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570th
US Army Artillery Group |
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 570th US Army Artillery Group DI |
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(Source: A Look Back ... at the 59th Ordnance Brigade. Final issue of the 59th COURIER, the command newspaper, published in 1992.) |
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| 570th US Army Artillery Group | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The 570th U.S. Army Artillery Group was organized in May 1922 as the 570th Field Artillery Battalion under the 218th Brigade in the Organized Reserves. In March 1944, the battalion was allocated to the Army of the United States, and activated in April 1944, at Fort Jackson, S.C. The unit deployed to the Pacific Theater and participated in combat operations for which it earned the Asiatic-Pacific battle streamer. In July 1947, the battalion was redesignated the 946th Field Artillery Battalion and allotted to the Organized Reserves. In August 1955, following the Korean conflict, the 570th was redesignated the 570th Field Artillery Missile Battalion and activated as a Corporal Missile unit at Fort Bliss, Texas, in September 1955. In February 1964, the battalion headquarters was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 570th U.S. Army Artillery Group, the rest of the battalion's subordinate units were disbanded, and the new group headquarters was activated at Fort Sill, Okla. In July 1964, the group arrived in Germany and the headquarters was established in Muenster-Handorf. The 570th was inactivated on 15 June 1992. 27th Ordnance Company The 27th Ordnance Company was constituted in the Army of the United States in February 1943, as the 176th Ordnance Depot Company. The company was activated in April 1943, at Fort Lewis, Wash. The 176th deployed to the European Theater and received credit for five campaigns during World War II. The company was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for action in the European Theater. In January 1962, the 176th Ordnance Depot Company was redesignated as the 27th Ordnance Company (Special Ammunition) (General Support) and allotted to the regular Army. In March, the 27th was activated at Sandia Base, N.M., and the following year the company was assigned to the 5th U.S. Army Artillery Group in Germany. In July 1988, the 27th Ordnance Company, located in Bueren, was assigned to the 570th U.S. Army Artillery Group. The 27th Ordnance Company was inactivated in June 1992. 26th U.S. Army Field Artillery Detachment The 26th U.S. Army Field Artillery Detachment was constituted in the regular Army, February 1951, as the 26th Field Artillery Counter-mortar Radar Detachment. The unit activated at Fort Sill, Okla. in March 1951 and deployed to Korea, where it received the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation. In October 1951, the unit deactivated in Korea. The detachment was redesignated the 26th U.S. Army Artillery Detachment in May 1958, and activated a month later at Fort Sill, Okla. The detachment was assigned to Special Weapons Support Command in June 1960, and assigned to the 5th U.S. Army Artillery Group, located in Germany, in November 1963. The 26th U.S. Army Missile Detachment inactivated in Germany, February 1967, only to be activated again in Germany in November 1976. In March 1988, the unit was reorganized and renamed the 26th U.S. Army Field Artillery Detachment. During this reorganization the unit was assigned to the 570th USAAG and moved from Paderborn to Sennelager. The 26th inactivated in Sennelager in May 1992. 4th U.S. Army Field Artillery Detachment The 4th U.S. Army Field Artillery Detachment was activated in September 1962 at Fort Sill, Okla, It was originally designated the 4th U.S. Army Missile Detachment and assigned to the 5th U.S. Army Artillery Group. In January 1963, the 4th Missile Detachment, along with other units of the 5th USAAG, left for Germany and arrived in Bremerhaven in February 1963. In September 1970, the 4th Missile Detachment was redesignated the 4th U.S. Army Artillery Detachment. In October 1978, the 4th was reassigned to the 570th USAAG. The unit was inactivated in June 1992. 69th U.S. Army Field Artillery Detachment The 69th U.S. Army Field Artillery Detachment was constituted in April 1963 in the regular Army as the 69th U.S. Army Missile Detachment. It was activated in September 1963 in Menden, Germany. It was then reorganized and redesignated as the 69th U.S. Army Field Artillery Detachment in June 1970 and assigned to the 570th USAAG. The unit was inactivated in May 1992. 583rd Ordnance Company The 583rd Ordnance Company was activated in May 1940 as Company C, 100th Ordnance Battalion at Camp Sutton, NC. The unit departed the United States in February 1944 and served in five European campaigns during World War II. Company C was redesignated as the 583rd Ordnance Ammunition Company in April 1950. In January 1953, the company was redesignated as the 583rd Ordnance Company and reorganized as an ammunition depot. The company was inactivated in December 1954. In January 1959, the 583rd was activated in Dahn, Germany and assigned to the U.S. Army Communications Zone. It was later assigned to the Advanced Weapons Support Command, headquartered in Pirmasens. Effective Dec. 1, 1964, the 583rd Ordnance Company was assigned to the Special Ammunition Support Command, and it was further assigned to the 570th U.S. Army Artillery Group. The 583rd Ordnance Company was inactivated in May 1991. |
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| Headquarters/Headquarters Det, 570th USAAG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Michael Wood, son of Tommie Wood, S-3, 570th Arty Gp, 1967-70) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I was indeed a pleasure to find your website as it brought back many memories. It is not that I was in the ADA although I would, in the 1970's, serve in the Army in Mainz with the 4-69th Armor, but my father was Maj Tommie Wood, S-3, 570th ADA in June of 1967.
