Not only did we provide support to the GE 1st Mountain Div, but we also had warheads designated for 1st Bn, 36th FA at Reese Kaserne in Augsburg, GE.  We hardly ever communicated with them, though. 

Since we were on the kaserne (Ritter Von Leeb) that was the headquarters of the GE 8th Artillery Regiment, most of our day to day operations were in support of the Germans.  We supported an Honest John Bn, an 8-in Bn, and a 155mm Bn.  While I was there, we had the unique experience of moving all our weapons from an old obsolete site to a newly constructed on.  We used Chinooks.  It's funny,  we couldn't tell anyone what we had but all you had to do was ask any local and he could tell you where the "Amerikanische Atomwaffen Lager" was located.

I was there from July 1, 1973 to August 22, 1975.  The Bader-Meinhof gang was active then, and there were times when I had to carry a loaded weapon while traveling to the site.  I was the site security officer.  The support between us and the Germans was mutual.  We provided custodial support and they provided facilities and vehicles with drivers.  Most of them could speak a little English.  You would have thought that a mountain division would have lighter artillery than 155 mm and 8" SPs.  That didn't stop them from going where they wanted, though.  Going to the field with the Germans was quite different than going with a US unit.  I was always with the regimental headquarters and we would move into a town, find a Gasthaus, and set up shop in one of their larger rooms.  Occasionally, we did have to rough it and spend the night in the woods. That was only at Grafenwoehr.
Kenneth J. Bowen

The breakdown of the detachment is not as exceptional as its mission. First Platoon is made up of artillerymen; Second Platoon consists of engineers; and the Headquarters Platoon includes everyone else: administrative clerks, cooks, etc., according to 1st Sgt. Glen T. McClure.

"Our chain of command consists of both U.S. Army and NATO superiors even though we fall under NATO for operations," explains McClure.

The mission the detachment fills is demanding but the soldiers here are the best at what they do, and they have the record to prove it.

"In the last two years of Special Weapons Tactical Inspections we have received no deficiencies and no comments. This means the inspectors found nothing adverse on either us or the host nation," McClure says proudly.

" These inspections check our procedures for storage, transportation and assembly," he says.

"Being the type of unit we are, we have many more inspections than the average unit and we keep above accepted standards because the soldiers here know their jobs and know them well," he says. "These inspections set us apart from most other detachments of this type in Europe. We have a track record that is hard to beat.

"When the inspectors do come to a unit like this it's the young soldiers, the PFCs and the Sp4s, that make or break it.

"If they're motivated and have the desire to excell, which has to be instilled in them, they're going to pass the inspection."

Motivation is not a problem for these secluded soldiers. "We keep their motivation up by taking good care of them and taking an interest in everything they do," says Capt. David R. Champion, detachment commander. "We take good care of them and their families. Almost every soldier that serves here extends once or reenlists."

A few of the soldiers have family members who live in a nearby Bundeswehr housing area that has 24 apartment units dedicated to U.S. Forces personnel.

"We have 23 command sponsored family members living in the Hemau area and eight noncommand sponsored," says McClure.

"When you look at our soldiers on a day-to-day basis you can see they don't settle for an acceptable standard. They shoot for the top," says McClure.

First of all, there was only one warhead detachment (74th USAFAD, 512th US Army Artillery Group in Gunzburg) -- our counterpart was the German 1st Surface-to-Surface Missile Wing out of Landsberg. As for Landberg Süd, the older guys said it was and old Nike site, but we used it for training. Our garrison was located in Schwabstadl () and the QRA site was located at Ochsenhof (); the custodial storage site was located on the Lechfeld Air Base (), a short distance from Schwabstadl.

I don't remember the name of the kaserne that the 1st SSW was at. I have made an interesting discovery with Google Maps on the internet. If you search for Ochsenhof Germany and then click on Ochsenhof/Gorisreid you will see an aerial view of Ochsenhof. The guard towers are no longer there and main guard isn't either. You can also look at the Lechfeld Airbase, the bunkers are still there. Camp Redleg (Waldheide) () can also be viewed, but there's nothing left of the site but air hangar. You can still see the outline of the site.

I was assigned to both 74th USAFAD (1977-80) and the 3/84th FA out of Heilbronn (1982-86).

