| If you do NOT see the Table of Contents frame to the left of this page, then Click here to open 'USArmyGermany' frameset |
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Army Security Agency, Europe |
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| ASA Battalions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
302nd CR Bn/ASA Bn / 318th USASA Bn |
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| 502nd ASA Battalion | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(Source: Excerpt from the Special Historical Series pub, "INSCOM And Its Heritage," published in 1985) |
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 Click on image to view the 502nd ASA Bn unit history |
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| ASA Separate Units | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| USASA Communications Unit, Europe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Paul McKennon, USASA Comm Unit, Eur in Frankfurt, 1970-72) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I was just reading your history of the ASA in Europe and thought I would drop in my two cents. I was a 31J TTY Repariman assigned to USASA Comm Unit Europe from November of 1970 to November 1972. The unit was housed at Kennedy Kaserne (The White House) (It is on the corner of Escherheimer Landstrasse and Bremer Strasse. It is only about a quarter mile from the IG Farben building. I was there in 1977 and it was just an abandoned building.) Our Communications Center was located on the edge of Gruenerberg Park beyond the IG Farben building from the Kaserne. It was referred to as Dachsbau. It was a single story structure surrounded by a double chain link fence topped with razor wire. Next door was an area where the germans would walk their dogs. I believe it was early in 1972 when this building caught fire and burned to the ground. I was in the baracks getting ready for a midnight shift when someone came in as said dachsbau is on fire. We ran to park and upon our arrival found the building burning and the German Fire department standing in the street in front of it held at bay by our digilent ASA MPs. As we stood and watched the roof collapsed and pieces of teletype tape and paper began to rain from the sky and blow into the park. I picked up a half burned piece of paper and there big as life was a message with words Top Secret in the header. I showed it to a Warrant Officer standy nearby who had just come to the same realization. His reaction was immediated. He yelled to the forty or fifty of us standing around to find all this stuff and pick it up. So we ran through the park and found all we could. We weren't the only ones picking it up. I even saw a couple of guys from the SMLF (Soviet Military Liason Force) out there on "Police Call" It was a mess. During the next 60 days we rebuilt the comm center on the fourth floor of the Farben building where the Air Force Security Service was kind enough to share their facility with us. We shared this facility with them until I left in November of 1972. When I enlisted in the Agency in 1969 it was a four year enlistment. In the summer of 1972 the enlistment was reduced to three years and everyone on their first enlistment got a one year early out. Almost half of our unit went home on the same day. It was crazy. When I went home in November we were so short handed we could barely function. During my tour there we hung out at the Furstenberger Eck and a little bar called Der Stube. The Penthouse Bar was another favorite hang out since they had a dance floor and one could occasionally pick up a chick there. In the beginning we ate midnight chow at the mess hall when we were on mids. Unfortunaly one night almost a whole trick got food poisoning and the CO put the entire unit on separate rations. What a deal 68 bucks of additional beer money. Also that year, the Bader Meinhoff bunch put a bomb in the lobby of the Farben building and as I recall one in front of the O Club behind it. Some of my pals and I were in the park when they went off. I had to pull CQ at the White House that night and It was really scary sitting behind that desk in a glass lobby. It was a great tour and a great Job I loved it. |
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| 2nd EW Company | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Jim Howeth, 2nd ASA Co (EW) --> 202nd ASA Co)) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I arrived at Flak Kaserne, Augsburg, in Sept 1974 and was assigned as an MP with the 2nd EW Co. We moved to Katterbach Kaserne in Ansbach soon after my arrival. I do not remember exactly (if the entire company made the move to Ansbach) but I think all went because we had maint, mp's, and ops also. An extremely large company, almost a small battalion. We changed our unit designation to the 202nd ASA Co. I believe our co was Maj Alexander who was replaced with captains after the move. We were a great group of persons that produced some good memories. I think it would be nice to try to communicate with some of the persons I was stationed with. |
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| (Source: Email from Larry Mellgren) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The 2nd EW did in fact move to Katterbach Army Heliport, Ansbach, Germany and became the 202nd ASA Company. I arrived in 1977. The company then changed to A Co. 501st MI Bn (CEWI). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Ray Ridings) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You asked whether the 2nd EW Co became the 202nd ASA Co and a few people have comfirmed that. Just to give you a little documented proof, I am attaching parts of orders that assigned personal to the 2nd EW Co and then a couple of months later to the 202nd. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 102nd ASA Detachment (Security) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1956 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from John L. Kelley) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dave Peper recently made me aware of your website pertaining to ASA units. My hat's off to you for the obvious effort you have made in collecting, compiling and creating such a website. I have read most of the info and will go back and re-read everything. (It didn't take long to read about the 102nd but I hope that is about to change). Dave is generous with his estimate of how much information I have but then, Dave is a generous fellow. I do have some info but at the moment most of it comes from memory and you know what they say about old fellows and memory. Sometimes its not too reliable. However, I will pass on to you what I do have. I am attempting today to contact Frank Bunn who I believe was the First Sgt. of the 853 Comm. Recon when it was activated stateside in 1953 and moved with the group to the Heidelberg Area, perhaps Mannheim, where they were billeted with a Signal Corps outfit until they moved to Patton Barracks in Heidelberg. I came along in mid 1956 and thus know little about the history prior to my arrival. Once we get on your site, maybe others who were there can fill the blank spaces in. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION I just talked via phone with Frank J. Bunn, the original First Sergeant of the 853rd Comm Recon. Frank confirmed that Cpt. John Andrews was the original C.O. The 853rd was formed in 1953 at Ft. Devens, not Maryland, as I've previously stated. The unit moved to Mannheim, Germany and was billeted with the 334th ASA Company at Funari Barracks. Some time later but prior to May of 1956, the name of the unit was changed to 17th ASA Detachment and moved billets to Patton Barracks, top floor of MP Building and work location to Campbell Barracks which was USAREUR, United States Army Europe Headquarters. It is possible that the work location was not changed from the Funari Barracks Site as it was only a few miles from Mannheim to Heidelberg. Frank states he left the outfit in May, 1956. I arrived in May of 1956. At that time we were the 17th ASA Det, 8620DU, detached from ASA Headquarters in Frankfurt. (We were not associated with the 17th Field Station at Rothwesten. Our mission was communications monitoring and intercept.). Hopefully, this will prove that we were not a "ghost outfit" and provide a starting point for the members of the 102nd, as it was to become, to tell their stories and be a part of the historyof the unit. |
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| 1960 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Dave Peper) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I was formerly with the 102nd ASA Det. Heidelberg, Germany 1960-1962. In looking at your website, I didn't see our group listed. We were pretty small (only a Detachment) but we were there at USAREUR Hq. Patton Barracks, Heidelberg from about 1957 on until about 1965............ Please forgive me if my dates are incorrect. You can acquire a lot more history and information from John Kelley. I have talked with John just a few minutes ago and asked him to contact you. John was there earlier than myself. He was there around 1957. Hope this info will enlighten you to add to your website. We have reunions every year at different locations around the US. This year (2007) will be in Frankenmuth, Michigan (our 14th reunion). |