Do not know if you are interested in this sort of thing, but our family arrived in Greven, Germany in January 1967. The 570th had arrived in Handorf in November 1966. We made our way to Greven because housing being built in Handorf and not yet been completed, so temporary housing was found in Greven. Eventually 44 American families would be living in Greven with no PX, Commissary, Dispensary, or Schools, think the Army referred to it as a “remote tour”. Coincidentally, about three hundred yards from our little community was Dutch Air Force Family Housing, I assume serving the Dutch Airmen who manned the Nike sites. Sometime in early 1968 housing opened up in Handorf as well as a small PX and commissary. Our family then made the move to Handorf. A three room school house for grades K-8 was also opened.
Despite being the son of a Nike Officer for 18 years, the only time I ever saw a Nike Herc up close and personal was by accident. One day in the summer of 1968, while bored out of my mind and riding around on my bike I managed to find a small road which seemed to lead to nowhere, or so I thought. As I turned a bend In the road I suddenly found myself looking at four or five Nike Herc’s that were out of their bunkers and pointing toward the clouds. I think I was close enough to the nearest Nike, I could have hit it with a rock. I was dumbstruck, impressed, and awed by the sight. I also figured out I had better depart the area before they turned the dogs loose.
We left Handorf in 1970, and my dad headed for Vietnam. |
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| 583rd Ordnance Company | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 4th US Army Artillery Detachment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supported Command: I BE Corps Artillery (link) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The 4th US Army Missile Detachment supported the Belgian 14th Arty Bn and 20th Arty Bn. Also, I have found mention of at least one ADM company under I BE Corps engineers in the 1975 timeframe. This unit could have been supported by the 4th Arty Det. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Letter from Marc Fontaine, Belgium) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Among the things Marc sent me from his days with the 3rd Belgian Artillery Battalion (3A) were two pages of unit history of the 4th USAFAD and 1st Bn, 333rd FA (LANCE) (partnership unit of the 3A). The histories are in French so I will try to summarize as best as possible. The 4th Missile Detachment US Army was activated on May 3 1962 and became operational on Sept 12 1962. On Sept 12 1970, the 4th MSL Det was redesignated as the 4th US Army Field Artillery Detachment. During this period, the detachment was responsible for warhead custodial support of several Belgian nuclear-capable artillery units: 6A, 14A and 20A battalions, which were located at three different installations in the Soest-Werl region. In 1978, 3A (now a LANCE unit) was transferred from Spich to Werl. This eliminated the need for the 33rd USAFAD which had supported the 3A at Spich. The 33rd USAFAD was inactivated and the 4th assumed the mission of the 33rd. From this point on, the 4th supported four Belgian battalions: 3A, 6A, 17RA and 20A. The detachment had a personnel strength of 93 (officers, NCOs and EMs). It was attached to the 570th USAAG. |
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| 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Jeff Hill) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| When I was there it was the 4th USA Missile Detachment, and was part of the 5th USA Artillery Group, which reported to the 548th Group, thence to SASCOM. It was renamed the 4th USAFAD a month or so after I left (I left in mid-August, 1970). I guess we were a "missile" detachment because we had Honest John rockets, but they were just large, rocket propelled field artillery. We also had 8" howitzer support, definitely field artillery. Some of the other units in the 5th group were ADA, Nike Hercules. One was in Körbecke, close to Soest and the Möhne See, supporting the Luftwaffe. Overall there were 5 or 6 detachments in 5th Group, and an Ordnance company based in Büren. About half were FA, half ADA. When I arrived my CO was Cpt. Leonard P. Phister, ADA. He was a shake-n-bake officer picked up as an E5 and run through a short course in the early days of the Viet Nam conflict. His duffle bag still had his rank of SP5 stenciled on it. He was a bit stiff, but a straight shooter. He was the only commander I ever worked for who took the time to sincerely thank me for doing a good job. When he left the unit was taken over by Lt. Paul S. Muther, FA, ROTC with a Harvard psychology degree. He came to the unit from the 33rd USA Missle Det in Dellbruck (outside Cologne). (I may have misspelled Dellbruck. I think I'm missing an umlaut or something. It doesn't look right.) As noted above, at that time we reported through to SASCOM, and I don't think any of us had any direct knowledge of a 59th Ordnance Brigade. Like most of the custodial detachments, we were attached to a NATO unit, in our case the Belgian First Corps Artillery, composed of the 14th and 20th Artillery Bns. I can't recall which was the Honest John unit and which was the 8" unit. There were about 30 of us in the 4th, plus