USAREUR Units - 3rd Armd Div

The opening ceremonies were held at Campo Pond in Hanau and were attended by an estimated 6,000 visitors. Among the top-ranking guests were General Lauris Norstad, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe; General Henry I. Hodes, USAREUR Commander-in-Chief; Lt Gen Bruce C. Clark, 7th Army Commanding General; Lt Gen Lemuel Mathewson, V Corps CG; as well as many high-ranking military and civilian dignitaries from NATO nations.

The highlight of the opening ceremonies was a mounted and dismounted review held by the SPEARHEAD Division in which approximately 8,000 troops and about half the wheeled and tracked vehicles of the division as well as aircraft from the division's aviation sections participated.

Norm Newhouse had some input regarding the Bonames question I had on the locations list:
Bonames is the air field. No troop housing there. Troops were probably at Edwards. The 66th Avn Co. (Corps) also had their aircraft at Bonames. Their troops were at Gibbs when I left in 1965.

All V Corps special troops units kept their ammo trailers at Bonames. No explosives in town. 45th Med. Bn was also stationed at Gibbs in 1965.

Shortly after the second advance planning party to visit Germany returned to Fort Knox in late November, it was announced that the main body of the "Spearhead" Division would begin to leave Kentucky on its Gyroscope mission to Germany about April 25, 1956. Except for a small rear detachment, the entire Division would be in Europe by June 15, 1956. All troops would sail from New York City and dock at Bremerhaven, Germany, on the North Sea.

Division Gyroscope plans called for Combat Command "A" to be the first to leave for Germany, followed by Combat Command "C" as the second increment and Combat Command "B" as the third. Division Headquarters and Division Artillery Headquarters were scheduled to move with the second increment. In addition to their normal supporting ordnance and artillery moving with each combat command, it was envisaged that Division combat support troops, such as engineers and quartermaster, would be split between the three groups for overseas movement.

The same advance party report revealed the planned location of each unit in the Division during its three-year tour in Germany. Division Headquarters and Division Troops were to be stationed at Frankfurt, with Combat Command "A" at Kirch-Goens and Butzbach, Combat Command "B" at Gelnhausen and Buedingen, Combat Command "C" at Friedberg, and Division Trains at Hanau -- all within a 35-mile radius north and east of Frankfurt.

Throughout the month of December, the Division Dependents Processing Center was kept busy with a large number of 3d Armored dependents preparing for the move to Germany. A total of 1,173 families, including 2,918 dependents, were initially processed.

While training continued, however, more and more attention was focused upon detailed preparations for the actual movement of the Division to Germany. The sudden appearance throughout the Division area of numerous large corrugated steel packing containers stressed the imminence of its departure and emphasized an ever-increasing effort toward the tremendous tasks of packing, crating, and loading the equipment which would accompany the Division to Germany; of turning in that which would not; of checking personnel records, preparing shipment rosters, and insuring that all Division personnel were qualified for overseas duty from both a physical and mental standpoint.

The Gyroscope began to whirl on March 1, when the first plane carrying members of the Division's advance party to Germany departed from International Airport in New York City. During the next two weeks, 650 advance party personnel, both officers and enlisted men representing each major command, made the transatlantic flight. Brigadier General Porter flew to Frankfurt on March 14, in order to assume the duties of acting Division Commander in Germany.

It was the principal objective of the advance party to plan an efficient and expeditious replacement of 4th Infantry Division units with the incoming 3d Armored groups, and insure that all supplies and serviceable equipment necessary for assuring the combat readiness of each Division unit within 72 hours of its arrival were available. In addition, it was their responsibility to deal with other problems involved in a mass movement, including the reception and quartering of dependents, and coordination with V Corps, 7th Army, and USAREUR procedures.