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| (Source: Email from John G. Jungkeit) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I arrived in Frankfurt in June of 1961 and was sent to Gutleut Kaserne for one week, awaiting final orders to the 102nd. During WW2 this Kaserne housed captured US pilots in the basement, one floor below ground level. My job there was to paint the halls on the first floor. Finally, I was sent by train to Heidelberg Bahnhof where I was met by a jeep with acouple of guys who drove me to the Autobahn Kaserne, the private base of the 102nd Security Detachment. I was shown my bay and introduced to Captain Reichard, the CO. Initial assignments were in Frankfurt at the IG Farben building, in the attic, monitoring friendly telephone conversations and analysing there significance in terms of security. When back at the Kaserne, I was broken into monitoring radio traffic in Morse Code. ME6 de RV6 K (MOS 055). Though our detachment was very small (I believe less than 100), we had our own private Kaserne, conviently located to Heidelberg, our own motor pool, and because we were the spooks, no one knew who we were. This gave us some freedom other units do not get. With no mess hall, we had our choice of where to eat, CENTAG (UGH) or go into Heidelber and eat at the WAC shack (YEA). We all feasted well at the WAC shack, especially when it was a holiday. The best thing was TDY. We got to go all over Germany in groups of three to eight, stay at a post for two to six weeks and analyse the amount of information our communications were leaking to the Eastern Block. I was fortunate enought to have two TDY assignments in Berlin, the first in October 1961 and again for three months in spring 1963. Both visits were highlighted by the crisis of 1961 when the wall was built, and the American and Soviet tanks faced each other at Check Point Charlie. That is a long an interesting story by its self. The second time, in 1963, John F. Kennedy made his visit to Berlin. The most conservative estimates were that 2 million people lined the streets to get a glimpse of him (population of West Berlin 2.2 million). I was lucky enough to be about 40 feet away when he said "ich bin ein Berliner". As an E-5, when the Berlin assignment was over, I had to give an oral briefing to field grade officers advising them about how much information was beeing leaked to the East and what measures should be taken to stop those leaks. In my entire experience there, I had my hands on a weapon twice. While in Berlin in 1961, we carried M-1 carbines. This created a stir because the entire Berlin garrison was equiped with the new M14 Rifle. No one was to have any other type rifle. We kept our carbines because we had not yet had M14 training. There were three real war alerts during that time, ammunition was issued in the field for the first time since the end of WW2 (in Europe), tanks, mortar implacements were all armed and ready to go. Thankfully, the third alert in one week was called off and tensions settled some what. The whole story was much more dangerous than anything you may read today. Heidelberg, a tourist town, was a wonderful place to be stationed. We all had a great time there. I had my first beer there (schlosquelle-cost-12.5 cents), took me a couple hours to get used to it, but, that all changed very quickly. Even though we had a curfew of 12 midnight and 1AM on Saturday, we were able to meet ladies from all over the world during the summer. Winter time was more lonely. We did lose one guy to an auto accident, E4 Chuck Tullos, a painful loss. Some of the guys careers went on to the CIA, NSA, and military careers, I came home and finished my tour of duty as a Police Officer. |
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| Related Links 102nd Softball - A photo page put together by Bog Higgins; 102nd ASA Det softball team at Heidelberg, 1958-60. Great pics! |
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| 103rd ASA Detachment (Security) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The 103rd (ASA) Det served in Orleans, France, in the early 1960s. Probably attached to HQ Com Z. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1961 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Charles Edwards, 102nd and 103rd ASA Det) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I was just going over your website, and congratulate you on a fine piece of work. I was in Germany with the 102nd Detachment at USAREUR from May-December 1960, at which time I transferred to Orleans, France. This was not a separate unit at the time, but a mobile unit detached from the 102nd, providing full-time COMSEC support to COMZ headquarters at Orleans, and it seemed to be policy to rotate French linguists to Orleans as long as proper MOS slot were open. Somewhere about this time USASAE decided to transform the mobile team into a separate detachment, and in February 1961 I and a number of others returned to Heidelberg to pick up vehicles and equipment to assist the transformation. I stayed with the 103rd until I returned to CONUS in May 1962. During this time the commanding officer was LTC Eugene T. Bratton, who also wore the hat of USASAE’s liaison officer to COMZ. The XO was 1LT David G. Hubby, and the 1SG was SSG Ronald Antoine. I was in charge of the analysis section, but I can’t recall who was in charge of the monitoring section…too many years gone by. We were stationed at the Caserne Coligny, a French Army barracks dating back to the late 19th century. Interestingly, while virtually all personnel in the Orleans area wore the COMZ patch, we wore the USAREUR patch, probably because our actually assignment was to USASAE and not to COMZ. Sometime in the fall of 1961 (November, I think) a semi-permanent monitoring team was established at EUCOM headquarters outside of Paris. I was in charge of this team, which was billeted in barracks at EUCOM—six men as I recall. Being married to a French national at the time, I had an ideal situation: I lived in Paris with the family. Each morning I walked to the Metro and took the train to the Etoile, where I caught the SHAPE bus. When I got to EUCOM I woke the team, changed into uniform, and went to the mess for breakfast. We had a normal workday in our monitoring trailer parked outside the Comm Center, and in the evening I just reversed the procedure and went home to our place in Paris. Sort of unreal, but very, very pleasant. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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| 251st ASA Processing Company | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Class photo of the Army Computer course at Fort Devens, MA in 1955 |
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| 1955 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Gregory M. Hoffman) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attached please find my father's (Walter T. Hoffman) Army Computer Course (IBMs and Punch cards) Class photo taken September 22nd, 1955 at Ft. Devens, MA. After his graduation, he was assigned to one of the ASA Companies (I don't know which one), V Corps, Frankfurt, Germany and worked out of the I.G. Farben (Hochhaus) building from 1955 to 1957. (Webmaster note: Could this have been the 251st ASA Processing Company or maybe a predecessor unit? If anyone has details about the personnel shown in the class photo or has information about ASA units with operations at the IG Farben Building in the mid 1950s, please contact the webmaster (email address at top of page).) I'm assuming a number of his fellow graduates may also have been assigned to various ASA companies as well; perhaps there will be some success in finding a few who may be interested in this photo. On the back of the photo is a partial list of the names and hometowns of some of the men in the picture but I can't provide a match of a name to anyone else in the photo, except my father of course, who is in the back row, first one on the right. I did a scan of the back of the photo but it turned out mostly unreadable, so I am providing the list here as best I can; the names were all scribed by the individual in question and some of the handwriting is tough to read.   EDWARD G. LATTILA / SOUTHRANGE, MI JAMES D. ANDERSON / SUMMERFIELD, KS BRUCE A. BEHAN / BROCKTON, MA EVERETT W. CASE / LOS ANGELES, CA JEROLD NELSON / SUMMERFIELD, KS HAROLD E. MICKELS / OLNEY, IL HOWARD NORTON / UNION CITY, TN ALBERT SPALL / INDIANA ROYCE V. WATTS / RINGGOLD, LA JOHN R. BARR / READING, PA RICHARD A. STROHL, PHILADELPHIA, PA WALTER T. HOFFMAN / ST. JOSEPH, MIThe only additional background that I can provide, based on what my father told me years ago, is that this was one of the first Army computer programming courses. |
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| 1958 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Jim Campbell) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I was a Ham Radio Operator before enlisting in the ASA in the Summer of 1957. While being processed at Ft. Devens I was assured by all and
sundry that I was destined for a career as an 058 (ditty bopper).