another 4-5 from STRATCOM attached to us to manage the HF-SSB radio and the "Tropo", microwave radiophone with line-of-sight or bounce-off-the-troposphere comms to some other unit from a 150 foot tower. We had our own barracks across the street from the Belgian Kaserne (Houthulst Kaserne), and were colocated with several other Belgian units including a helicopter squadron (The Blue Bees, recon), a Hawk unit (never saw a missile, but bought a car from one of them), and an ordnance/maintenance unit of some sort. I always thought that the weapons depot was pretty lightly defended when I was there, considering what it held. When I came back on a nostalgia visit in 1995 after the place had closed down, found that I must not have been alone in my thoughts. They had considerably beefed up the defenses, an armored gun tower, concrete firing pits around the depot, armored HQ building at the depot with gun slots under all the windows, etc. Typical of the Army, we had a hole in one of the fences around the depot, but it was OK and we never got dinged on an inspection because it was budgeted to be fixed in a future NATO budget slice. The hole in the fence was OK because the paperwork was OK. :-( The Belgians had an odd mix of equipment, some very old, some very modern. For light trucks, for example, they had what appeared to be brand new Mercedes Unimogs. For Jeep class vehicles they had old, overhauled WWII US Jeeps and Land Rover Minervas. The trucks designated to carry special artillery rounds to firing positions in time of war were re-hab WWII deuce and a 1/2, with a box on the back to carry components and enable assembly in a warm, dry surrounding...sort of like a heavy duty military camper conversion. If we needed a truck and driver from them to go somewhere and pick something up, we often got a brand new MAN Diesel 5-ton equivalent. They had the standard Honest John 5-ton truck launcher and support trucks. The 8" howitzers were older SP units, the M55. I'm sure they got rid of the M55s and went to the M110 eventually, as the 55's were as big as a house. The Honest Johns were eventually replaced with Lance systems. I assume the Belgians also acquired some 155 SPs, because I've seen mention of 155 warheads there after I left. The 4th was still using M14s then (M16s came a couple months after I left), and the Belgians were using the FN FAL. We never trained with the Belgian weapons, which was first-class dumb. In case of war, all our supply and support was to be through them. If your M14 broke (it was a fine weapon, don't get me wrong), guess what, you were going to get a FAL to replace it, or maybe one of their nice 9mm submachine guns. Of course, we spent precious little time with our own weapons - most of us were much more proficient with a mop. We did not socialize much (at all) with the Belgians. Typically one was posted to our barracks with a Unimog or VW bus at all times as a driver, and one of them looked me up in Colorado a couple years after In got out of the army. It was a shame, because they are really decent people, and I've made some good friends over the internet by donating some pictures to their web site. Belgium is also a beautiful country. There was a Canadian unit across town (they left shortly after I did, and were replaced by a British unit). We socialized a lot more with them, used their Maple Leaf Store (PX equivalent) and their medical facilities. We also spent exactly zero time learning even a few words of Flemish or French to communicate with them, which could have had really serious mission impact in a tough situation. Luckily, all young Flemish Belgians at that time listened to English language radio stations (Radio Luxemburg featured Wolf Man Jack) and studied English in school. Some of the Waloons did too. Nor did we spend any time learning their badges of rank - as a SP4 I just waved to the Belgian Colonel and said "Hi!" They all saluted me when I drove on their post in uniform because I had my own car and low-ranking Belgian soldiers weren't permitted cars. No one seemed to mind. Like I said, nice people. Ordinary human courtesy was just fine. I guess their Colonel would have reamed a Belgian who just waved, though. Curiously, the most frequent question I have been asked by the Belgians who have contacted me like you did, through their web site, was whether or not we actually had any weapons in the igloos. A significant number of them were convinced that we were just a decoy unit, that the USA was never going to really give any special weapons to the Belgian Army, and there weren't enough Americans there for it to be the real thing. For all the little custody units like the 4th that were scattered all over NATO, we were largely invisible. In the 35 years since leaving the Army, I've met many former soldiers but only once have I met someone from a SASCOM unit. Our obscurity can best be summed up by my experience at the Gutleut Kaserne in Frankfurt, the XXXX Replacement Bn that all EMs went through when they first arrived in Germany. We would spend several days there while they verified our orders, checked to be sure we were who we said we were, arranged travel, etc. Twice, maybe three times a day there would be a formation with hundreds of soldiers lined up and a guy at the front calling off names and destinations when our orders came in. Same guy every formation, he must have known where every military post in Germany was by then. On my day, he called out, "One man to....uh....Werl!" He then bent over to the guy standing next to him, forgetting to cover the mike, and asked, "Where the fuck is Werl?". He then called my name and told me to report to a sergeant by the bahnhof. I was sure I was headed for the end of the Earth. What did you do in the Army, and where? I assume you were a career soldier. Who else would put so much effort into a web site. I was in and out, no desire to stay. Went on to graduate school, have been in the computer business for a long time. |
