The three armored cavalry regiments already present in Europe - 2nd ACR at Nürnberg, 6th ACR at Straubing, and 14th ACR at Fulda - occupied forward positions along the boundary between the US and Soviet Zones and along the Czechoslovakia border. They acted as a security screen for V and VII Corps.

In the V Corps sector in the north, the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment patrolled the interzonal boder between Hersfeld and Bamberg, providing the forward screen for the 1st and 4th Infantry Divisions.

Farther south, in the VII Corps sector, the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment patrolled between Bamberg and Regensburg to the front of the 28th Infantry Division, while the 6th Armored Cavalry Regiment operated between Regensburg and Landshut, in front of the 43rd Infantry Division.

In order to strengthen the forward screen and to provide the armored cavalry regiments with some immediately available artillery, Seventh Army assigned a separate armored infantry battalion and field artillery battalion to each regiment.

The 373rd Armored Infantry Battalion at Wildflecken and the 631st Armored Field Artillery Battalion at Hammelburg worked with the 14th ACR.

The 371st Armored Infantry Battalion and the 70th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, both at Nürnberg, aligned with the 2nd ACR.

Further south, the 370th Armored Infantry Battalion at Munich and the 74th Armored Field Artillery Battalion at Landshut went with the 6th ACR.

The infantry battalions also provided forward observers and fire support communications networks that were lacking in the armored cavalry regiments.

At that time, Seventh Army consisted of the
11th Airborne Division, Augsburg
3rd Armored Division, Frankfurt
4th Armored Divison, Göppingen
8th Infantry Division, Bad Kreuznach
10th Infantry Division, Würzburg

In the V Corps area, the 14th ACR provided a security screen from Bad Hersfeld in the north to Bad Kissingen in the south for the forward positions of 8th and 10th Infantry Divisions.

3rd Armored Division was in reserve, prepared to reinforce or counterattack.

Further south, in the VII Corps area, the 3rd ACR, in the vicinity of Nürnberg, and the 11th ACR in the vicinity of Regensburg and Straubing, patrolled in front of the forward positions of the 11th Airborne Division and the 4th Armored Division.

Headquarters, 2d ACR - Nuernberg
Headquarters, 1st Squadron, 2d ACR, Bindlach -- Border Camp of 1st Squadron - Hof (QA 0678)
Headquarters, 2d Squadron, 2d ACR, Bamberg -- Border Camp of 2d Squadron - Coburg (PA 4172)
Headquarters, 3d Squadron, 2d ACR, Amberg -- Border Camps of 3d Squadron - Brand (TR 9744), Weiden (TR 9046), and Rötz (UQ 2169)

The border camp at Roehrnbach was closed after the French terminated their border patrols.

In 1983 the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, with headquarters in Fulda (Downs Barracks), divided up the V Corps' border sector as follows, from north to south (see Map 1):

- The regiment also had a Combat Aviation Squadron (formerly called the Command and Control Squadron), which among other things included the air troop and support troop (air) elements mentioned above and was located,at Fulda. It had the task of providing regimental aerial surveillance along the entire V Corps' sector.

- In addition, the 3d Squadron of the 12th Cavalry, which belonged to the 3d Armored Division, and the 3d Squadron of the 8th Cavalry, which belonged to the 8th Infantry Division, conducted border operations when 11th ACR units were training or needed augmentation.

The 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment, with headquarters at Nuernberg (Merrell Barracks), conducted border operations in the VII Corps' sector as follows, from north to south (see Map 2):

- The 1st Squadron of the 1st Cavalry (1st Armored Division) had been placed under the operational control of the 2d ACR for border operations only in November 1978 and was responsible for the border sector from UR 140426 to UQ 293890. It operated out of Camp Pitman (TR 937064). (Camp Weiden was renamed Camp Pitman.)

- The 3d Squadron of the 2d ACR was headquartered at Amberg (Pond Barracks) and operated out of Camp Reed (UQ 183658) (Camp Rotz was renamed Camp Reed) and Camp May (UQ 584281). It was responsible for the border sector from UQ 293890 to VQ 148029.

- Early in the 1970s, Camp Wollbach and Camp Phillipsreut had been used in the VII Corps sector, but by 1974 they were no longer listed as active border camps.

