| If you do
NOT see the Table of Contents frame to the left of this page, then
Click here to open 'USArmyGermany' frameset |
|||
|
Military Police Division |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
|||
| USAREUR Rehabilitation Center | |||
(Source: American Military Police in Europe, 1945-1991, by Robert L. Gunnarsson, Sr., 2011; several articles from the STARS & STRIPES from 1954-1956) |
|||
| On October 21 1951, the European Command Retraining Center was established at Lechfeld Air Base, Germany. The center was tasked with rehabilitating military prisoners convicted of minor offenses in Army court martial cases (1) and returning them to duty with their respective units as well-trained, well-disciplined soldiers. On November 6 1951, the facility was redesignated as the 7727th EUCOM Retraining Center and the provisional 7727th Army Unit (AU) was created to operate the facility. This unit was staffed with military police personnel. In the first year, the facility was responsible for retraining about 300 general prisoners from the Army stockades at Nuernberg and Frankfurt. In October 1952, the center was reorganized as a 1000-man, medium security confinement facility and assumed the responsibility of retraining all male Army prisoners in the European Command, whose sentences were six months or less and who were considered "rehabilitable." This change was made necessary as the post stockades at Nuernberg and Frankfurt were scheduled for elimination requiring the increase in capacity of the Lechfeld facility through the addition of a 1000-man stockade. Facility improvememts included the construction of guard towers and fences as well as complete renovation of the staff and inmate barracks. The expansion in inmate population also led to an increase in staffing at the 7727th AU, as the guard detachment was expanded to 4 officers and 212 enlisted men. On August 1 1952, concurrent with the redesignation of Headquarters EUCOM in Heidelberg to Headquaters USAREUR, the Lechfeld facility was redesignated as the 7727th USAREUR Retraining Center. In October 1952, a total of 513 prisoners were sent from the Nuernberg and Frankfurt guardhouses to Lechfeld. By the end of the year, the prison population at Lechfeld had grown to 1661 prisoners. With the increase in prisoners at the Lechfeld facility, the Theater Provost Marshal recognized the need for a larger facility that would allow for more contemporary training and discipline. In September 1953, the center was moved from Lechfeld to Fliegerhorst Kaserne in Kaufbeuren to provide better housing and training accommodations. (Webmaster note: here is were Mr. Gunnarsson's history and the STARS & STRIPES articles from the 1953-54 time frame differ. Bob states that the new facility that prisoners were moved to in late 1952 was Crailsheim. However, several articles that appeared in the STARS & STRIPES clearly state that the facility was first moved to Kaufbeuren. The STATION LIST for 16 Aug 1954 also lists the 7727th USAREUR Rehabilitation Center at Kaufbeuren, Germany. Does anyone have any insight into what actually occurred in the 1953-1954 timeframe? ) The stay in Kaufbeuren was short. I have no exact date for when the USAREUR Rehabilitation Center moved from Kaufbeuren to Crailsheim, but an article in the STARS & STRIPES from December 25, 1954 indicates that the school had already vacated Fliegerhorst Kaserne at Kaufbeuren and moved to Crailsheim. (The article announced that a Mutual Defense Assistance Pact (MDAP) School was scheduled to be established in the facilities previously used by the 7727th at Kaufbeuren.) The Crailsheim Rehab Center and the 7727th AU remained funtional at Crailsheim until December 1957. A theater-wide reduction and consolidation program resulted in the decision to close the center. The prisoners at Crailsheim were transferred either to the Mannheim Military Prison or sent to detention centers in the US. On Jan 6 1958, the USAREUR Rehabilitation Center was closed and the 7727th AU inactivated. All MP personnel were reassigned to other ubits within the Theater. |
|||
(1) The soldiers who are sent to the Retraining Center at Crailsheim are serving sentences ranging from 30 days to six months and do not include dishonorable discharges or bad conduct discharges. Most of the prisoners were sentenced for being absent without leave; misappropriation of Army vehicles; disrespect towards their superiors; insubordination; or excessive drinking. |
|||
| EUCOM RETRAINING CENTER, LECHFELD (1951 - 1953) | |||
 |
|||
| (Source: MILITARY POLICE Journal, January 1953) | |||
| The USAREUR Retraining Center has the mission of training and restoring those prisoners whose sentences do not include punitive discharges, and those prisoners with punitive discharges who are considered potentially restorable for successful return to duty as well-trained, well-disciplined and self-respecting soldiers.
Col Charles Hutchings, Jr., is sub-post commander at Lechfeld; LTC W. A. Luszki, P&TO; Maj R. G. Remley, ExO and Capt K. L. Halverson, Adj. |
|||
| REHABILITATION CENTER, CRAILSHEIM (1954 - 1958) | |||
 McKee Barracks buildings near the main gate, late 1950s |
|||
 7727th USAREUR Retraining Center, McKee Barracks, mid-1950s (Leslie S. Hammond) |
|||
 |
|||
| Related Links: | |||
.