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| 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from John G. Hodgson) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I was stationed in Werl with the 4th USAFAD from Feb. 1986 until September 1988. My team (5) worked with artillery elements of the 20th (?) Beligian Artillery Regiment (Flemish) based in Soest using special weapon systems for the the 155mm howitzer. I would like to hear from anyone who served in the unit when I was there (jhodgson@students.wisc.edu). The Fourth was based in Werl from its arrival in Germany during the early 60's and I think the last American soldiers left in 1993 and the flag was lowered one final time. This was a former Luftwaffe Kaserne and one of the bases that German Paratroops used for the invasion of Holland in 1940. I think we were one of the only units who had to deal with multiple languages-Flemish (Dutch) speakers and French (Wallone). Some good stories there. Anyway, I can't imagine a better place or way to spend the end of the Cold War. Still a "Professional" John G. Hodgson |
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| 9th US Army Artillery Detachment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supported Command: 26 Field Regiment (link) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 15th US Army Artillery Detachment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supported Command: 24 Missile Regiment (link) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from John C. Calhoun, 15th USAFAD, 1974-75) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I served with the 15th USAFAD which was part of the 570th Artillery Group, 59th Ordnance Brigade (SASCOM). |
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| (Source: Email from Ruppert F. Stanley) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| My first duty station was the 15th USAFAD, Paderborn Germany, Barker Barracks, 45 Field Reg. I was stationed there Nov. 1975. The unit eventual was moved to Bergen Hohne and later returned as the 26th USAFAD at Barker Barracks. For the short time as 26th USAFAD in Barker, we were later moved to 39 Field Reg. where 22nd USAFAD was deactivated. I also was stationed with the 4th USAFAD and 19th USAFAD. Also, my Army stint included 72nd Bde Peden Barracks; assigned to C 3/35th Btry and later battalion special weapons NCO. So yes the 22nd USA Msl Det was in Sennelager. If I can be any help to you in your efforts to enlighten the curious of the long gone elite then, please feel free to contact me. |
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| 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Gary Blackhurst, 15th USAFAD, 1977-80) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I visited your webpage today and see where you wanted any info on 59th Ord Bde units. I was assigned to 15th USAFAD in March 1977 and served there until March 1980. I served as the 8" System Maintenance / Assembly Team Leader with Property Book Officer and Supply Officer as additional duties (Not bad for a new lieutenant). I later became the Security Officer / Det XO. The Det was stationed with its supported artillery regiment, 45 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. 45 Regiment was also known as the Yorkshire Regiment, aka 'The Yorkshire Gunners'. 45 was stationed at Barker Barracks in Paderborn, GE as stated on your site. There were actually 3 American detachments in Paderborn. 26th Detachment was formed from 22nd Detachment to support 24 Field Regiment, RA. The 22nd supported 39 Field Regiment. Sometime in late 1978 the 45 and the 15th were transferred to the NATO Base at Bergen-Hohne. Bergen-Hohne was just south of the infamous Bergen-Belsen work camp from WWII. Along with 45, there was a 105mm self propelled (Abbot) field artillery regiment (don't remember the number); a Hussars (Chieftain) armor regiment; a Dutch armor (Leopard) regiment; and others I just don't recall. The 26th Det moved from Sennelager into our buildings on Barker Barracks when we vacated. The 26th CO was 1LT (P) Harold 'Skip' Pierce. The 15th CO was CPT Joe Norberg, who left for FT Sill after the move north. 1LT Charlie Hollister was the interim CO until CPT Harold 'Hal' Gorman arrived late in 1978. 1LT Hollister departed later that year to CONUS and civilian life. I departed in March 1978 to CONUS and joined the NG. In retrospect, this assignment was a cherry. To get any better, you would have had to join the USO. I served with some of the best soldiers, NCOs and officers in the Army at the 15th and it provided me a wealth of 'war stories'. |