Instead, I was tapped for a job of teaching electronics in the Bird Cage
at Devens. Not long after starting that job I got the opportunity to
become an IBM CE for the ASA. After a stint at IBM school in Endicott
and Poughkeepsie, NY I was assigned to USASA HQ Europe in Frankfurt. I worked for a year there in the data processing center on the top floor of the IG Farben Building. Our data processing unit was transferred to Rothwesten in the Summer of 1959 and I worked there outside the Operations Building in some shelters mounted on trucks. I believe that my MOS was 206.10, Cryptanalytic Equipment Repair. I left the army in the Summer of 1960. (When I was in, no 206 had ever re-enlisted - IBM had a job ready for them when they got out. The ASA ran a new group through the IBM school every year or so.) At least one ditty bopper strike happened while I was at Rothwesten. We got a new company commander who had just come off the line on the border as an infantry company commander. He decided that he was going to shape up this outfit of slackers. There was reveille at 6:00 AM even though some of the troops were off-shift sleeping. No more buses to the ops building; the troops marched. Soon there was no "take" from ops either. NSA called to see what was wrong. Needless to say, the new CO got the word. Our shelters were heated by gasoline heaters that malfunctioned regularly. As I had the only set of tools in the place, repairing those heaters was added to my duties. Seems that the people at Mt. Meissner also had shelters with heaters that didn't work. I was sent up there to repair them. I went to the mess hall to get some chow. While eating, I heard something like chanting nearby. I asked someone at my table what the chanting was all about. He explained that they got one movie a week. There was virtually nothing to do while off duty, so the movie played continuously. Soon, everyone on post knew the dialog of the movie, so they were repeating the dialog along with the actors on screen. I became somewhat notorious while at Rothwesten. Our keypunch operators transcribed the "take" to IBM cards for processing for the analysts. Another group transcribed the "take" to teletype tape for transmission back to Ft. Meade. It so happened that we had an IBM machine that read IBM cards and punched teletype tape. I was tasked with getting the machine programmed to punch the tape. The day we went live, the cards were transferred to teletype tape and given to the comm center to send to Ft. Meade. A phone call was soon received from the White House comm center asking why we were sending them all this raw data. Seems that I transcribed the automatic routing information punched into the first card incorrectly and an entire days "take" was dumped raw into the White House comm center. |
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| 1961 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Wilson Gray, Processing Co, 1961; 78th USASA SOU, Berlin, 1961-63) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In Jan-Aug 1961, I served with the Processing Company of the 507th USASA Gp in Heilbronn (Badnerhof Kaserne) and in Baumholder (Faulenberg Kaserne), before foolishly volunteering to go to Berlin, then learning that Processing Co. was being redesignated the 251st and being transferred to Frankfurt, my favorite city in Germany. Berlin, where I arrived one week after The Wall, then only a strand of barbed wire, went up, was the site of the 78th USASA Special Operations Unit, billeted at Andrews Barracks, Berlin-Lichterfelde West, near the once-famous Teltower Canal, and working out of Tempelhof AFB. Anyway, USASAE personnel wore the 7th Army "Seven Steps to Hell" patch, the 7th Corps "VII" patch. and the Berlin Brigade patch, at least, in addition to the USAREUR patch. Around this time, Agency EM stopped wearing name tags. Very cool. Non-Agency NCO's looking for warm bodies could be ignored. If you heard the dread shout, "Hey, soldier!" you just kept on stepping. Since the NCO couldn't call you by name, how would you know that he was talking to you? This was a real blessing, since corporals loved to put random SP5's to work at some shit job, like unloading a shipment of ball ammo. The 507th did have its own "Air Force" in Heilbronn, but, as far as I know, it was used mainly to ferry people to TDY at remote sites. Of course, in those days, at least, "need-to-know" was taken very seriously and I had no need to know more than that. Processing Co. was divided into three "sections:" Silver Section, Blue Section, and Orange Section. A good buddy of mine transferred from Silver to Blue. He refused to tell me what Blue did, despite the fact that we had been asshole buddies since our days at the Army Language School. I had no need to know. Silver Section reworked and corrected the carbon copies of rough translations of Russian COMINT done in real time by Special Operations Units and other remote and airborne sites. It was a nice, civilian-style, 9-5, 40-hour-a-week job. By comparison, the 'round-the-clock, seven-days-a-week work in Berlin truly SUCKED!!! Processing Co. personnel flew COMINT missions in USAF B-29's. A member of Mary Co. (so-called by HHC, "Animal Co." of the 507th because it was made up of 99.44% Army Language School grads, "Monterey Marys"), McNabb - I can't recall his first name - was killed in 1961 when his B-29 crashed returning from such a mission. If there's a memorial to Agency personnel - uh, "human resources" - killed in the line of duty, McNabb's name ought to be on it. I never laid eyes on the ASA patch until I saw one in an Army-surplus store in 1981. I once saw a ROTC officer wearing the ASA brass - the new version that looks like some kind of weird sunflower, not the old crossed-keys-split-by-a-lightning-bolt version - in 1972. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION I served in Processing Company from Dec, 1960 - ca. Mar, 1961, in Heilbronn, Germany, at Badnerhof Kaserne. In the spring of 1961, the unit and H&HQ Co, 507th ASA Gp (Field Army), were moved to Faulenberg Kaserne - former site of the 11th FS, which was moved to Harrogate, England - at Baumholder, Germany. In August of 1961, about the time that The Wall went up, Proc Co, which, as far as I know, had no enumeration, became the 251st Proc Co and was transferred from Baumholder to the I.G. Farben building. I was PCS'ed to the 78th Special Operations Unit in West Berlin. I have *no* idea whether the Proc Co with no number that later became the 251st in 1961 was the same as the original 251st Proc Co from the '50's. |
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| (Source: Email from John Meekins, 251st ASA Co, 1962-64) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I went to Germany
in the summer of 1962 and was assigned to a detachment of the 251st
ASA Processing Company that was at Rothwesten. We moved a few months
later (before the end of the summer) to Gutleut Kaserne in Frankfurt.
We first operated out of the back of a two-and-a-half ton near the
IG Farben Building. Then we moved to one of the floors in the Farben
Building, I forget which one. The section remained there until after I left in the early summer of 1964. One thing I recall: I wasn't there, but I remember hearing about one of the ASA planes being shot down somewhere along the East/West German border. I remember people talking about processing the data collected from the crash site, blood on it etc. The company commander for most of my time in the 251st was a Capt. Caton. We wore the 7th Army patch until near the end of my tour, when it seems like we wore an ASA patch. We got a major for company commander before I left, but I do not recall his name. I once heard he said he got a battle field commission during World War II. He said it happened when he and a bunch of other guys were laying around exhausted near a battlefield in Italy. Someone came up and asked a question, and the major said he stood up. No one else could. He was promoted. As to the 251st, we were called a processing company. We had linguists who "scanned" tapes from the field. In fact, I suspect that most of what we did was to receive data from the field, do some preliminary work with it and then ship it back to Ft. Meade and the NSA. In our particular section, we were all radio teletype people, I think that was 057. We would get tapes with bits and pieces of teletype on them, print the teletype portions off and then send that and the tapes on back to NSA. We got those tapes from probably half a dozen field stations. A couple of funny stories about Rothwesten: It happened before I arrived, but I heard that the 058s there (ditty boppers) actually went on strike once because of 12-hour days, plus additional duties back at the company. There were reports that they, enmass, suddenly stopped taking code one night. When the trick sergeants came around to ask what was happening, they all said, "I can't hear a thing, sarge. I can't hear a thing." The word was that after NSA missed several days of data from the ditty boppers, someone in civilian clothes showed up, talked to the company commander and bingo! No more extra duty, and the ditty boppers suddenly started hearing again. There also were reports that the field station at Rothwesten was buzzed a couple of times by MIGs, and that the grunts working there were actually given permission the carry their rifles and to shoot at it. I heard they actually did shoot at one once. I also remember the biggest coffee pot I ever saw at that field station in Rothwesten. Finally, one night late (maybe the midnight trick), I suddenly saw a pile of boxes beside by station start to move. Strange? Yes. I'm trying to figure out what is going on, earthquake, what? Then a GI crawls out from under the cardboard boxes. He'd been taking a well-hidden nap. Looked like he was familiar with the process. Later, after we moved to Frankfurt, we used to use the mail room to wrap packages for us, particularly at Christmas. It was also the place where they wrapped up tapes etc. to send back to NSA. The story is that the mixed up packages once and NSA got some beer steins and some family somewhere got some stuff intended for NSA with Top Secret stamped all over it! |
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| 1964 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Albert Easley, 251st ASA Co) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| After graduating from tech school 72b, comm. ctr operations specialists, took leave and then reported to McGuire to catch a flight across the Atlantic. There were 3 72B's -- one went to Bad Aibling and two of us were assigned to the 251st Processing Company. We were billeted at the Gutleut Kaserne in Frankfurt. A big change for a southern boy. We had to wait for our clearance to catch up with us.
