USAREUR Units - Engineers

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

The 1940s

The 1950s
Swing Bridges
Engr Gp (M&S)
Engr Depot
Engr Lt Equip
Engr Hvy Equip
SCARWAF

The 1960s
Engr Cbt Gp
Engr Cbt Bn, Army
Float Brg Co
Panel Brg Co
Lt Equip Co
Engr Const Units

The 1970s
ADM units

The 1980s

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Stem-to-Stern

MOUSF

The 1950s

Swing Bridges on the Rhine

Rhine River crossing demonstration given by elements of
the 11th Engineer Group at Bruehl, Germany, 1960 (AHEC)

499th ENGR BN Rhine River Swing bridges between
Karlsruhe and Mannheim (AHEC)

1. Bruehl Swing Bridge

2. Rheinhausen Swing Bridge

3. Germersheim Swing Bridge

4. Leopoldshafen Swing Bridge

Vertical aerial view of US Army Rhine River Swing Bridge sites, 1968 (LEO-BW)
(Click on an image to view a higher resolution image)

1. Bruehl Swing Bridge	2. Rheinhausen Swing Bridge	3. Germersheim Swing Bridge
4. Leopoldshafen Swing Bridge	5. Nierstein Swing Bridge	6. Gernsheim Swing Bridge

Oblique aerial view of US Army Rhine River Swing Bridge sites, 1950s
(Click on an image to view a higher resolution image)

OPERATION OF A SWING BRIDGE

(Source: STARS & STRIPES, March 16, 1962)
Sometimes called "floating Bailey Bridges," the swing bridges were permanent fixtures along the Rhine River in southern Germany for many years. Their purpose was to facilitate troop movement across the Rhine River in support of 7th Army.

Each swing bridge is comprised of two half-bridge sections (or spans), one anchored parallel to the river bank on each side of the river. Each span is equipped with two anchor cables mounted on two diesel engine wiches. The anchor cables are tied to the stanchions on the bank of the river. (When the bridge is being closed the cables are held taut for control and security of the bridge; when the bridge is opened the winches wind up the cable as it becomes slack.)

To close the bridge, each half-bridge section is swung in a downstream arc, pivoting on a pivot pile.

The swing system of the bridge incorporates both the propelling units and the anchor cable system (mentioned above). Propelling units for each span consists of two (or more?) marine diesel engines (Navy Sea Mules). The mules are mounted on sections of the bridge rather than on the bridge proper to provide more versatility.

The swing bridge is closed by conversion - each span is swung in a downstream arc and connected together when each half of the bridge reaches midstream. As the two spans swing together they are guided into position by guide rails and alignment is maintained by the mules. The power winches hold the bridge in place while the mules adjust their props to push the bridge sections together.

Adjustable ramps are used to seat the bridge on the abutment on either shore. The downstream end of each half-bridge has a foot ramp section which is of panel construction. The ramp sections are hinged to the bridge proper and may be raised or lowered by means of a winch and cable arrangement. This raising and lowering permits the half-bridge to be swung into pinning position without grounding the ramp section. After the bridged is pinned, the ramps are lowered to the abutment.

To permit free river traffic, the bridges are normally "open" - the bridges are disconnected at center connecting joints and each span is swung upstream shoreward pivoting on the pivot pile located a few feet off-shore from each abutment and then anchored to the river bank on its respective side..

Crests of 7th Army Engineer units that operated Swing Bridges on the Rhine

37th Engr Bn	78th Engr Bn	109th Engr Bn	499th Engr Bn
547th Engr Bn	1402nd Engr Bn	6960th CLG Bn **	6961st CLG Bn **

** I used the Labor Service units' shoulder patches to represent the 6960th and 6961st CLG battalions as they had no authorized DUI

Engineer Light Equipment Companies

(Sources: STATION LISTS for 1953-1955)

In August 1953, there were three Light Equipment companies in Germany:

346th Engr Lt Equip Co, Kafertal (11th Engr Gp)

503rd Engr Lt Equip Co, Kornwestheim (115th Engr Gp)

807th Engr Lt Equip Co, Hanau (37th Engr Gp)

The 346th and 807th were both reserve component units that would be inactivated in late 1954 respectively in 1955 and replaced by Regular Army units:

the 346th Engr Lt Equip Co, Kafertal was replaced by the 535th Engr Lt Equip Co (15 Nov 1954)

the 807th Engr Lt Equip Co, Hanau was replaced by the 568th Engr Lt Equip Co

The 1960s

(Source: FM 5-142, Nondivisional Engineer Combat Units, March 1961)

(Source: USAREUR Station List, 31 July 1963)

7th Army Engineer Groups

37th Cbt Engr Gp, Hanau, APO 165, V Corps
540th Cbt Engr Gp, Kornwestheim, APO 154, VII Corps

11th Cbt Engr Gp, Schwetzingen, APO 403, 7th Army Support Command
555th Cbt Engr Gp, Karlsruhe, APO 164, 7th Army Support Command

(Source: Email from Bill Hokanson)

As a start, since you are interested, in the early 1960's each corps had a combat engineer group hqs, in VII Corps it was the 540th Engr Gp. Not sure about V Corps, it may have been the 37th?

