Our "First" and "Primary" mission was to build the Pontoon Bridge across whatever part of the Rhine we were told to span.

The evacuation of millions of civilians would have clogged the roads and the river crossings were key to a hopefully successful mission. The floating bridge companies only delivered the bridges. They didn't have the manpower to assemble them. We also could build "Bailey" and "Heavy Timber" bridges.

Once that was done we were to become an Infantry outfit.

We were told that without reinforcements or the use of Atomic Weapons, the 250,000 U.S. Soldiers stationed in West Germany would only last 2 weeks. None of the platoons in "A" Company were ADM Platoons. We just rotated in and out of the (ADM) details. If any of the other companies had ADM Platoons I honestly didn't know about it and never heard about it. I know that "A" Company acted more like an infantry company when we weren't building bridges.

Along the Czech border, East of "Graf" (Grafenwoehr) we were up in the hills with M-1's, .30 caliber machine guns, a few BAR's, a few .50's, and that was about it, for "A" Company. The Armored units near us were further North around Mannheim. We had a Special Forces camp North of us also.

I'll have to be honest: I was 18 years old at the time and I wasn't concentrating too hard about who was where. The Artillery units: 8"ers were with us at Graf.

Now, I could be totally wrong, but when we were along the Czech border I really don't remember any Infantry outfits near us. We were positioning ourselves as an Infantry outfit near the ADM Details, which I rotated in and out of myself. When the members of "A" Company went into an ADM detail we were just "Armed Guards". We were not trained in the use of the "Weapons". When we received an Atomic Weapon, we, "The Guards", would surround a desolate clearing in a rural area, and a 2 1/2 truck would be in the middle of the clearing. A Helicopter would lower the ADM into the truck and leave.

Four or Five guys in civilian clothes were the "Real Guys" with the responsibility of Detonating the weapon. We had all the Ammo we could carry with orders to shoot to kill anyone who approached us we didn't know. That never happened. We were so isolated that anyone approaching us had to up to no good.

The further North you go in Germany the flatter the land becomes. The extreme Southern part of Germany has high mountains. The Czech border has mountains about 2 to 3 thousand feet in elevation. The communist forces, (If they tried to come into Bavaria), would have to come through mountain valleys.

The ADM Weapons, (I think), would have been very successful there. Further North along the border with East Germany the terrain was much flatter, and probably would have been the area the communist forces would have taken. When I was in Germany - August 1959 to December 1960 - I never heard the term: "The Fulda Gap". We knew the Northern Areas would probably get the full force of an attack, but we were sure they would try to come across the Czech border too. When I was on the Troop Ship coming home, around Dec.28th. there was an American Soldier in the Brig. He opened fire on the commies who were having a mock attack on the border. He opened fire with a .30 cal. Machine Gun. The commies were all in their tanks so no one got hurt.

You could tell when your detail was a decoy. The ADM Weapons we received and their cases weighed around 1,000 lbs.! When they were lowered into the trucks you could see the trucks shake and settle. If it was a decoy it bounced around like a toy. It was serious business and everyone understood and I never saw anyone make light of it. The British Sector was in the North, The French Sector was in the South West, and the American Sector was from the Karlsruhe area to the Czech border. The American Sector was basically the "Baden - Wurttemberg" and "Bavaria" Provinces. South of Karlsruhe was the "Black Forest", and the Headwaters of The Danube.

The Barracks in the Phillips Barracks Post were the Barracks the German Army used during W.W.2! Compared to the U.S. Army's clapboard barracks they were like Hotels.

I hope this info is helpful in compiling the history of the 78th. Combat Engineers.

HC 78th Eng BN June 1965 - June 1966

I was assigned to Headquarters Company "COMMO" from 1971-1973.

This is a picture of "The ROOM 215" with some of the GI Brothers that hung with us. The room was on the 2nd Floor of HHC. 215 was a 2-man Room that was known to bring all kinds of Open Minded Rheinland (ZOO) Kaserne GI’s from HQ and other Companies together. My room mate, E-1 Bob Rosano, was also assigned to HQ “COMMO”!

We spent a lot of time on base in this room! When not on base, we were at Ettlingen Park, Karlsruhe Park, Rock Concerts, Rock Festival and camping up by the Tower in the Black Forest of Ettlingen.

We loved Ettlingen, the Germans and we had a good time and a lot of fun while serving our country in the US Army in Germany (Europe).

Short History of Rheinland Kaserne ("The Zoo")

In 1912, when the Ettlingen Castle passed into the possession of the city of Ettlingen by purchase, the commune undertook to build a Sergeant Barracks with Officer’s Food Service in the area north of Huttenkreuzstraße. The complex was built by the city of Ettlingen in the years 1912-1914.

Due to the First World War, the building was a Reserve Hospital until 1920. During the Weimar Republic, the buildings were used by authorities and for residential purposes.

In 1936, the facility was handed over to the Military Administration. Until the end of the Second World War, the area housed an Army NCO School of the 5th Infantry Regiment.

Immediately after the War (WW II), the kaserne was used to house Displaced Persons flooding into Western Germany from the Soviet satellites and East Germany.

During the period from 1946 until 1950, the kaserne constantly was quartering 2,000 Displaced Persons.

In 1950, American troops moved into the kaserne.

In 1958, the kaserne was occupied by the 39th Engineer Group, elements of the 552nd FA Battalion, and three German Labor Service Groups.

From 1964-1991 it was occupied by the 78th Engr. Bn. attached to the 555th Engr. Group (the Group was inactivated in 1969; the 78th was then put under the 7th Engr. Brigade.)