We were finally briefed four days later and could start work. 7th floor of the IG Farben Bldg. They did a whole lot of things up there that were really interesting. I enjoyed it very much, knowing just what the bad guys were doing. I guess we spent about 6 to 7 months at the 251st, then we were sent to Communications Unit, Europe. Boy, was that a big change! I remember the first day we were allowed to enter the building, there was one guy on the top of the receive aisle and one on the transmit, one barking like a dog and the other like a cat. We were billeted at the White House or Kennedy on the fifth floor. At the time we got to comm unit they were undermaned by about 50%. They had just had a mutiny or work slow down because they were working the guys 12 on and 12 off. You could only get so many men in this building so they had us picking up around the building. Evidently someone wrote the headquarters Arlington Station and one day we received a visit from a whole bunch of high ranking officers. General, cols, by the droves and maj down to E-8. They did interviews of the personel. We had a big change after that. Some of us had been waiting for promotion for some time. We finally got it, and also got a new CO. The captain we had was a big jerk. About 1966 we started getting replacements -- Vietnam. When they got a taste of what we were going through they wanted to 1049 back to Vietnam. The old man finally put a stop on that by refusing to forward and 1049. Our OIC at the comm center bacame our CO -- Capt Sower. Great guy. Well respected and very understanding. Finally made E-5 with 8 months left in my tour. (arrival date to Germany Jan 5, 1964), departed Dec 23, 1966. A little over 6 months to go. Did those 6 months at Ft Meade, NSA. Now that was the cat's meow. I got a chance to meet a lot of very good people over the four years i spent in the Agency and I will never forget. The names excape me but the years don't. |
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| 328th ASA Company | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: ASALIVES.org) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1952: 328th Communications Reconnaissance Company activated in
Bad Aibling, FRG 1956: Redesignated as 328th ASA Company 1957: Inactivated 196? - 1972: Served in South Vietnam 1972: Inactivated 1975: Reactivated as 328th ASA Company in Augsburg, FRG |
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| 328th Communications Reconnaissance Company | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1954 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Allen T. Poland, Jr.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I’ve spent some time surfing your very interesting site. Thanks for the memories and memory refreshment. I was assigned to the 328th Communications Reconnaissance Company at Bad Aibling from 1954 to 1956. THe company became the 328th ASA Co. in 1956. In 1954 and early 1955 the 328th was the only ASA company at Bad Aibling. I arrived at the Bad Aibling Kaserne in the fall of 1954. This would be approximately 2 years after the post was established as an ASA site. The first day was orientation. We were told:  There would be NO formations There would be NO inspections There would be NO KP, guard duty or latrine duty We would be given permanent passes which would be kept in the orderly room. When not working our time was ours to do as we pleased. We could buy and operate any mode of transportation we could afford including motorcycles. (We had 96 motorcycles on post when I left in Dec. 1956.)What WAS required: We had to keep up-to-date on all notices, and changes by reading the bulletin board daily. We would “voluntarily” contribute to a fund to pay German civilian kitchen workers and cleaning ladies salaries. We were responsible for keeping our rooms and wall lockers clean and reasonably orderly. We must report for work on time without fail. We must sign out in the log book when picking up our gate passes. They wanted to know if we were off post and the “approximate” destination. We would have periodic “alerts” at which time we were expected to form up at predetermined areas with our full field gear and weapons, which was to always be maintained in perfect condition. (We were a C/R company. This happened maybe 4 times in two years.) We would have a yearly IG inspection and would be given a two week notice of when it would take place. We would have weapons qualifications once a year.If we obeyed these basic rules we would be left alone and be under the immediate command and control of appointed cadre which usually was members of our Trick, a Specialist Rating. We had the usual CO, XO, First Sgt., etc. but they usually left us alone. The buildings on post were better than anything I had ever seen on a military post. The post was a former Luftwaffe training post. (Me-109 - Copy officers) The buildings were substantial; thick concrete walls….no WWII wood that I was used to. Marble floors in the halls and tile in the latrine. The rooms were mostly 3-man rooms with one 5-man room per platoon. The walls were painted and the floors were polished hardwood. Each room had one or two large windows. Every major building on post was connected with tunnels. Most didn’t know they existed. The kaserne had a library manned by a German civilian who spoke fluent English and was always able to help with American/German problems. The kaserne also had a PX, a great EES snack bar manned by a German civilian chef, a sports shop where one could buy sporting equipment including guns. There was also a religious facility for services for Catholic and Protestant denominations. The grounds sported beautifully manicured lawns and trees all maintained by German civilians. The same with the boiler and maintenance. All buildings were heated with steam and never cold in the harsh German winters. The kaserne looked more like a college campus than a military post. We also had several ham radio stations located in various unoccupied buildings around the post. Post security during 1954 and 1955 was supplied by SPs (Special Police) and German military for the perimeter area. The SPs became MPs in 1956. After reading everything I was able to find about ASA life world-wide, I have concluded that being posted at Bad Aibling was THE plum ASA assignment! They started construction on buildings 310 and 311 (dependent housing), as I recall, in 1955 and populated them with officers/NCOs families in 1956. Other dependent housing was constructed after 1956. It’s been a long time since I’ve actively exchanged information about the BAK and thoughts keep popping up. For example, adding to the duties with the 328th, we were required to wear Class A uniforms when going to town for the first 30 days we were there. Why? I haven’t a clue! I still have a photo of me setting at a table in my favorite gasthaus in Class A’s with the expression on my face that asks the question, “What the hell have I got myself into?” |
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 Nottau, Germany, former site of Det L (GOOGLE Maps): o = location of antenna; x = location of tents |
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| 1955 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Jack Welch, Det K, Vienna & Det L, Nottau) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I was originally with the 328 C/R Co, in Bad Aibling from February 1955 to July 1956. |
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 Headquarters, Vienna Command (Jack Welch) Det K was also located in this building |
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 A last look at Vienna from the office window of Det K prior to vacating the building in 1955. |
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| Detachment L (Nottau) Det. L was about 20 Ks east of Passau in a little town called Nottau. We have a web site that I am able to hear from some of the guys. I'm about the oldest one left (82). I know most of the others have gone to the Great Beyond. The intercept site at Nottau was only about 40 or 50 feet wide and ran toward the woods at the top (of the GOOGLE Maps image above) for 75 yards or so and the antenna was beyond that. We initially lived in big squad tents but in the winter of 1954/55 they closed up and returned to BA. When spring came they reopened. The ASA engineers from Frankfurt came and put in a new antenna and we had great reception. So good that the Army asked us to move into German households which we did for the winter. When Austria shut down we received about 20 guys from (the ASA site at) Wels, Austria sometime after July 1955. We used to eat in a squad tent and by that time we lived in 3 of the neighbors houses. Great Duty -- Stay out of trouble, do your job, drink a lot of beer, and keep your mouth shut. When I left in July of 1956 the detachment had grown to about 35 guys. Later on they built a mess hall and I think sleeping quarters for the guys. We used to get about $34 a month for quarters and $75 for food. There was a Doctor in Passau, a Provost Marshal, gasoline pump, a PX, snack bar, movies, an MI outfit, and an engineer company whose mission was to blow the bridges in Passau in case the balloon went up. For dentistry and food shopping we went to Straubing about 60 miles away where there was a tank battalion. I understand that the group (Det L) was there until 1962 or so. I have since stopped by there with my old buddy Paul Brennan about 4 times. Also I had reunions with another group, the Alpiners, which had a few of the guys I knew in it. I hope this helps. |