Even before the last advance party plane had faded from the New York skyline, the overseas movement of the main body of the Division came one step closer to reality with the release of May-June ship assignments. Six major vessels, it was revealed, would carry the Division across the Atlantic: the military transports Darby, Patch, Geiger, Butner, Rose, and Buckner. All would depart from the Brooklyn Army Terminal, with a three-day interval between the sailing dates of vessels in each separate increment, and dock at Bremerhaven, Germany, on the North Sea. The estimated departure dates of the first ship in each increment were May 4, May 23, and June 11.

In mid-March, the first of five train loads of heavy equipment was loaded on railroad cars and readied for departure from the 3d Armored area at Fort Knox. Sixty-three flat cars carried 100 pieces of equipment, ranging from amphibious armored personnel carriers to self-propelled 105mm howitzers, to Hampton Roads Army Terminal, Norfolk, Virginia, where they were placed on vessels for overseas shipment.

The remaining pre-embarkation period was not all work and no play, however. The Division celebrated the 15th anniversary of its organization with a week-long schedule of festivities during the second week in April. Among the special activities were a military gymkhana featuring physical fitness tests, hand-to-hand combat, and first aid, mortar firing, and footbridge assembly demonstrations; sporting events; dances; a musical cavalcade; a helicopter square dance; and special out-door anniversary church services. The week of pageantry was climaxed by a colorful Division review on Brooks Field, a fitting "Spearhead" farewell to its year of training at Fort Knox.

The results of the Army Training Tests administered to all units in the Division during the preceding weeks were made known in mid-April. The results of these tests, which included day and night marches and selection of bivouac sites, as well as attack and defense tactics, showed commendable progress by all units, and indicated decisively that the "Spearhead" was in peak training condition, ready to assume its new role in Western Germany.

Division vehicles and equipment were ready, too. A Command Maintenance Inspection conducted by personnel from all 3d Armored technical services and supervised by representatives from the Second Army, revealed a high standard of maintenance throughout the Division. No less than ten "Spearhead" units received a "superior" rating, scoring 94 or more points out of a possible 100.

The electricity of anticipation among 3d Armored men reached a record high with the arrival of the month of May. The Gyro move that had been promised 15,000 men in the torrid basic training days in Kentucky was about to turn into exciting reality for the entire Division.

In the early morning hours of May 3, it began. Troops of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Combat Command "A"; the 13th Armored Infantry Battalion and the 143d Signal Co, complete with field clothes, steel helmets, and individual weapons, clambered aboard two transport trains sitting on Fort Knox sidings for the journey to New York. Arriving at the Brooklyn Army Terminal 26 hours later, the long trains pulled up at shipside, where the men, with a clicking efficiency which gave the impression of having been practiced all night, transferred to the USNS Darby. Promptly at 2 pm, the Darby sounded two ear-splitting blasts, and slipped away from Pier 4 with more than 1400 troops, 300 dependents, 11 dogs, and 2 cats aboard -- the first shipload of 3d Armored personnel to sail for Europe.

The final event of the overseas movement was the arrival in Frankfurt on June 30 of Brigadier General Fitch, who had served as Division Commander (Rear) in the States, supervising the departure of the Division's last elements headed for Germany. On the preceding day, the last ship of the third increment had glided into Columbus Quay, Bremerhaven, and, with the arrival of those troops in Gelnhausen, the Division became fully operational.

Meanwhile, separate battalions of Combat Commands "A" and "C" left their Kirch-Goens and Friedberg caserns and took to the hills for their first real taste of overseas training. Their movement to "away from home" training sites initiated a steady flow of Division units to Wildflecken, a major training area to the east, and Grafenwohr, a still larger training site, replete with military history, some 250 miles from Frankfurt. The former training ground of the mighty Nazi panzer divisions commanded by Generals Rommel and Guderian during World War II, Grafenwohr began to hum with the sound of 3d Armored tanks rolling across its broad fields, and during the ensuing months every 3d Armored unit maneuvered there.

Early in July, all Division headquarters units moved to the field to participate in Command Post Exercise "Summer Stock," a week-long Seventh Army exercise conducted with the aim of perfecting the command framework into which troop units could later be fitted. The operation provided the Division with its first major foreign-soil training.