The 555th Engr Gp commanded non-divisional units that were under 7th Army rather than the corps. There may have been another such group hqs in the north.

The 7th Engr Bde, which had been a ComZ command, succeeded the 540th under VII Corps and the 130th Engr Bde succeeded a group hqs that was under V Corps. The non-divisional corps combat engr bns were,
in V Corps:

54th Engr Bn (Wildflecken)

317th Engr Bn (Eschborn)

547th Engr Bn (Darmstadt)

They stayed about the same whether under 130th Bde or its predecessor Gp, as they did in VII Corps.

In VII Corps:

9th Engr Bn (Aschaffeburg)

78th Engr Bn (Ettlingen)

82d Engr Bn (Bamberg)

168th Engr Bn (Nelligen -- returned to CONUS in 1963)

237th Engr Bn (Heilbronn)

The divisional engr bns were:
V Corps:

23rd Engr Bn (Hanau), 3rd Armd Div;

12th Engr Bn (not sure, near Bad Kreuznach), 8th Inf Div.

VII Corps:

10th Engr Bn (Bad Kissingen), 3rd Inf Div;

24th Engr Bn (Furth), 4th Armd Div.

3rd Engrs, 24th Inf Div, Munich (1).

The construction engr bns, later redesignated (Combat) (Heavy), well suddenly I can only remember the 94th, which was at Nellingen. There were three others, but they don't come to mind at the moment. One was in Ulm, another in Karlsruhe, and the last in the big training area west of the Rhine, which also has slipped out of the memory bank.

Ah yes, the big training area west of the Rhine was Baumholder, and I think the constr bn there was the 293rd Engrs.

CORRECTIONS:
(1) The 3rd Engineer Battalion HQ was at Munich (Henry Kaserne) - not Augsburg as initially reported, although there were two companies of the 3rd in Augsburg (Alpha and Echo).

Engineers - Float Bridge Company

(Source: FM 5-142, Nondivisional Engineer Combat Units, March 1961)

Organization of an Engineer Company, Float Bridge, early 1960s

The following pages (below) provide the characteristics and methods of operation of a Float Bridge Company, typically assigned to a Field Army and attached to a Combat Engineer Group in the early 1960s. They also describe in more detail Company Hqs, Equip & Maint Pltn, Float Bridge Pltn and Support Pltn. (Some examples of FB companies in 7th Army are the 93rd and 814th Engineer Companies.)

Crests of 7th Army Engineer units that operated Float Bridges

93rd Engr Co (FB)

139th Engr Co (FB)

541st Engr Co (FB)

814th Engr Co (FB)

Engineers - Panel Bridge Company

(Source: FM 5-142, Nondivisional Engineer Combat Units, March 1961)

Organization of an Engineer Company, Panel Bridge, early 1960s

The following pages (below) provide the characteristics and methods of operation of a Panel Bridge Company, typically assigned to a Field Army and attached to a Combat Engineer Group in the early 1960s. They also describe in more detail Company Hqs and Bridge Pltn. (Some examples of PB companies in 7th Army are the 516th, 530th and 552nd Engineer Companies.)

Crests of 7th Army Engineer units that operated Panel Bridges

38th Engr Co (PB)

516th Engr Co (PB)

773rd Engr Co (PB)

809th Engr Co (PB)

Engineers - Light Equipment Company

(Source: FM 5-142, Nondivisional Engineer Combat Units, March 1961)

Organization of an Engineer Company, Light Equipment, early 1960s

The following pages (below) provide the characteristics and methods of operation of a Light Equipment Company, typically assigned to a Field Army and attached to a Combat Engineer Group in the early 1960s. They also describe in more detail Company Hqs, Equip Pltn and Maint & Spt Pltn. (Some examples of LE companies in 7th Army are the 535th and 568th Engineer Companies.)