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| 279th ASA Company | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from William A. Christen II) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| An Unofficial History has been prepared for the 279th USASA Detachment (Field) and following units – the USASA Theatre Exploitation Company and the 77th USASA Special Operations Unit. The 279th USASA Detachment was formed from 3rd platoon of the 279th ASA Company, which is identified on your web site. Attached are two files that are part of this unofficial history – Chapter 1 (The Heredity) and Appendix One (The Lineage). You are welcome to include all or part of the information in your website as you deem necessary. Please be advised that a CDROM with the entire history as well as photographs and the 77th’s Annual Historical Reports is available free of charge to members of these units.  77th OSU DI (courtesy of William Christen) The third file is the unofficial Distinguished Unit Insignia identifying the 77th USASASOU. The insignia was on a cigarette lighter given to members of the 77th in 1962-63 by the CO. I believe your web site does a great service to members of the ASA who served in Europe. If not for your website, much of the information would have been lost over time. It has become a valuable resource for many of us. Thank you! |
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| 409th ASA Company | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Dean Sartain) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Enjoyed your site. I was reading LeCarre's "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" today when it got me to recalling my days in Germany. I was a 98C2LGM with the 409th ASA Company at Flak Kaserne, Augsburg, GE from Dec 1975 to Nov 1978. We were part of the 502nd ASA Gp - commanded by Col Teal (Teal did go on to get a star). The CSM was Bernie Rector who had a heart attack and died at his next assignment. Cpt Ronnie Cates was our CO. Harry Miller was 1SG. Glenn Shaffer was Ops Officer. Vernon Allison was my platoon leader - the Control & Analysis Plt. Allison went on to make colonel. Mike Taylor was platoon sgt. We wore the 7th Army patch - "Seven Steps To Hell" we all called it. Not sure why. Probably something left over from WWII. Sometime in early 1978 we were resubordinated to the 302nd ASA Bn under V Corps and we wore the V Corps patch. Ltc Charles Simmerly was the battalion cdr. I understand he passed away several years back at a fairly young age. The 409th was a high frequency manual morse and radio printer intercept and DF operation... The Soviets still used a lot of manual morse in the 70's. We conducted several long-term collection operations during my time. One was a 4-month long deployment from Flak to Gruenstadt (photo below). We collocated with another ASA unit that had their downlink site there. I think it was the 330th ASA... an aviation unit. Our operation was totally separate from theirs. We just used their mountain. Two of our other long-term ops were local to Augsburg. One was on Flak itself and the other was in Dillingen (I think). While on Flak someone attempted to firebomb one of our 100kw generators. Those were big and noisy diesel generators and we had one running 24x7 for months. The local towns people of Neusass got tired of it. We also discovered a wire tap on our WD1comms wire running from the ops to the DF transmitter. Shortly after my arrival we began fielding the MSA-34 system. It was made up of 7 specially-configured low-boy trailers each carrying three shelters, all of which could be interconnected via removable wall sides or doors. It was an impressive set-up and quite comfortable to work in. We had racks of the R390 receivers. I recall we could field 10-15 HF intercept positions. We had big MRA-17 antenna systems. It had a telescoping mast with a "curtain" of antennas each cut to different frequency lengths. We would orient the antennas in the direction of interest. At night, we'd get morse traffic from the other side of the globe. We primarily copied the morse traffic of the Group of Soviet Forces Germany (GFSG), East German units and some Czech Air Defense printer and morse. I recall the "case notations" of RMB's...Russian Military Morse. And the RMD's for printer. We copied all the GSFG army-level units down to division and at times down to regiment. One of our more interesting cases were the RMQ's... the Red Army's own SIGINT units. We monitored them intercepting US units. They knew who we were too! They would sometimes get on our morse DF flash net freq and send greetings to the 409! All the Soviet radio messages were encoded. We did however have their callsign generation system...called the Juliet Arbitrary Basic System or JABS. Each day around midnight their higher HQs would broadcast a string of "keys" to subordinate units which would then generate the day's new callsigns. We often knew their new callsigns before they did. As analysts we would do STRUM reports back to DIRNSA. We also had TEXTA...technical extracts of traffic analysis. Would get to issue the occassional Klieglight Report and even a SPOT report or two. One of our more noteworthy accomplishments was the discovery of the GFSG 34th Pipeline Brigade. We provided copy that help determine that this unit had the mission of supplying fuel to front line combat units. As such, this unit's activities were an early warning indicator of possible hostilities. We got commended by DIRNSA. Another time we were placed on alert to look for Czech and GSFG reaction to an SR71 flyover of East Germany. We had the flight path traced on our illuminated map board with time tics at intervals. The path was from south to north. On the day of the flight there was zero response. If the bad guys saw it they sure didn't say anything about it on their radio nets. I recall that based on time tics that airplane was moving incredibly fast! We had good leaders. We had good troops. We were lucky that we got to have a real world mission; unlike some of the DS units. Augsburg was a nice town. In 1993 I got a chance to escort a group of Italian Army colonels to observe a V Corps exercise in Germany. We took time off to visit the former East Germany. I took them to several towns where I recall GSFG units we held case notations on being garrisoned. We even found some of the abandoned Soviet garrisons. Quite interesting to get to visit where the "bad guys" used to live. |
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 Three MSA-34 trailers at Gruenstadt, c. 1976 (330th ASA Co (AVN) website) |
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| Gruenstadt Site Operation Gruenstadt was a good op. We deployed there from Augsburg in Jan 1976. We only took three of our new MSA trailers. It was cold! We lived in tents for months up on the hill. We operated from our trailers. Several days a week a Luftwaffe F104 would come screaming up the east side of the hill in a low level pass. It would make our tents billow. Cool to watch. Our operation was separate from the Guardrail mission at Gruenstadt. If I recall correctly the OV1s carried the SLAR. I think the Guardrail was on the RU21 or earlier model... a Beechcraft QueenAir and later KingAir. The first Guardrails had ops in the back. Over time the acft receivers were all remotely controlled from the ground. 409th ASA Company Organization The 409th had the commander, XO/Ops Officer, 1SG and a clerk who had the only IBM Selectric typewriter in the company. We had no photo copiers. We had a mimeograph machine! We also had ...  a Control & Analysis (C&A) Plt -- all 98Cs. an Intercept Plt -- made up of 05Hs and 05Ks (printer intercept). a Direction Finding (DF) Plt -- made up of 05Ds. a Maintenance Plt -- had 33S as well as vehicle and generator mechanics... all TSSCI cleared.And we had two warrant officers. TA warrant. DF warrant. Tom Finney was the TA. Walt Baer replaced him. Speaking of limited typewriters, we only had one phone line to the company! I'm trying to remember the name of the DoD telephone system back then. To place an official call to the States you had to go through an operator who would schedule the call and then call you back when the connection was made...how high speed was that? NSA at FS Augsburg had the gray phone. Direct lines back to Meade. That was amazing. I did some time at the FS (Field Station) as part of Mud Pack. Mud Pack was a program between the 502nd and the FS that allowed group ops and analysts to exercise their skills out at the FS. I got to work as a floor analyst in the new La Fair Vitte (LFV) op. That was employing new remoting technology from the border sites back to the FS. Since I was a GM I'd often get to sit the German position and copy border guards and missile units both on single channel voice and four channel multichannel. LFV was state of the art stuff! Harris Corp was the contractor. I believe Teal went to work for Harris when he retired. SSG Ron Hintz was my trick "chop". Ron's wife Maria (I think) was the regular GM op. To this day I don't know if we (the US intel community) could read the Soviet message traffic we copied at the 409th. I suspect most of the morse messages were encoded on one-time pads. Pretty secure stuff, even to this day. Our goal as TAs was to establish the "norm". The Soviets were highly regimented and anything that deviated from that norm was intelligence. Since we could not read the messages the so called "message externals" were critical... frequency use, call signs, procedure charts, networks, network procedures, and physical location, etc. I had a 21 yr career. I was commissioned in 1983 and stayed in MI/SIGINT. I retired in 1995. |