I was stationed in Lüdenscheid,Germany from 1960 through July of 1962.

I was with the 162nd Ordnance Company that was moved from Sandia Base, New Mexico to Germany in April of 1960 (April maybe wrong.) We traveled from Sandia Base to the Brooklyn Army Terminal by train, 9 days, from Alburqueque, where we boarded the MSTS Gen W. Darby to Bremerhafen, Germany. In Bremen we then traveled 2 days by train to Lüdenscheid, Germany.

We were stationed on a Belgian base on Heedfelder Strasse in Lüdenscheid. We were an atomic weapons maintenance and delivery unit for guided missiles. We setup a storage depot across town, aprox. a 20 minutes ride, where we stored missiles and 8” howitzer shells.

While there we maintained the interior guard force and NATO troops secured the outside. These forces consisted of Bundeswehr infantry and transportation, also Dutch, Belgian and the British Army of the Rhine consisting of the GORDON HIGHLANDERS and ROYAL SCOT GREYS whose home base was in Sellar, Germany.

We delivered missiles to Holland, Belgium and around Germany by truck and helicopters.

I left Germany in July of 1962 for Brooklyn army terminal to be discharged. I have not been able to find any info on my unit

It was my understanding we were the first unit to bring atomic weapons into Europe.

1st USA Missile Detachment (Sergeant) - Recollections of Paul E. Herbold, Maj, FA, USA (Retired)

Alphonse (Al) A. Masella and I were in the same class at the FA OCS School at Ft. Sill. We graduated in class 5-64 in April 1964 and were both assigned to the 3rd Bn, 38th Artillery (Sergeant) at Ft. Sill. We both attended the Sergeant Missile Officer course in spring of 1964.

One day in early summer we were both summoned to the Bn Cdrs office. After reporting, the Commander handed me a DA Telex addressed to him. It read: “You are hereby directed and authorized to organize the 1st USA Missile Detachment, TO&E 6-500D, to deploy an advance air detachment to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on/about October 1964”. The colonel handed me the “twix” and said: “Lt, your mission. Since Al and I had the same date of rank, it became a matter of age, who was senior. Al was a couple of months older than I, so technically he was in charge. In practice we shared responsibility. We obtained the TO&E and begin recruiting personnel for the advance detachment. The individuals were: SFC James Allen; SGT Bryce Holcomb (MN); SP4’s Gilland; Watts (TN); Koepnik (IA) & Frye, plus me (WA) and Al (NJ). These individuals were selected after interviews from within the ranks of the 3/38 th. We begin requisitioning our equipment and materials, and training for a Ft. Sill and then a 4th Army nuclear technical proficiency inspection/nuclear safety inspection (TPI/NSI).

The TPI/NSI format included a simulated convoy, during which there would be an air or ground attack, then movement to a launch site where the missile would be assembled (rocket motor; guidance section; and warhead). Then we would go through the process of enabling the warhead and missile pre-fire procedures. The process was very structured and every task was read from the manuals by a reader, and then executed and checked. We continued recruiting personnel to leave behind with the main detachment, and I believe we were at about 50% strength when we deployed, but the Det Cdr had not yet been assigned.

I drove my POV from Ft. Sill To Charleston to put it on a ship to Germany, then met the other 7 member of the Advance Air Detachment at LaGuardia (I think). We flew a commercial jet to Rhein Main in Frankfurt, then took the train to Muenster where the 570th Arty Group was located (This was our higher HQ). We billeted there for the next several month’s, during which time we contacted the various elements of the 150th RAK Arty Bn. The 150th was spread all over N. Germany, with 6 Batteries, each in a different location. We conducted joint training with these elements, and successfully completed TPI/NSI’s conducted by the 514th Arty Group (Next higher HQ above the 570th), SASCOM (Special Ammunition Support Command), and USAREUR (U.S. Army Europe).

During the USAREUR TPI/NSI, I was serving as the “Courier Officer” for the simulated Nuc Wpns Convoy when I was involved in a very serious motor vehicle accident. I was initially treated at a local German hospital, but was transferred that same day to the British Military Hospital in Muenster. This was because we were still attached to the 570th Arty Group, and they received their support from the British. Despite me being out of the picture, Lt Masella stepped in and our team successfully passed the inspection.