The Battalion motto is "Sedulitate", which means, "By Diligence".

The ADM - Special Weapons - Platoon served at the kaserne along with the 78th, from 1964-1982.

In June 1969, all the ADM Platoons from the VII Corps were consolidated at Rheinland to form the 275th ADM Special Weapons Company.

The 44th Signal Battalion served at the kaserne from 1991-1995.

1997 was the kaserne area was divided into two parts with the larger area acquired the city of Ettlingen of the Federal Asset Management.

Since December 1999, the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technology and Image Analysis has been located in the listed building.

Being stationed there had a lasting impact on my life and will be with me forever. Thinking back to those times and places makes me want to go back but “The Zoo” is no longer.

The world was a much different place back then. The people and friends you met there are forever etched into memories. To those who have experienced this place before and after me understand what a unique place this was. The stories and places you were lucky to see, downtown Karlsruhe anytime was a blast. The parties at the Piccadilly bar were incredible, the Pyramid, the park it was all good. Outside the post was the Fritz, shot many a game of pool there.

Looking at the pictures of the bridges, heavy equipment was something, I had forgotten what the motor pool looked like but it all came rushing back as soon as I saw it. Damn, I had great times there.

Please continue to keep this site going. It brings great pleasure to those of us served there. To those Brave Men and Women who currently serve our country, we will be forever in your debt for your service, to those have served “JOB WELL DONE “We served our country in a troubled time as those are today. Walk proud and with dignity, our country remains free because of veterans like us.

To those who have other ideas “Don’t Tread On Me!

Thanks for posting it...

FYI - I happened to find your site by searching on the "78th Engineers" as I recall... prompted by a message from another "ADM guy" I served with in the 78th; John Baxter. John told me that he was trying to put a 78th ADM reunion together for next year (2008) sometime. That would make it a 40th for those of us who served with John. I gather that he had reached me through my profile on Military.com.

From al I can gather... That pic that Ed Hosier posted has just about everybody in it that John would want to invite to a reunion so it was quite a treat to find it. I'm more than a bit surprised to discover that I'd forgotten many of those characters... and many names still escape me. I knew them ALL so well at one time.

As to telling you about ADM... That presents a bit of a quandary for me... I'm not sure what you'd like to know... and not sure what might still be classified. I noticed that one fella on your site, Gordon Colbeck, addressed that fact that we trained on two weapons systems. As much of this information is out on the web now... I'll share those links with you.

I understand that at least one of the systems we trained with... The SADM "Small Atomic Demolition Munition", has been declassified. The SADM was designed to be backpacked and to be capable of being "Jumped In". The small weapons ALWAYS gave me pause... BECAUSE, If *I* could carry it somewhere, by myself... so could someone else!
http://johnmtaylor.com/foe/sadm.htm

Here they say "Special" Atomic Demolition Munition... But... that's NOT what our TM said. "Special" may have been an earlier designation.

Here's another site with some good information... and some references and a link RE: the "Davey Crockett" system etc. The Davey Crockett was NOT one of the systems that we trained with:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suitcase_bomb

This site has pics and a good deal of data... Frankly, there is information here that I would not have been comfortable sharing personally... i.e., about yields etc. I cannot confirm the data posted on this site:
http://www.active-duty.com/BackPackNukes.htm

Here is a site with some links to a couple of video clips RE: the SADM. The video quality is poor but the narration is adequate. These videos address a maritime deployment of the munitions and are not necessarily directly related to the training that the Army Engineers undertook with respect to deployment of this munition.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/russia/suitcase/

As you no doubt know, much of the reconstruction of Germany under the Marshall Plan was done with an eye toward tactical and strategic defense planning... such that some dams, bridges and like infrastructure were chambered, or otherwise designed so as to be able to be destroyed quickly and efficiently so as to deny ground to any potential Soviet advance. The tactical nuclear weapons, such as ADMs and those "small" "tactical" weapons designed for deployment on short-range missiles or via artillery were all essentially "ground denying" weapons. From my independent reading on the matter, the best estimates were that it all would have bought us a week at BEST in the face of a full Soviet heavy armor advance.

We regularly trained with, and were supported by other NATO forces... and that's about all I'm comfortable saying about that.

We had 6 ADM teams in our Platoon... Training was daily, exact, and pretty intense. We not only memorized the Technical Manual associated with each weapons system... we did the same with many DOA, DOD, DOE, USAREUR, and NATO policies.

I imagine that it's common knowledge now... but when the Russian tanks drove into Prague in 1968, we were on "High Alert"... some Teams at the storage facilities... codes in hand. The codes NEVER left the safe at the Kaserne... which itself was under 2-man armed guard 24/7... except under those circumstances. Given this "personal" perspective on the mater I have always understood that that event in Prague was EVERY bit as "close" as Kennedy's "October Standoff" with Khrushchev over the missiles in Cuba years earlier!

In that photo that Ed Hosier posted... I'm the guy in the middle with the "Bush Hat" on. I was 19-20 at the time... I turned 20 that summer (1968)... and I was second in command of my Team at that time. My Team Chief was SSgt Canda... the Hawaiian fella two down to my right in that photo... A heck of a good guy... and a 2nd degree Black Belt as I recall).

A sobering thought when looking at that photo... and considering the ages of those fellows... The individuals in that photo were the individuals who actually had their finger on the actual "button" at that time. Each and every one of those characters in that photo had the authority to sign for, and detonate a weapon... subject to the release of the codes... and "The Two Man Rule."

I think that should satisfy most of your "casual" questions... If I tell ya anything else... I'll have to kill ya... :-)

Thanks again, Walter, Great Site... Nice job!