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| ASA Units at Flak Kaserne, 1976 Group HQ was in Bldg. 208. All floors. The 409th and the 328th were in #207. The 328th was known as the PCAC - primary control and analysis center. I'm not exactly sure of the buildings but the 326th, the 415th, the 202nd were in the 211, 212, and 213 buildings when I got there. When the 415th moved out the 409th moved into its building while 207 was being remodeled. Building 210 was the Bernie Rector Memorial Mess Hall. #203 was the snack bar. We spent a lot of time there. I don't recall a barbershop in 203. When I was there it was in the EM club building. #220 and 221 were all motor pool. (Webmaster note: if you have additional information on the exact location of units on Flak in this time period or other activities at the same installation (Army Hospital, Vet Services, Dental Services, etc.) please contact me.) |
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| 415th ASA Company | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Mark L. Streeter) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| See Mark's corrective comments above. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Jerry Paulsrud) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I was assigned as a 98G2LGM to the 415th ASA Co. in late March or April 1975. The 415th was OPCON to the 502nd ASA Gp. I was also later transferred to the 326th ASA Co. before the 415th departed to Idar-Oberstein. What a blessing. The 415th was one messed up unit. The worst I ever saw in my 20 years in the service. We had no real mission and did paint a lot of rocks as Peart stated. All or most of our hi-tech equipment was just for show and really did not work at all or at least very well, especially the DF vans. Pure dog and pony shows for the brass. One guy, Richardson (I believe) even wrote an article to Playboy Magazine about the problems and it was put in the magazine. The 326th ASA Co. was like night and day. Although the soldiers were very good, the command structure in the 415th ASA Co. was very lacking. They did not care at all about the soldiers. Since we did not belong to the 502nd ASA GP, I guess we just fell through the cracks. Peart's comments were right on target. I did like being stationed in Augsburg and I had some very good times on Flak Kaserne. The unit structure in 1975 was Cpt Scarangela, CO (maybe misspelled) and 1SGT Steelman, Steelman was a rifted major and a very good 1SGT. Back then there was the Army way and the ASA way and the ASA way trumped the Army way. Most Army regulations were superseded by ASA regulations and then no one read the ASA regulations, at least in our unit. They spent 2 days arguing once on how to lay out your bunks for field equipment inspection and that really killed morale. They (command) simply made it up as they went along. What a disaster! The 502nd ASA Gp command structure was CSM Bernie Rector and Col. Teal. The 415th ASA Co. was of course an tactical intel company, one of the first we were told. This was a new game for ASA and we literally wrote the book on how to use the equipment (i.e. TLQ-17) in a shoot and move operation. We were told that we had gotten the 17s from the Marines who could not get it to work. The TLQ-17 was very good when it worked (it had some antenna problems), and the GLQ-3 was better for voice intercept than jamming. The TLQ-17 was better for that job. The DF equipment did not work and was a joke. There were 2 platoons of intel folks and we also had so many vehicles that we were often short of drivers. Back then, the intel platoon leaders were first in combat arms and then moved to intel slots. That left a lot of problems since many of the E-4s back then were smarter than the LTs as Jonathan Peart eluded to. The recession was on back then and the all volunteer Army and a lot of 4 year grads came into the linguist field as E-4s to get a job. The LTs just wanted their instructions followed and did not know about the concept of commanders intent. They would always give too many details on how to do a simple job, whereas we would always ask them what they wanted done and we would figure out how to do it fast and efficiently. They did not care about efficiency since they were just trying to fill up our days. The LTs really hated those comments because they were used to the infantry folks jumping at every direction and not asking questions and they liked it that way. We had very poor platoon leaders in the beginning. We also had no platoon sergeants in the early day of 1975, so they finally made a few of us (E-4s or E-5s) acting platoon sergeants. Low morale is hard to overcome and was nearly impossible while in Augsburg since all the other ASA Co.s had a real job for linguists. I am glad it got better in Idar-Oberstein. The linguists were not happy since we wanted a real linguist job, not just field duty and painting rocks. They would offer us huge re-up bonuses to paint rocks with no follow-up training or a chance to use our language skills. The German linguists had it much better in that regard. The 326th had some border sites and we were fully part of the 502nd ASA GP unlike the 415th. They were well run and a fairly good unit for the times. The dirtiest words that could be spoken in all units back then was to call someone a "lifer". The military did not have high appreciation in the civilian or military world back then on the heels of Vietnam and the young soldiers in our unit mostly wanted to do their time and get out. |
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| (Source: Email from Robert Davis) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Concerning the 415th ASA Company and the 502nd Group: The 415th ASA Company was reactivated in 1975 at Flak Kaserne in Augsburg. It occuppied the barracks next to the 326th ASA Company. At the time of its activation, the ASA/Army dual chain of command and control still existed so it was theorectically under the control of the group. The 415th stayed in Augsburg while it was filled and equipped and certified ready, and while space was found for it with the division it was to support, the 8th ID. I believe it participated in the last 502nd Group field exercise, Deep Freeze, in 1976. I was in the 326th ASA Company (Operations Forward), serving in the 2nd EW Platoon and working Project Mudpack with the FS Augsburg's 1st Operations Battalion from March 1975 until Feb 1978. |
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| (Source: Email from Jonathan Peart) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I was assigned to the 415th ASA Company on Flak Kaserne, Augsburg, Germany in April 1975. As I recall the unit was being reestablished after being disbanded in Viet Nam some years earlier. When I arrived at the 415th, with many of the guys I had been to language school with in Monterey, it was a fairly laid back unit. We had a wonderful First Sergeant, no equipment and lots of time to do nothing or paint rocks as we liked to joke. All that changed rapidly when our First Sergeant, whose name escapes me, was rotated back to the states and we got a new First Sergeant, CO and new platoon leaders. Never have so few, risen so far above their capabilities.
From 1975 through early 1977 when I was transferred, along with others, to the 326th ASA Company next door (prior to the 415th's move to Idar Oberstein), the 415th was an out of control, poorly led unit. Morale was awful. We went to language school to work at the Field Stations, not go out in the woods to listen to English. Even when a new 1LT the previous one as platoon leader, things did not improve. Simply put, the enlisted guys were a lot smarter than the officers and NCOs. Anyway, we suffered through Reforger 1975 and 1976 and then again in 1977, while serving in the 326th. While the unit and the leadership left much to be desired, I served along side some of the best soldiers around - Charlie Black, Steve Bird, Steve Teaff, Jim Saylor, Frank Anderson, Faron Lovvorn, Joe Johnson and others. Great men who I love and respect to this day. The challenges of being in that company with such poor leadership forced all of us to dig deeply within ourselves to perform and survive. Looking back it was a great experience and we learned a lot. And the GI Bill paid for a great education after the service. Hope this helps with your website about the 502 ASA Group led by Col. Teal. I think the whole concept of the 502nd was poorly conceived and executed.(I wonder if Col. Teal ever got his star.) You don't take intelligent men who expect to be using their intellect in a positive way and send them to the woods to play soldier with their trucks. Hell, we got criticized because we didn't name our trucks like the guys in the motor pool did. We didn't sign up to be grunts but that's how we got assigned. No wonder morale was so bad!