These SASCOM units operated under an agreement between the U.S. and the FRG called the “Service to Service Technical Agreement”. It specified the relationship and responsibilities of each party, particularly logistics and support. We were to provide immediate custody and control of the warheads, and technical training to our supported unit, and they were to provide the outer layers of security forces, and virtually all logistical support. Our TO&E was extremely lean. We had individual weapons (M-14’s and M1911 .45 Auto pistols), some tools, off line cipher equipment (TSEC/KW-7), electronic equipment for enabling the warheads when authorized by Presidential Authority and we were provided with the codes. In accordance with our “Service to Service Technical Agreement” the 1st USA Missile Det was to receive virtually all other support from the FRG. This included everything from German tactical vehicles (with drivers, since we had NO vehicle of our own), primarily DKW jeeps and 5/4 Ton Mercedes Unimog’s, to toilet paper and typewriters. Some of the detachment members we left at Ft. Sill had been in Germany before and were wise enough to fill a conex container with good old U.S. toilet paper. (The German variety was similar to paper towel material). Our clerks had to get used to the German typewriters because several of the keys were different. It fell to me to do most of the negotiating with the German Standortverwaltung (Similar to our General Services Administration) to secure the support the unit needed. Despite the agreement, nearly everything we got required some negotiating, and I was the only unit member who spoke German.

After a major surgery for a ruptured spleen, performed by a Colonel Newton (British Army) and a couple weeks of recovery, I was transported by Huey on a stretcher to the 97th General Hospital in Frankfurt where I completed my recovery. When I returned to the unit, it had moved from our temporary quarters in Muenster to the Schill Kaserne in Wesel, and had been joined by the remainder of the personnel and dependents who had remained behind at Ft. Sill. This included our 1st Detachment Commander, Capt. Bill James. Later he was replaced by Capt. Chuck Fleming during my tenure there.

While the Detachment was in Muenster, Lt Masella met Claudine Montfort, the daughter of Sergeant Major Montfort and his French War Bride. After the unit moved to Wesel, the relationship continued and they were married at the great gothic cathedral in Muester. This would have been sometime in 1965 or 1966. I was not able to attend the wedding because the Detachment had become operational and we had a 7-24 on site duty officer requirement. With only 3 officers in the unit, the commander elected to go and I had the duty that day. Al and Claudine are still together, and he has an insurance agency in partnership with their daughter.

Although the unit was operational, our warheads were temporarily stored with another unit, pending completion of our own storage facility near Wesel. If necessary we would convoy to this facility, pick up our warheads and deploy with the 150th to the field.

The officers of the 150th Bn all spoke very good English, some even with a noticeable British accent, and most of the NCO’s spoke at least some English. Many of the Senior officers and NCO’s had served in the “Wehrmacht” during WWII. Some 150th Bn personnel I remember were its Commander, Oberst Leutnant Kuhne; Deputy Commander Maj. Karl Conrad Woerple; Hauptman Michael Gerischer and his wife Antje (my younger daughter is named after her); Leutnant’s, Luetten; Von Der Mosel; OberStabsFeldwebel Hoek; OberFeldwebel Glaetzel. Michel Gerischer and his wife lived on the first floor of the two story duplex we shared at Juelicher Strasse 9 in Wesel.

Most of the German Officers and many of the NCO’s had spent time at Ft. Sill receiving training on the Sergeant Ballistic Missile. I remember a very funny incident involving my comrade Hauptman Michael Gerischer. We both parked our cars in the vacant space between our duplex and our neighbors (and my life long friends: Theo and Marianne Wassenberg. They have both passed away, but we still have some contact with their children who were 7 to 12 years old when we were neighbors). One fine Saturday, I was there washing my car when Michael pulled in in his Opel Record. He was the epitome of a fine German Officer in the Gray uniform. He climbed out of the car, and then said in a voice loud enough for me, and anyone nearby to hear: “G__ Damn GERMAN drivers”, then slammed the door. Mike and Antje became very good friends and when he was promoted to Captain, my ex-wife and I were invited to celebrate with them with a bottle of the “wine of the century” which was a 1959 Riesling (“Trocken Auslese”) from the vineyard of Aloys Fischer on the Mosel. He and his father always bought a supply of wine from that vineyard. By the time we drank it in 1965, it was selling for nearly $100 per bottle. We 4 spent several hours sipping it a drop at a time. Later when I was promoted to Captain he gave me a bottle of it to celebrate. Michael retired from the Bundeswehr as an Oberst Leutnant.