Crests of 7th Army Light Equipment Engineer units

503rd Engr Co (LE)

535th Engr Co (LE)

568th Engr Co (LE)

807th Engr Co (LE)

The 1970s

(Source: FM 5-1, Engineer Troop Organizations and Operations, July 1971)

Atomic Demolition Munitions

Early 1970s

DIVISIONAL CBT ENGR UNITS
V Corps

Special Weapons Platoon (ADM), HHC Company, 12th Engr Bn, 8th ID(M), Dexheim [--> 6th Pltn, 567th Engr Co (ADM)?]

Special Weapons Platoon (ADM), HHC Company, 23rd Engr Bn, 3rd AD, Hanau [--> 3rd Pltn, 567th Engr Co (ADM)?]

unit had a special weapons bunker a couple of klicks away from Hanau
VII Corps

Special Weapons Platoon (ADM), HHC Company, 10th Engr Bn, 3rd ID(M), Kitzingen [--> 5th Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]

Special Weapons Platoon (ADM), HHC Company, 16th Engr Bn, 1st AD, Fürth [--> 1st Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]

NON-DIVISIONAL CBT ENGR UNITS
V Corps

567th Engr Co (Svc)(ADM), Darmstadt

509th Engr Pltn (ADM), Eschborn [--> 1st Pltn, 567th Engr Co (ADM)?]

529th Engr Pltn (ADM), Darmstadt [--> 2nd Pltn, 567th Engr Co (ADM)?]

ADM Platoon, HHC, 54th Engr Bn, Wildflecken

ADM Platoon, HHC, 317th Engr Bn, Frankfurt [--> 7th Pltn, 567th Engr Co (ADM)]

ADM Platoon, HHC, 547th Engr Bn, Darmstadt

ADM Pltn, 58th Engr Co, Fulda
VII Corps

275th Engr Co (Svc)(ADM), Heilbronn

525th Engr Pltn (ADM), Heilbronn [--> 6th Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]

ADM Platoon, HHC, 9th Engr Bn, Aschaffenburg [--> 4th Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]

ADM Platoon, HHC, 78th Engr Bn, Ettlingen [--> 7th Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]

ADM Platoon, HHC, 82nd Engr Bn, Bamberg [--> 3rd Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]

ADM Platoon, HHC, 237th Engr Bn, Heilbronn [--> 6th Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]

ADM Pltn, 84th Engr Co, Bamberg [--> 2nd Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]
SETAF (Italy)

62nd Engr Co (ADM), Vicenza, Italy

Mid-1970s

(Source: USAREUR Station List, 1 June 1976)

V CORPS

567th Engineer Company (Svc)(ADM), Hanau, APO 09165, prob attached to HHC, 130th Engr Bde

509th Engineer Platoon (ADM), Eschborn, APO 09757

529th Engineer Platoon (ADM), Darmstadt, APO 09175

VII CORPS

275th Engineer Company (Svc)(ADM) , Kornwestheim, APO 09165, prob attached to HHC, 7th Engr Bde

525th Engineer Platoon (ADM), Heilbronn, APO 09176

SETAF

62nd Engineer Company, (ADM), Vicenza, Italy, APO 09221, attached to SETAF

MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTIES (MOS):

12E -

55G - Nuclear Weapons Maintenance Specialist
Major duties: Supervises or performs organizational, direct support, and general support maintenance and surveillance of nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons trainers, and associated components.

(Source: FM 5-26, Employment of Atomic Demolition Munitions (ADM), August 1971)

1977

(Source: Email from Kevin E. Gray)

Served with 567th Engineers Company, 4th Platoon, Alpha Team,1977 to 1980.

In 1977 to 1980 building 26, 27 at Francois Kaserne were barracks for the 567th ADM company and building 31 was the 567th administrative building.

In 1977 I was on the forth floor of building 27. I think building 26 was shared (eith another unit) but don't really remember. I also worked the gate house in 1979.

Pocket Patches of 7th Army ADM units

ADM Pltn, 9th Engr Bn (C)	ADM Pltn, 23rd Engr Bn (C)	ADM Pltn, 54th Engr Bn (C)
ADM Pltn, 58th Engr Co ?	ADM Pltn, 78th Engr Bn (C)	ADM Pltn, 237th Engr Bn (C)
ADM Pltn, 317th Engr Bn (C)

The 1980s

1980s

Related Links:
567th Engineer Company and ADM Reunion web site - page is dedicated to veterans and their dependents who served as MOS 12E's [Atomic Demolition Munitions Specialist] and 55G's [Nuclear Weapons Maintenance Specialist] in ADM units in Europe