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| (Source: Email from David Demeter) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As a brand-new 2LT, my first duty assignment was with the 415th ASA Company. I arrived in Augsburg in March, 1975…assigned as the Communications-Electronics Platoon Leader. I think there were only about 8 people on the company roster at the time….CPT Scarangella was the CO…..We had an E7 named McCully, who was the acting “top.” The Supply Sgt was an E6 named Hodovan. As the men and equipment trickled in, the unit began to form. McCully left and was replaced by a former Captain…now E8 named Steel. CPT Scarangella held daily staff meetings at 1630 hrs. and each person took a turn giving a brief report on the day’s events. Most of us just kept track of how many times Sgt Steel repeated his favorite clichés. “So to speak….;” “It goes without saying…..;” “A real goat-fxxx.” These are some of the ones I remember. Steel was later replaced by E8 Daniels, who seemed most frustrated that he was unable to persuade me to trim my mustache. While CPT Scarangella was a good man. The Operations Officer, (unnamed), on the other hand was ill-suited and inept as a military officer. I’ll never forget the night during a REFORGER when one of the EM’s stopped him from pouring a can of gas on a generator fire. Enough said. Fellow LT comrades were Acosta and Noteboom. 1LT Machany later joined the team. I did not consider him a friend…but he was entertaining….in a weird way. One of my favorites was SFC Beagle. I wonder what ever happened to him. In answer to Jonathan Peart’s question…yes, Teal got his star while at Ft. Huachuca….which is where I went after Germany. As a Signal Officer, I enjoyed my time in the ASA and at the Intel Center & School. The MI branch folks were good people. However, I got out after six years of active duty and went into the business world. It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 30 years now since I left Germany. There were some zany times in the early days of the 415th in Augsburg. |
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| 1976 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Ed Smith, 1976-79) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I was an Sp-5, MOS 33S in the 415 ASA Co, Sept 1976 to June 1979. The 415th ASA Company was assigned to 502nd Group, then was DS for 8th Infantry Division in 1976. In early 1977 they relocated from Augsburg to Idar-Oberstein and pretty much lost any affliation with the 502nd. We had about 30 people in the company when I reported in September 1976. |
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| 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Wayne R. Foote, 1977-79) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I was an E-6 98G4LRUK3 assigned to 415th at Idar-Oberstein from Nov 1977 to Nov 1979. Intercept squad leader. We spent a lot of time at Our platoon, 2nd Pltn, was one of two voice intercept and jamming platoons. There was also an EW platoon, a HQ platoon and a support platoon. The company was probably the largest company in the Army. Our CO was Capt (the promoted to Major) Leslie Butler until the summer of 1979 at which time Major Blake, the former XO, became CO. The Ops Officer was a Capt Topalian. |
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| 1978 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Pat Moyna, 1978-81) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I saw your request for info about the 415th. I was assigned for three years and three months from 1978 to 1981. I don't recall all the details, but the 415th had been in Northern Italy supporting the Airborne Brigade there before going north to take up the 8th Inf Div mission. I was in ASA and INSCOM from 1963 to 1991. I was an enlisted 988/98G (Russian & German) Voice interceptor and carried several secondary/other MOSs like Traffic Analyst, Cryptanalyst, Combat Intell NCO. As a SFC I took a Warrant as a Voice and Traffic Analytic Technician, serving a total of 28 years. Most of my career was in SIGINT/EW Direct Support at the Division and Corps. I was assigned to the 415th ASA (Co) at Idar-Oberstein from the 371st ASA, 1st Cav Div at Fort Hood in 1978. As you are aware there were many reorgs and resubordinations of ASA units during the 1966 to 76 period, ending with the deactivation of ASA and creation of INSCOM? It was hard to follow them and unfortunately I have not been very successful in tracing the lineage and honors of the 415th. I have found bits and fragments about the unit in RVN as an RRCo. I remember while at Fort Meade in about 1973 or 74, seeing something in an ASA Pub about the 415th being posted to Italy, but I'm not sure where (maybe Camp Darby). Without being able to get at the archives of either the Army or INSCOM it is pretty tough to track info. INSCOM has a history site but it is weak and with all the privacy BS they don't want to tell you much. The old archives at Arlington Hall had a ton of info on every ASA unit and it's predecessors but I'm not sure where those archives went. I did meet one NCO who told me a little about the unit but he died in 1978. The main problem seems to be that so many changes were taking place at the same time that some got lost in the shuffle. Sorry I can't be of more help. The 415th was a fine unit until it was morphed into a CEWI Battalion in 1980. I couldn't wait to leave after that and did in 1981. I can tell you however that the 415th ASA Co. was instrumental in developing and testing the SIGINT/EW equipment and doctrine for the post-VietNam era. Between 1975 and 1980, the unit tested and fielded the first generation Trailblazer System and planned and executed the first-ever integration of the Guardrail Airborne Platform with that ground-based intercept, DF and countermeasures system, using the Guardrail-provided Tactical Commander's Terminal (TCT), employing those assets against real-world, live targets in the GDR. Those results continued to influence R&D of equipment and doctrine for the next 15 to 20 years. |
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| 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Gary L. Jackson, 1979-1980) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As a Military Intelligence Branch officer, rank of Captain, I was Ops Officer from June 1979 to February 1980. Paul Topalion was a previous Ops Officer, who I got to know when he was a student at the MI Officers Advanced Course at Fort Huachuca, I think around 1977. CPT Dale Noteboom, a classmate in the Advanced Course Oct 1977-May 1979, had also served with the 415th. I came from my previous position as S-2, 2nd Bn, 20th Field Arty (155mm Self-Propelled) in the 4th Brigade, 8th Inf Div (a.k.a. "Brigade 76") at Wiesbaden Air Base. [BDE 76 was a uniquely task-organized formation from Ft Carson, CO that was assigned to the 8th ID - very similar to the Brigade Combat Teams we have in today's Army.] In February 1980 I was transferred to Bad Kreuznach to be S-2 of the DISCOM (Division Support Command). The 415th had about 175 soldiers and about 150 vehicles -- nearly everybody was a driver! As Ops Officer of the 415th, I was also Platoon Leader of the Ops Platoon - consisting of about 5 people including me, SGT DiMarco (who Succeeded SSG Billy Hollis as the Ops NCO), Spec Marianne Strope, Spec Dom Salvatore, and one other I can't remember his name. Later, SFC Plehn (spelling?) came on board as Ops NCO. Our small platoon had an M-151 jeep with trailer, two M-880 pickup trucks with trailers, and a 2 1/2 ton turbo-diesel truck called "Thumper" with a TYQ-5 shelter chock-full of FM radios and spooky side-lit plexiglas map plotting board (like you see on Navy ships in the movies) and pulling a VERY LOUD PU-519 gasoline generator. We used to heat up our C-ration cans on the exhaust manifold of the generator. DiMarco and I loved Thumper. I recall he and I spending hours together in the motor pool scraping off rust and spot painting to get ready for an inspection -- it was my TOC (tactical operations center) vehicle, so even tho an officer, I still had some responsibility for maintenance like any soldier would - especially because we were very short-handed in the Platoon). Plus I had to help pull maintenance on my jeep, too. I remember Captain Blake pulling the usual stunts to avoid trouble for that inspection - loading up a truck with gear we weren't supposed to have, and putting that vehicle "on dispatch" for the day - until the inspectors left the area of course. 2LT Gene Kaye was the Signal Platoon officer - who it turns out is related to my best friend, Major Glen Sharp, MI, (Retired). Gene got in trouble because he trusted an NCO who declared that certain classified material had been destroyed, and Gene signed the destruction certificate. Unfortunately, a surprise inspection found the undestroyed documents still in the bag. Ooops! 