I have more to tell about how the Detachment was welcomed to Wesel by the Burgermeister, field maneuvers with the 150th, joint weapons familiarization with the 150th; life in Wesel; St Barbara’s Day Parties in the German Kasino (Officers Club); “Dining in with the officers of the nearby British 154th Forward Ammunition Depot in Wuelfen”.

I will continue this later. Let me know if this is the kind of stuff you are interested in, and also perhaps questions you might have. Those might help jog my memory.

MEMORIES OF THE 83RD MSL DET

Remember I am going back a long time but here goes:

I arrived at the 83rd Missile Detachment in September 1968 after completing Basic Training at Fort Bragg and Infantry AIT at Fort Polk, Louisiana. My MOS was 11B and my rank was PFC at the time. When I arrived in Germany I was sent to the 21st Replacement Battalion in Frankfurt (downtown not the new one that came later in Rhein-Main AB) where I spent about two weeks on KP while being interviewed for various assignments. At the time the 21st seemed to be having problems assigning so many troops. Eventually, some of us were told that we would be going to the Artillery. Of course we were surprised because we were Infantryman and wanted to be in Vietnam because we would only have to do the 1 year tour and then be released from active duty. In Germany we would have to remain on active duty until just before our ETS.

One morning about 25 of us were put on a train and told that we were going to Herborn. I still remember that train ride especially looking at the women with unshaved legs. We arrived at the 557th Artillery Group and were given rooms and processed by their personnel folks and sent for in-processing to Giessen. Giessen was our finance and personnel office. I also got my government furniture from Giessen as I was married and brought my wife to Montabaur. The Standort provided housing units for the married folks regardless of rank. We probably had 12 sets of quarters in Montabaur.

I remember being given a choice of remaining in Herborn or being sent out to the detachments. One of the old timers at Herborn advised us to go to the detachments because that was much better duty. So I elected to move out. About 12 of us were sent to the 83 rd Missile Detachment in Montabaur at Westerwald Kaserne. When we arrived they were very happy to have us. They did not have a commanding officer and all but two of the 15B, Sergeant Missile Crewman had rotated back to CONUS. We were told that we would be reclassified to 15B and must get top secret security clearances as well as receive screening under the DoD Personnel Reliability Program (PRP). (I would remain in that program and be a part of administering it for many years after that) As part of the processing we were sent to Wiesbaden Medical Center for physical and psychological screening. I still remember talking to the “shrink” about whether or not I had any problems with using nuclear weapons against Warsaw Pact entities.

The detachment was organized as follows:

Also had the Atomic Energy Commission inspection, I remember that the inspectors were all O6 rank from Army, Navy, and Air Force.

During my assignment we never failed a TPI or other inspection. If a unit failed a TPI they were required to be retested within 30 days. They would begin a comprehensive 30 training cycle, usually the unit commander was relieved, and a report was immediately sent to the Congress. Not something that you would take lightly.

Normal duty days consisted of studying. We were always studying our classified manuals because everyone in the unit was required to be able to lead if required. On many inspections team members were required to make decisions without input from the Team Leader or Sergeants. Each member was required to be capable of leading the team and providing required support to the host nation.

Of course we always had three persons on custodial agent duty at our storage facility. The facility housed the basic load of warheads for the 350th Rocket Artillery Bn. The Germans had a guard house outside of the gate and they provided security in the cleared zone and at the perimeter in between the outer and inner fences. They had guard houses at the corners of the sight. The cleared zone outside of the fences was patrolled by German guards with dogs.

Inside the inner fence were our guardhouse, a generator building, a maintenance building, and two bunkers. There were 3 soldiers on duty at all time, a senior custodial agent (E4) and two members. Two soldiers were awake at all times while the other slept. Duty was for 24 hours at a time. We were called custodial agents and were drilled with the specific actions that we could take for certain situations. One of the guards always carried the keys to the bunkers on a chain around his neck. The major duty was to protect the weapons from outsiders and to maintain the ability to destroy them if apparent takeover by host nation appeared eminent.