- The 2d ACR also had a Command and Control Squadron (Provisional), which included the air troop and support troop (air) that accomplished the regimental serial surveillance mission as well as other regimental elements and was stationed at Merrell Barracks and Feucht Army Airfield in Nuernberg. The air troop, designated Attack Helicopter Troop, conducted surveillance in the Weiden and Regen sectors, while the support troop (air), designated Support Helicopter Troop, had responsibility for the Hof and Coburg sectors.

German Control of the Border

Although the (US) armored cavalry regiments retained responsibility for military security of the eastern borders, from 1947 on the border had been increasingly controlled by German border police agencies which worked in close cooperation with the regiments and the US Army military intelligence elements working in this area. (The Bundesgrenzschutz was formed in early 1951, with recruiting for the BGS beginning in April, and the training of cadres for 12 battalions and several group headquarters initiated on 17 May 1951.)

By 1953 the German border police agencies had divided their responsibilities in the following manner: in Land Hesse the Zollgrenzdienst (Zoll) -- GSM 5-1-84 [99] Federal Customs Police -- patrolled the border and, operated legal crossing points; in Land Bavaria it functioned in a similar manner, but was assisted by the Bavarian Border Police (BBP) -- whose primary focus at that point was the Czechoslovak-FRG border, but would subsequently be expanded to include the portion of the inner-German boundary that ran through Bavaria; and the Bundesgrenzschutz (BGS), which patrolled along the complete Federal Republic border with a heavy emphasis on the eastern boundaries. Although authorized 20,000 men, the BGS consisted of approximately 15,000 men in 1953-55 and was organized-into one brigade composed of three groups. Subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior, the brigade headquarters was located at Bonn, the northern group (BGS Kommando Nord) headquarters at Hannover in the British Zone, the middle group (BGS Kommando Mitte) headquarters at Kassel, and the southern group (BGS Kommando Süd) headquarters in Munich -- the latter two both located in the US Zone.

Groups were made up of three or four battalions. The battalions consisted of 560 men and normally patrolled in jeeps, trucks, and armored cars. They maintained a ready reserve and served as a back-up to the other two organizations in the event of serious border incidents or emergencies. Primarily, they patrolled the border daily, both on foot and in vehicles, and examined passports at crossing points.

The Zoll belonged to the Federal Ministry of Finance and was tasked with controlling goods crossing into the Federal Republic, but it expanded its activities on the eastern borders to include more extensive patrolling along the border. One immediate difference was that the Zoll members lived in the area they patrolled and were very familiar with the terrain. They patrolled in vehicles or on foot accompanied by dogs.

The Bavarian Border Police was under the control of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior, and operated out of inspection stations and substations. Although mostly concerned with border patrol duty -- they duplicated the patrolling of the Zoll and BGS somewhat - they were also involved in criminal investigations and other police activities along the border.

Both the Zoll and the BBP were authorized to handle minor incidents on the spot, but normally immediately called in the BGS to take responsibility for any serious border incident.

After regaining its full sovereignty in 1955, the Federal Republic decided to establish a national armed force in 1956. The BGS, then at a strength of approximately 16,000 men, was called upon to provide a cadre for the new Bundeswehr -- the German Armed Forces. Approximately 70 percent of the officers and 40 percent of the noncommissioned officers and men transferred to the Bundeswehr, while the remainder chose to stay with the BGS.

If US military authorities had any illusions about the Bundeswehr assisting them in providing military security along the border -- there is some evidence they did -- this thought was soon put to rest when the Federal Republic issued instructions in 1958 that effectively precluded the Bundeswehr from playing any role on the border in peacetime. The Bundeswehr was not allowed to approach the eastern border any closer than five kilometers in company-size: elements or larger. Smaller elements could enter the 5-kilometer zone for operational purposes, but could go no closer than one kilometer. Individual Bundeswehr personnel in uniform were not allowed to enter the 1-kilometer zone. Further, Bundeswehr personnel were prohibited from crossing the East German an Czechoslovak borders. The Bundeswehr would continue to play no role in peacetime operations on the border, but would, of course, have an important role in all emergency or wartime operations.

In subsequent years, the Bundeswehr, was very much aware that its covering and screening forces had to able to move with minimum difficulty into their wartime areas of responsibility along the border. Bundeswehr soldiers conducted terrain walks and reconnaissance in civilian clothes, and the units maintained continuous liaison with the German border control agencies -- especially the BGS -- and the US Army units that operated along the border.

The BGS slowly built back up to 15,000 men, but the booming West German economy made it difficult to keep up its strength. A change in the Basic Law in 1968, which allowed for the substitution of service in the BGS for the compulsory 18 months of military service, was of some aid.