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| 15th USAFAD Organizational Information: 15th US Army Field Artillery Detachment; also designated 15th USAAD (FA): US Army Artillery Detachment (Field Artillery) APO 09078 Station: Paderborn (Barker Barracks), GE, restationed 1978 to Bergen-Hohne, GE Subunit of 59th Ordnance Group, Special Ammunition Support Command (SASCOM); later 59th Ordnance Brigade (SASCOM) Supported 45 (Yorkshire) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, British Army of the Rhine (BOAR), 1st BR Division, 1st BR Corps Det HQs Commander - CPT Joseph Norberg, replaced by CPT Harold (Hal) Gorman (NJ) Security Officer / Det XO - 1LT Charles Hollister (WA - now SLC, UT) First Sergeant - 1SGT Speicher (?) - DEROS'd April 77 - replaced by acting 1SGT - SFC Bobby Henson for about 4 months. First Sergeant - 1SGT Hatcher (FL) - arrived August 77 (?) Admin Clerks - Spec 4 Micheal Asbury; also later PFC Best Security NCOs - SSG Goff, Spec 5 Aldridge (?) - replaced by SFC Lawrance Alejado (HI) and Spec 4 Stanley Basurto (NM) Supply NCO - SSG Jimmie Jenkins (GA)Supply Clerk - PFC Best, replaced by PFC Delbert White (WV) Generator Mechanic - PFC Hyman Dining Facility Supervisor - SFC Spencer (for about a month), SFC Berger First Cook - SSG DeLaet Assistant Cook - ? 155MM Maintenance / Assembly Team Team Leader - 2LT Sam Acree (Maud, OK) later replaced by 2LT Don Leffingwell (MO?) Team Sergeant - (?) Team members (2 Teams of 5 soldiers each) SGT Holland 8 Inch Maintenance / Assembly Team Team Leader - 2LT Gary Blackhurst (WV) (I replaced 1LT Mike Adnot - DEROS'd April 77); I was replaced by 2LT Roger (?) when I DEROS'd. Team Sergeant - SFC Bobby Henson Team members (2 Teams of 5 soldiers each) - Soldiers I remember SSG Bloom; SGT Burnette; SGT Barnes; Spec 4 Sellers; PFC Maurice MacGruder (Tupelo, MS); PFC Brian Kingsley (Cincinnati, OH) |
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| 22nd US Army Artillery Detachment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supported Command: 39 Field Regiment (link) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1967 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Dan Medina) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I was with the 22nd US Army Missile Detachment from December 1967 through mid 1969. I was wondering how I could get the list of my fellow patriots that were assigned there when I was. Lots of old memories I'd like to share. Kinda curious how they made out. I do remember that in 1969 the 39th (Missile Regiment) split into another regiment and was stationed on the other side of Paderborn. I was closer to Sennelager. That was my first assignment, as I was 17 when I arrived there. My brother went the other direction and deployed to Viet Nam in 1967 from Ft Carson Co. Since he went I wasn't allowed to until he returned (thank God). I left for Viet Nam in 1970 and was assigned to the 173rd Abn Bde, and ETA'd in May of 1972. You know, I was a green horn then, a Cherry Boy, a Newbie. I didn't pay a lot of attention to the details of military life. Mine was to just make sure I didn't get into trouble. Okay, got to admit I got ringered a whole lot but such is life. Since I just ran out of martini juice, so I'm going to sit and attempt to pass along memories of the 22nd with hopes that it might inspire others to do the same about their units and time in service. SPILL THEIR GUTS ABOUT THEIR LIFE AND TIMES YA KNOW?! I arrived in Germany in 1967, (coincidently 1 year before my wife was born) I believe Bremerhaven (really not too sure there). They processed me and asked if I would be interested in changing my PMOS. Well hell what did I know about an MOS? I was a 32D20 ( freekin funny how that sticks in your mind huh?) sure whatever I can do to make our country safer. So, they made me some kind of thing that defies description. (I honesty I don't remember what my PMOS was at that point. Probably a safety valve of the brain electing to save me the suffering of knowing I was worthless to the common good of the proletariat). All joking aside. I was sent onward on a train with a guy named Michael Shuster. Darned nice guy. Funny and relaxed, nice to be around. And I believe another named SHARP. Man I thought this is cool. A private car. just three guys riding along until someone says you have to depart. I mean I never had the mature obligation or whatever they instilled in an adult to make this journey. Needless to say I was a little overwhelmed with the huge weight that was called responsibility. We arrived at Sennelager Bahnhof and there was a Sgt E5 to meet us. I'll try to remember his name; thin tall black E5 with a thin mustache. I can still see his face. What's funny is I can't remember how we got to the barracks. but I remember him showing us to our bunks. It was late, maybe 2200, or later. No one else was around. Later I remembered how it was when the "New guys" got there. What I remember then was that we were housed in what was before a horse stable. Everything was indoors and you could tell it was well kept. Tile floors and all. What were once feed stalls were now enclosed to resemble shelves or counter tops. I mean at first I didn't know that I was living in a horse barn until someone later told me about the "appointments". Cobblestoned streets and pathways from the CQ to the mess hall. Description: I'm thinking