2LT Irwin (can't remember first name) and 1LT Steve Schiacatanno were the other platoon leaders. Don Blake was our company commander. MSG Wayne Stogsdill (a grumpy, crusty old school soldier) was our 1st Sgt. Pat Moyna was one of our warrant officer techs, along with Wayne Lowe. Pat and Rosie Moyna lived in the same stairwell as I in quarters at Strassburg Kaserne in Idar Oberstein. CW2 Eddie Washington (the skinniest man in the Army - always eating but never gained a pound, I swear) was a great ELINT tech working with the Trailblazer system. I had great pleasure to serve with him again at the TACSIM computer simulation program (models of SIGINT and imagery collection systems) at Ft Hood, TX, 1982-84. I just remembered, in Fall 1979, we got a Lt Wasson in Ops. And CPT Jim Brown later came on board - a feisty, dedicated hardworking professional - He and I stayed back in January 1980 to write an important OPLAN for an exercise, while CPT Blake took practically the ENTIRE COMPANY out on a ski vacation in the mountains of Bavaria - whew!!! We had GLQ-3B high frequency jammers mounted on M-548 artillery tractors and TLQ-17 jammers mounted on M-577 command APC's. These tracked vehicles were added to our MTOE (modified table of organization and equipment - just for our company) from other units in the Division - but we were not authorized any track mechanics! Naturally, our PLL (prescribed load listing - number and type of spare parts we were supposed to keep on hand) was huge. We had another warrant officer for maintenance - named Walker I think. Somehow he had the luck to live in a Government Quarters detached house off post. SGT DiMarco and I had an interesting (unconventional and daring - never heard of any other officers doing something like it ) field outing to reconnoiter the upcoming exercise area for CONSTANT ENFORCER 79. We spent several days and nights scouting in our jeep, camping at night in the woods in my Montgomery Ward nylon tent, and getting goosebumps from the hair-raising grunts of the wild boars roaming the woods looking for food and people to gore! In CONSTANT ENFORCER, just as we moved into our pre-exercise administrative bivouac site, an M-16 was "lost" by Specialist White, one of our wiremen. CPT Blake made a BIG MISTAKE by not notifying DIV HQ about the lost weapon for over 24 hours. When they found out, the 415th was punished. Our whole company was surrounded by MPs, troops were rousted out of their tents all hours of day and night to do shoulder-to-shoulder sweeps of the area. The MPs tossed everybody's gear out onto the grass in middle of the night, which got rained on and soaked wet. This went on for about 3 days - until just after dawn, about an hour before STARTEX, the weapon mysteriously appeared leaning against Blake's M-880 right front fender. We all were pretty sure it was PVT Jesse Lightning, who recently had his driving license revoked by Blake, who was the perpetrator - but no proof. We went on to do great during the exercise. The TLQ-17A jammers were instrumental in breaking up an 11th ACR (I believe) attack that had broken thru a weak spot and was headed for the DIV TOC. Ah - the "windmill" sound was sweet - along with the ACR commander complaining in the clear on his FM command net about his comm's problems - if only he knew! Our jammer crews were a "Kelly's Heroes" lot - complete with leather flight helmets - they would load up with C-rats and we would not see them for days and days. Another curious bit was that a Canadian SIGINT-EW battalion was placed OPCON to our company. I also recall another platoon OPCON to us from another BN - with a female PLT LDR. In the after-exercise review at HQ, USAREUR in Heidelberg, we were commended because the other side tried hard but just could not locate (DF) any of our highly mobile jammers. I recall a married couple - SGT Hunt and SGT Hunt. She was pregnant, and even with the basketball evident in her stomach, she cold still hop in and out of a track, packing her pistol belt and LBE (load-bearing equipment) suspenders and pack, and her M-16 rifle, with great dexterity - I really admired her bounce, spirit and soldierly virtues. At the time, we probably were operating outside the official rules for women in the frontline units/area - but we were a Division-level tactical unit darn-it, and our FM equipment had to operate radio line of sight -- you can't shoot FM jamming signals or intercept FM through tall hills and through heavy woods. So you had to be on the forward slope not too far into the treeline out in the Covering Force Area or near the FEBA as the battle progressed. Pat Moyna is correct -- we were part of the initial fielding of the Trailblazer -- when I was there. There are more stories, but this can't go on too long! The 415th was under-manned, facing many extraordinarily demanding material, operational and technical challenges, but we all stood up and did our jobs -- and we're all proud of our service in the 415th !! PS - I recall the 415th has a Presidential Unit citation for Vietnam - every man killed heroically defending a hilltop radio detachment listening post. |
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| 9487th Technical Service Unit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1954 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Conrad Welch) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I was a Lieutenant assigned to Signal Division of USAREUR as Operations officer prior to Electronic Reconnaisance being transferred to ASA. My organization was the 9487th Technical Service Unit operating out of the attic of the SIGDIV Headquarters in Campbell Barracks in Heidelberg. At that time there was a hint -- which came to pass -- to be transferred to ASA out of the IG Farben building in Frankfurt. Later I came back as a Civilian 3 additional times supporting ASA and NSA Europe. I could fill in a few pages of those times between 1953 and 1967 if that would be of value to you. Those were critical times for us in the Cold War. Also for a period I was a field officer in the USMLM, a liaison officer to the Soviet Group of Forces in East Germany. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The 9487th TSU was established in SigDiv because the HQ needed someplace to put a highly classified control and analysis center. I will refer to that as Electronic Reconnaisance (ELINT) and ASA as Communications Reconnaisance (COMINT). They had a title of Electronic Information Center. We got all kinds of calls for information. We performed analysis of electronic intercepts via classified teletype and later logs and magnetic tape. We had 2 Border sites reporting to us one at Mt. Meissner, near Kassel and another at Schneeberg, near Bayreuth.: The troops at both sites were billeted on site. Officers lived generally in Kassel and Bayreuth. For the 9487th we reported the 7734th Technical Detachment commanded by then Major Harry Sieber and the 9487th commanded by a Major Reed Dehorsey. Deputy at the 9487th was a Lt. Edward Pienkowski. I was the operations officer of the Analysis center of the 9487th in Electronic Reconnaisance. While I was there in 1954-1956 there was a rumor that we would might be integrated into the ASA. When I received my comission out of Kansas State, I was called to officers basic course in Ft. Monmouth. I had worked for Boeing in airborne reconnasance and got orders to report to Mt. Meissner even before finishing officers basic. Major Dehorsey reported to Major Sieber in the 7734th Technical Detachment? (I have forgotten the official name). Our troops were billeted in Seckenheim; officers lived on the economy and I shared with 21 other junior officers, the Reichpost Hotel Annex in downtown Heidelberg. Major Sieber had an office in Seckenheim Kaserne. The mission of the 7734 was classified. One Lt. there I believe was liaison with the Bundesnachtendienst and SigDiv perhaps back to Washington. Our operations at the 9487th was controlled from the Pentagon. We had our own liaison (office) at Campbell Barracks over the Ordnance (Division) and the USMLM. We had questions that we asked of the USMLM and liaison with the Soviet Group of Forces in East Germany. I was tapped to work with the USMLM in East Germany for a period of time for signal matters. SigDiv thought that I probably didn't have a Dossier with the Soviets and could get a pass from the Soviet Group of Forces without any disagreements. QUESTION: Do you remember in which building the USAREUR Signal Division was located on Campbell Barracks at the time? Well, I can't remember the building number, as you go into the Campbell Barracks (HQ USAREUR) turn left and follow around the parade ground, first building on the left. We were on the top floor opposite end of the SIGDIV building. QUESTION: When the unit moved to Frankfurt, where were the unit's billets located - Gutleut Kaserne or in the IG Farben complex? I lived on the German economy in Frankfurt and the troops billeted in Gutleut. When I left USAREUR in 1956 the 9487th TSU had not yet joined ASA. I went back to the CONUS and went to work for a company that had a contract for technical support to ASA field stations. I returned to Germany in 1959 and was assigned to the same operation but in ASAEUR HQ in the I.G Farben building in Frankfurt. I was assigned to ASAEUR in the S4 Engineering. Whenever the Electronic Reconnaissance operations encountered problems I was called upon to work those problems. I had the capability to travel immediately and make purchases directly on the economy, or wherever necessary, to get the sites back in operation or work difficult analysis problems. I worked with all of ASA's Electronic Reconnaissance sites such as Schneeberg, Mt. Meissner, Berlin Jagan 87, Tempelhof and Rudow. Rudow was yet to suffer the Tunnel discovery from the Rudow site across the border and tap the the Soviet telephone lines between the Schoenefeld Airport and Soviet Headquarters in East Berlin. QUESTION: After the reassignment to ASA-Europe was the unit redesignated? No, it was merged directly into the ASA technical analyis center on the 7th Floor of the I. G. Farben Building. My office was in Engineering, three floors below. There was an ASA Supply and Maintenance building on the west side of the Farben building that I also worked with. There were other organizations we worked with down the hall from ASA. |
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| Related
Links Field Station Berlin - FSB veterans Reunion Group with lots of information and photos. (Broken LINK) |
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| Wurmberg - nice page on the ASA site at Wurmberg. Page is hosted on the German website - LostPlaces.de Gatow and Wobeck - nice page on the ASA sites at Gatow and Wobeck. Great photos of the Torii Towers!! Page is hosted on the German website - LostPlaces.de Nottau - Image Page by Joseph P. Strock bennettpics Online Photos - several photo albums with pictures of Badenerhof Kaserne and the 507th (502nd) ASA Group - if anyone has a current email address for Preston Bennett, the owner of the albums, please contact me  . ASA Veterans Reunions  - a guestbook that specializes in organized ASA reunions. |
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