A distinguished visitor toured a section of the Division area in late July. In the course of a threeday inspection of USAREUR installations and troop units in the field, Secretary of the Army Wilber M. Brucker spent a half-day observing 3d Armored training. Arriving in Hanau early on the morning of July 26, he was greeted at the Compo Pond Training Area by General Porter and the Division Band and Honor Guard, and was taken to observe training already in progress. He watched tanks crossing pontoon bridges, the construction of infantry foot bridges, amphibious operations involving M-59 Armored Personnel Carriers, and the employment of assault craft for infantry attack. As the tour of various phases of armor, infantry, and artillery progressed, Mr. Brucker frequently consulted the officers and enlisted men involved in the operation.

After the series of demonstrations by elements of Combat Commands "B" and "C" and Division Trains, Secretary Brucker moved on to watch a reconnaissance, selection and occupation of positions demonstration staged by Battery "A" of the 509th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, and finally traveled to Grossheim (probably Grossauheim) on the Main River, where he observed the 23d Engineers and the 29th Armored Infantry Battalion practice the assault phase of a river crossing operation. He later expressed his pleasure at the type of training being conducted and especially noted the excellent spirit of the men.

About the same time seven Division soldiers were chosen to travel to Antwerp, Belgium, to represent the United States Army at the annual memorial services honoring the Allied dead of World Wars I and II. The group, which served as an American honor guard, was composed of an outstanding enlisted man from each major command plus a member of Division Headquarters.

Meanwhile, training continued at a steady pace throughout the Division. Combat Command "A" undertook a month of field training amid the hills and broad sweeping valleys of Grafenwohr, and selected 3d Armored tankers sharpened their technical proficiency by attending courses at the Seventh Army Tank Training Center at Vilseck. Combat Commands "B" and "C," awaiting their turns to train at Grafenwohr, worked hard at training areas located near their respective caserns, the latter command staging a series of demonstrations for Lieutenant General Mathewson, V Corps Commander, in mid-September.

Three foreign generals visited the Division during September. Brigadier General Henri Dodelier, French Commander of Task Force "B" in Wetzlar, Germany, conferred with General Porter at Drake Casern, while Italian General Clementi Primieri, Commander of NATO Forces, Land South, and Major General Renato De Francesco, General Primieri's Chief of Staff, spent a full day at Grafenwohr on an inspection tour of 3d Armored units. A five-car caravan took the high-ranking Italian general over the dusty roads of the training site to observe 3d Armored training tactics, which he declared similar to those employed by the Italian Army.

It was now recognized that the Division had attained the status for which it had been reactivated -- an alert, technically proficient, disciplined armored striking force. The problems of traversing an ocean and settling in a new land lay behind. The problems peculiar to Germany were no longer new to the men of the Division. They had met and mastered them. The task henceforth was to remain at top efficiency at all times -- always prepared for whatever tasks the Division might be called upon to perform.

In mid-March, it was announced by the Department of the Army that the 3d Armored Division had been withdrawn from the Army's Gyroscope plan. It also was learned that replacements would be supplied by a system of individual replacements and trained packets. The change was important to the Division as a whole because it now would continue to serve indefinitely as a part of the NATO bulwark of defense in Europe.

In June, the Division was presented with awards for its superior performance in the Seventh Army Tank Gunnery Program. Two awards, top honors in both the battalion and company phases of the program, were given for the high level of accuracy turned in by the 1st Cavalry during its firing at the Belsen-Hohne Ranges.

Division marksmen became Seventh Army champions in October 1958 as they stayed a fraction of a percentage point ahead of the 3d Infantry Division team in shoulder-to-shoulder matches. Some 360 marksmen competed for 48 individual awards with Spearheaders taking ten of them. The matches constituted 'firsts' in two respects: It was the first time that team trophies were awarded in addition to single awards for individual events, and it was the first time Spearheaders had defeated the 3d Infantry team -- pre-match favorites.