since this was my very first "Home Away From Home" I remember it more than any other. That was more than 40 years ago. Man that makes me feel old. Just the part about the time difference. I still can do what I need to do, be what I need to be if the push comes again. More so than the crybabies of today. Getting back to the 22nd. The barracks and facility that housed the Americans apart from the British 39th was actually in what I would consider to be the northwest? corner of the regimental unit. There was a fountain down the way, to the east about a hundred yards. I remember it because that was the first time I thought the entire wrath of the British military was going to draw and quarter my ass. Don't mess with the Sargent Major's daughter. She was pretty and I was only 17 at the time. Nothing behind our barracks, I remember jumping the back wall to sneak into into town (Sennelager) but it was still a ways, maybe a mile or two. I am pretty sure it was. I also remember walking home the mess sergeants wife that way, but that's another story. Hey Gotta go. Need to do some real time work. |
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| 26th US Army Artillery Detachment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supported Command: 27 & 47 GW Regiment (link) (link) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Larry Finer) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I was an assistant S-3 with the 570th USAAG from 1979-80, then I was a Team Commander with the 26th USAFAD (United States Army Artillery Detachment) 1980-83. We were stationed in Paderborn with the 27th FA Regt (UK), but when we were deployed, we were to support the 25th FA Regt (UK). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Alan Griggs) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CPT Mark W. Moseley took command October 1987 at Barker Barracks in Paderborn. The previous commander and detachment sergeant had both been relieved for cause due to deficiencies noted in the Nuclear Weapons Technical Inspection (NWTI). At that time, the unit was rock bottom in most categories. His mission was to restore confidence in ourselves and lead us back up the ladder. This he accomplished, in part by micro-managing, and in large part by example. After about two months he backed off, and told everyone he believed his mission was over and it was up to us to continue the improvement. We did not want to fail him (or ourselves) and we didn't. Over the next 7 quarterly inspections conducted by 570th USAAG, we took top honors 6 times. March 1988 saw the 26th move to Sennelager (Dempsey Barracks) and consolidate with the 22nd USAFAD, and another USAFAD (I can't remember which one). In the process, the 26th USAFAD expanded from a 36-man detachment to over 80 personnel. It was about this time we received 1SG Jerry McMinn as our First Sergeant. By this time, we had gotten just a little big for our britches, and a good many decided to ignore him. That was a mistake corrected the first day. After overseeing a 1300 hr formation of only 15 or so soldiers, he put the word out that our 1600 hr formation would be different. Those failing to make formation would be given the option of working for him for two hours or the commander for two weeks (Art 15). Needless to say, formation was 100%. 1SG McMinn and CPT Moseley were a perfect team. Through their efforts, we reached new heights in accomplishments and confidence. This is not to say it was business all the time. CPT Moseley was a practical joker of the first order and proudly included the 570th USAAG Commander amongst his victims. Overall, I must say my tour under these two was interesting and fulfilling on the professional and personal level. I departed the 26th USAFAD in early July 1989. I understand CPT Moseley made Major and left the military for a civilian life in the Dallas area. First Sergeant McMinn retired and was living in Colorado as late as 2003. |
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| 69th US Army Artillery Detachment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supported Command: 1SSM (Canadian) (link) & 50 Missile Regiment (link) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1962 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Jay Wilcox, originally sent to Dick Murphy in June 2001) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It was great to hear from you. I've been trying to find old Canadian and German friends, but I've had little luck so far. I haven't attempted to find members of the 69th (Arty Det), as I made the assumption that the size and duration of the unit would make it a real long shot. I have considered trying to find a few of the guys using phone searches, but haven't tried that yet. So far I have only heard from Bruce McClellan, who was there from 1967-1970 serving with the RCHA, and Pastor Groth, who is the pastor of the historic church in Deilinghofen. I've left messages at three Canadian Army sites and one Deilinghofen site and sent about ten e-mails, but little luck so far. I'm afraid I didn't know either of the men you mentioned. Major Stephens was the head of the unit when I was there and Sgt. Jackson was the first sergeant when I left. The orders for Capt. Lynn had just arrived before I left, and he probably arrived within a couple weeks after I