This was difficult because we were always outnumbered and being watched by the German soldiers. Guard duty was usually very boring however at times penetration tests were conducted by the Germans or Americans to see if we were on our toes. Once or twice we had SMLM..Soviet Military Liaison Mission vehicles come down the road to our site even though this road was off limits to them. I remember one time when I arrived at the site to find an American Colonel spread-eagled in the road. He was looking for directions and someone sent him down the wrong road. We received visitors at our building on Westerwald Kaserne on many occasions because we were the only Americans in that part of Germany. We got along fine with the Germans in Montabaur although the Poliziei did get frustrated with us playing bumper tag with our POV’s while racing around the narrow streets of the town. We all learned to speak quite a bit of German because we worked with them and were sort of isolated. We went downtown a lot, shopped, enjoyed the restraunts, and guest houses. The local German kids our age still believed the states were full of cowboys and gangsters. We did little to change their opinion. Overall we did not have any problems with the local people. We were the first Americans to be stationed in Montabaur since the 1st Infantry Division was there in WWI.

Duty consisted of CQ for NCOs and OD for officers. There was always an officer and NCO on duty. I was a senior custodial agent and pulled guard duty at the storage facility for quite a few months until I was promoted to E5. NCOs and officers pulled CQ and Officer of the Day respectively. These Detachments were the only time that I pulled CQ armed with a 45 auto. There was always an officer on duty because of the two man rule. We would receive various test messages through the Emergency Action Message System (EMAS), delivered via the single sideband radios operated by the communication section at anytime day or night.

When we went out on major exercises (and in wartime) each one of our teams supported one of the 350th Rocket Artillery Battalion’s firing Batteries. Of course we were dependent upon the Germans for transportation and support because we had no vehicles. We did have our own FM radios (housed in a footlocker that we used to communicate with the detachment headquarters when we were deployed with our German batteries. The 83rd Msl Det participated in a year long test of these radios that were made by Collins. I believe that the test results were mixed. I do remember being in Frankfurt for the demonstration of the radios to the SACEUR at the time General Lyman Lemnitzer…pulled back the canvas on our UNIMOG, German truck to catch us kicking our radio in the footlocker to get it going. That was a memorable moment. We also marched in General Lemnitzer’s change of command. I remember the less than warm reception we received from the Germans who were throwing trash and other items at us while we were marching.

We also had a requirement to go to the field once every quarter. We usually satisfied this requirement by going out in the field behind the detachment and having an all night picnic. We really did not have the right kind of field gear to spend many nights in the field.

The Germans provided us with drivers and vehicles so we could go to Wiesbaden and get the mail everyday. We got to know these guys very well and they event hung around the Detachment after duty hours. They ate with us…and we ate very well. We had a club upstairs in our building, complete with beer and wine, fussball, and pool tables. Each night we had American movies in our mess hall. I was in charge of movies and the small PX. This was a part time job that required me to go to Mainz and get stock for my PX and deal with the AAFES movie folks in Bad Nauheim. Sometimes we would ride to Wiesbaden on the mail truck to go to Wiesbaden or Mainz to the clothing sales store or commissary. One of our favorite places was the PX audio sales facility in Mainz Kastel. Everyone had a 200 watt stereo system.

In those days you always had a pass and we could never have more than 10% of our folks on pass at any one time. Passes were controlled by the Detachment Sergeant. Those of us with families that lived off post had passes that allowed us to go from work to home but we were required to call in whenever we went to Wiesbaden to go to PX, commissary, or hospital. We traveled to Herborn 557 th for various duties such as promotion boards meetings etc. We also went to Giessen for personnel and finance matters.

During the summer we spent a lot of the duty days studying maintaining equipment, playing volleyball and other activities. I enjoyed going to Koblenz and driving up and down the Rhine going to castles. We were also close to Koln and Worms. During the fall and winter we were very busy getting ready for the TPIs. We also participated in Reforger and other exercises with our German batteries. We went to the German NCO club and associated with our German counterparts. I remember being in meetings with the 350 th Bn commander on several occasions and we received briefings from them on various subjects periodically. We worked together very well even though the German troops were mostly draftees and not highly motivated. We used to go to the rifle range and fire their weapons (we enjoyed the Uzi) and drive their motorcycles. So we had a lot of interaction with the regular troops. We depended on them for much of our support. They were our mission to a large extent.