Familiar Division scenes were filmed in August during three weeks of work by photographers from Paramount Studios for its $2 million movie "GI Blues." It is the story of a soldier's life with the United States Army in Germany, starring Elvis Presley; but he didn't appear before the cameras until his discharge in March 1960,

All Division units participated in FTX "Winter Shield" during February 1960, Seventh Army's annual winter maneuver staged in the vicinity of the training center at Grafenwöhr. It was the high point of winter training and involved 60,000 men drawn from V and VII Corps and the Bundeswehr, as well as the 3d Armored Division.

It marked the first time that major units of the new German Army jointly participated with United States ground forces in a field exercise. It was a test of combat readiness and provided realistic training under simulated combat conditions, with emphasis placed on the role of the individual soldier and small unit leader. Training with advanced weapons and in all types of heliborne operations were practiced. Action consisted of a series of attack, withdrawl and counterattack operations, with the result that every type of participating unit benefited from the exercise.

Spearheaders moved to the field en masse again in November 1961 in preparation for FTX "Brandywine", a week-long exercise designed to test the Division's ability to move, shoot and communicate. Command control systems, logistical and administrative procedures, and teamwork between combat and support elements-in addition to small-unit tactical training--were included in the maneuver that was hampered with rain, snow, mud and fog.

The Division was supported by V Corps and Seventh Army units for a total of 26,000 men participating in the exercise. Pre-exercise training included cold weather indoctrination, CBR, map reading and intelligence training.

On May 19, 1962, Major General Creighton W. Abrams, Jr., Division Commander, was reassigned to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations at Department of the Army. He departed the Division after having held his post since October 1, 1960, and was succeeded by the Division's present Commanding General, Major General John R. Pugh, who came from Second Army Headquarters at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland.

On 25 June 1963, 3rd Armored Division hosted a big review ceremony at Fliegerhort Kaserne with over 15,000 troops and 700 pieces of wheeled and tracked equipment. Although predominantly from 3rd AD., some of the troops and equipment came from other USAREUR units.

President John F. Kennedy, in Germany for a state visit and on his way to Berlin to make his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech (26 June 1963), participated in the grand review. After reviewing the men and equipment massed along a mile-long parade front, he mounted a reviewing stand and held a short speech. (See The American Presidency Project website for an online transcript of the speech.)

The photos below show the tail end of preparations for the review. After several days of hard work, everything is ready for the demonstration of USAREUR armored and nuclear might.

The destroyed tank was evemtually loaded onto a railway flatcar and sent to Hanau.

(To read about Sgt Maj Perry's other assignments in Germany, click here.)

I've been hoping to post my photos somewhere. I have a page on Google Earth/Panoramio. I have hundreds of photos of Budingen/Gelhausen as well as many of Armstong/Coleman kasernes (URL: www.panoramio.com/user/3676634 )

Our primary function was to provide security and support activities to the 3rd Bde that was stationed at Ray Barracks. We escorted and provided traffic control during "alerts" and field training exercises. We provided law enforcement functions on post when called upon by various companies and a point of contact or report of criminal activities. We provided routine patrol of the post, Friedberg and Bad Nauheim. We assisted the German Police in incidents involving military personnel and their families.

Various companies in the Bde assigned staff to work as Unit Police (UP's) to work the front gate security however if a incident occurred the MP's were notified.

The 503rd MP Company's 3rd Platoon and the MP Station occupied the first floor of the building (see photo above). I recall some 3rd AD support company occupied the other floors, however, I do not recall what units.

In garrison, we pulled mostly gate duties and guarding general's loop over by Edwards housing.

We would send a small amount of people every day to work with the 284h MP CO, so we would get a chance to work the road.  Every shift, someone (either 284th or 503rd) was picked to be the dispatcher for the shift at the MP Station on Gibbs Kaserne.

After a while of working the road, I got chosen quite often to work as dispatcher.  I was also working as dispatcher the day the bomb went off at the Frankfurt PX (November of 1985).  What a busy day!

I can't remember too much more of our garrison duties, but I'll keep trying and let you know when I come up with more.