left there. If I remember correctly his orders said he was an Airborne Ranger. I was one of the first two men to be sent to the 69th. Bob Vance of Kansas City and I arrived in Germany together on New Year's Eve, 1962. About January 4, 1963, we arrived in Hemer by train, however the building the 69th was to be located in was not completed yet, so Bob and I were taken to Luedensheid for one night and then to Sennelager for six weeks. When the building was completed in mid-February, we finally arrived in Deilinghofen. In the meantime three others had arrived; the commander, Capt. Stephens (promoted in 1964), Sgt. Ford (the original first sergeant) and Sgt. Larry Salzman (the supply sergeant). For more than six months the unit was not activated and Bob and I lived in that building by ourselves. We had no duties, so we read paperbacks almost every day and about every six weeks we cleaned the building. About ten days after we arrived Capt. Stephens made arrangements for us to eat at the Canadian mess, where we met some members of the 1SSM. They took us to their favorite gasthof, up the hill in Apricke. We soon knew about 15 Canadians and several Germans. We went to the Canadian theatre a few times a week and usually watched two or three hockey games per week. After movies or games we tended to go up to Apricke and drink with our friends four nights per week. I quickly got to know the members of the local German hockey team, ECD. The players thought it would be a great idea to make me the honorary assistant hockey coach as the team had a Canadian coach, Sgt. Harry Craig. Bob and I soon became fairly well known in Apricke, Deilinghofen and in Fort MacLeod. In the fall of 1963 the unit was activated and the rest of the guys arrived. We talked to the guys the night they arrived and told them which bars to go if they wanted to be roudy and/or hang out with Canadians and those who wanted to meet the locals were invited to join us in Apricke. That plan worked nicely and we never had problems. One night in November (about a month after the men had arrived) we were awakened about an hour after lights-out, and we were told to quickly get dressed and get into formation outside. We were then given the news that President Kennedy had been shot and had died. It was a very sad time, but the Germans loved Kennedy and they shared in our sadness. At Christmas-time the ECD club members invited every member of the 69th to their homes for Christmas eve, and about 1/4 of the guys accepted the invitation. It was an incredible gesture by the people of Deilinghofen to invite men who they had never met and who spoke no German into their homes for Christmas. It was the most special Christmas of my life. Shortly after the men arrived we began talking sports and realized we had a lot of basketball talent and I began booking the gym and scheduling games with Canadian, US and German basketball teams. I coached and played and we had two small college stars, Bob Vance and Andy Cockrell, in addition to some good former high school players. I invited a tall German friend, Charlie, and a Canadian friend, Gordy Priest, to join the team. We played a lot of games and had a great record that winter. In February I created the NATO Invitational Basketball Tournament, a unit-level tournament for teams from NATO units stationed in Germany. We had 16 teams from Canada, England, Wales, Belgium and the US the first year. A great British team stationed in northern Germany won that first tournament and the 69th placed a close 3rd. The games were broadcast on the Canadian Army radio station and the tournament was a great success. That winter I continued my association with the ECD hockey team and began traveling with the team on most of their weekend road trips to places like Hannover, Hamburg and Liege, Belgium. We had a great team that winter and even played some of the teams in the Bundesleague (the top national league) and played Munich from the southern division in the playoffs. ECD did not win the German third level national championship, but came close. In the spring of 1964 our thoughts turned to softball. We were invited to join the Canadian Corporals softball league. Shortly after that we decided to form a committee to oversee all the Canadian Corporals sports leagues so that we would always have quality continuity from season to season. The Canadians elected me to head the organization. It was the best job I ever had in my life. Our softball team played with great enthusiasm, but lacked the talent the basketball team had been blessed with. We had a fair amount of decent position players, but never landed a decent pitcher. Our only pitcher was a crazy guy named Toeller from West Virginia. I remember going to the train depot in Hemer to meet new arriving troops several times that summer, and the first question out of my mouth was always, "Can you pitch?" No one ever answered yes. Early that summer, however, a great natural athlete did arrive. His name was Tyrone Dixon and he was from Baltimore. He was a handsome young black man with a perfect smile, a totally sweet disposition and enormous talent at every sport he tried. We made up a story that he had played for the Baltimore Orioles before being drafted and told the story to all the Canadians and they bought it. Tyrone was totally embarassed, but we