for war. The Joint Multinational Training Command leads USAREUR and the Army in training for the future. Made up of more than 15.000 Soldiers and civilians and 9,500 family members, the command and its people dedicate themselves each day to the ideals and missions of JMTC: Projecting Training Power --- ANYWHERE!!!