Sometimes a convoy of special weapons would overnight at our storage facility and we would let the drivers and other folks stay in the gym on the Kaserne. We were also tasked as convoy commanders or surety officers when special weapons were being transported around the country. This was an extra duty that we provided because we were trained in proper procedures for transporting and securing special weapons. We were fully versed in the NASICP procedures. I think that stood for Nuclear Accident Significant Incident Control Procedures. I went on a couple of convoys as surety officer because there was a shortage of officers in Europe at the time.

I also did some work for the mess sergeant, mostly typing. Typing a skill that served me well during my 23 year career. In conclusion this was the best job any soldier could have. I remember thinking they are actually paying me to do this. I enjoyed the responsibility and trust that was placed in us and we took great pride in honing our skills so that we did our jobs the best that they could be done. There was no room for mistakes in much of what we did.

I served with the 15th USAFAD which was part of the 570th Artillery Group, 59th Ordnance Brigade (SASCOM).

The 15th USAFAD was operationally attached to NORTHAG - BAOR - 1st British Corps - 1st Division - Division Artillery - 45 (pronounced FOUR FIVE) Medium Regiment Royal Artillery. This unit was stationed at Barker Barracks (the Germans called it Panzer Kaserne) in Paderborn, FRG. It supported M109A1 and M110 self propelled howitzers on the Northern Plain & Harz Mountains "AO."

Also on the kaserne was the Queens Royal Irish Hussars, a Chieftain Tank armour unit. Tenant units were a medical clinic and REME workshoppes. I was stationed there in 1974 & 1975.

The commanding officer (OC to our British partners) was a Cpt Dullaghan. It was interesting as he was a conscript, native of Ireland, who attended OCS after Vietnam. He was particularly disliked (behind his back) by the British because of his ancestory. This artillery unit did two Northern Ireland six month tours while I was there. Our unit was approximately 31 men - 1 captain; 2 lieutenants, one E-7 first sergeant; one E-4 admin clerk; one E-6 supply sergeant; one E-4 supply clerk; one E-6 Crypto sgt.; one E-4 Crypto clerk; one E-7 mess sergeant; one E-5 cook; one E-4 cook; one E-3 cook; 3 sets of Artillery MOS teams made up of one E-6 sergeant; an E-5 sergeant; two E-4 specialists and two E-3 batterymen. (One Artillery Team supported each firing battery in the 45.)

The firing batteries in the 45 were:
34 SERINGAPATAM BATTERY (8 INCH M110)
52 NIAGRA BATTERY (155 M109A1)
170 IMJIN BATTERY (155 M109A1)

* 170 Battery was one of the few foreign military units to win the US Presidential Unit Citation (in Korea). They had a special ceremony every year celebrating this award on St. George's Day.

Today, the 45 and 34 have had their colours retired. 52 and 170 have been amalgamated into other units. All these units changed throughout the 1980's until their re-alignment in the early 1990's.

I understand that the 15th (now the 15th Artillery Detachment) was brought back in the late 1990's and serves in Germany but is part of our American corps stationed there.

The 570th Artillery Group was headquartered in Münster on a British kaserne. I knew of the following detachments (besides the 15th USAFAD) in the 570th in 1974:
1st USAFAD stationed in Wesel and supporting the Dutch.
22nd USAFAD stationed in Sennelager 12 miles from Paderborn and supporting the British 39 Regiment RA.
69th USAFAD supported the British Missile (part 8 inch part Honest John).

The 5th Artillery Group was located near Paderborn in Büren (20 minutes away) and was really much closer to us than the 570th. The 5th supported Belgian units.

As you know these were all custodial units. The 15th and 22nd USAFAD were so close to each other that we shared a common custodial site which relieved much of the guard duty burden which became acute when the last draftees left the Army in 1974. Because of the lack of security clearances some draftees had to involuntarily extend and I know of some who violated rules so they had their clearances pulled and were eligible to be sent home.

Oh yeah, I was the Group S-4's little secret. I didn't have a TO&E position. It was my job to around to different units prior to and after IG inspections "to help them out." As you know we had sensitive missions and keeping track of sensistive property and information was closesly looked at.

Later, after finishing college, I commanded my own unit in the 9th Infantry Division.