had a lot of fun with it. Everyone kept asking him for his autograph. That summer we became great friends with the corporals of the PPCLI and whenever we did not have a league game on Sundays we would invite them over to play a non-counting game and then they would invite us over to their mess. On July 3, 1964, we got together with the Canadians for a huge party in the hockey arena to celebrate Canada's Dominion Day (now Canada Day) and our Independence Day. The party lasted until 4 a.m. In August the PPCLI celebrated the 50th anniversary of their unit. They considered us their best friends and our entire unit was given the day off to attend their trooping of the colors and we were all given front row seats (seated behind us were several generals of other NATO armies and other dignitaries). The PPCLI sister unit from Scotland came, the Black Watch band played, and hundreds of troops paraded and I believe about 5,000 people attended. Nine parties followed and we drank until the middle of the night. It was the only world-class social event of my lifetime. I used my leave time for several great trips while I was in Germany. Easter weekend of 1963 I went to Paris with a whole busload of Canadians for four days and amazingly funny things happened during that trip. My most famous moment was unknowlingly peeing on a tree in President Charles DeGaulle's yard. During the fall of that year I went on a three-day beer glass buying trip to Brussels, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Bremerhaven with a couple Canadian friends. Early in 1964 I took a trip to Bad Homburg to play in the casino there and then went on to Munich for a few days. My all-time favorite, however, was Stockholm. I was fortunate enough to take three trips to Sweden and spent more than a month of leave-time there. I also spent some time in Hamburg and Copenhagen. In October of 1964 it was time to return home. I really didn't want to leave, but I had a good job waiting for me at home and knew I should go back to it. My two years in Deilinghofen were the happiest, most successful and most special years of my life. Life has never again been so sweet. I still have a great appreciation for Canadians and a great love for their country. Usually in the summer I get to Vancouver 6-10 weekends and once in a while I get to Victoria. Vancouver is a sensational city and I've spent so much time there it almost seems like a second home. About five years ago I joined a walking club up there. I love the Internet, and in April I stumbled across a website dedicated to the old ECD hockey team in Deilinghofen. The team still exists today, but now it is EIS Iserlohn and it plays in the German national league. After thinking about it for a few weeks, in May I decided to try and find some of my old German and Canadian friends. As I said earlier, I have had little success so far, but I do have reason to believe it will happen eventually. The message I received from Bruce McClellan was the first time in about 30 years I've heard from anyone who had been in Deilinghofen and my message from Pastor Groth was the first time I've heard from anyone in Deilinghofen in 35 years. Your message is the first time I've heard from anyone from the 69th in about 30 years, so it was also a really wonderful surprise. I know you've found the artillery site, but I'll give you a few others you may not have found in case you are interested. The PPCLI site is http://www.ppcli.com/ and Bruce McClellan has an excellent Canadian Army site, http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Cottage/9732/ which has several messages from guys who served with the 1SSM and RCHA. If you are interested in Deilinghofen, the super-site there is: http://www.centernet.de/Pastoerchen/Deillink.htm and it is a wonderful source of information created by Pastor Groth. Dick, it was really great to hear from you. I hope your time with the 69th was as enjoyable as mine, and I would really enjoy hearing from you about your memories of your time there. It is my understanding that the 1SSM was disbanded in 1969 and the RCHA later moved further south in Germany. Was the 69th disbanded at that time and were you one of the final troops? |
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| (Source: Email from Jay Wilcox, to the Webmaster, August 2004) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ADDENDUM: Thank you for your message. Dick Murphy sent me a link to the appropriate part of your website a couple weeks ago and I really enjoyed it and I forwarded it on to a couple friends who were there at that time. I deeply admire all the work you have put into the site and it is wonderful to know that the history of all those who served will live on on the Internet. Yes, I would definitely consider it an honor to have any of the information I sent to Dick be a part of your wonderful website. I actually sent that message to Dick in June of 2001, so I had fun re-reading it again when I received it from you. One important date included in that message is just slightly incorrect. I have located a 1963 calendar on the Internet and found that Bob Vance and I arrived in Hemer on the evening of January 3, 1963, not January 4. It might interest you to know that a couple months after I sent that message to Dick in 2001 I was able to find four of the men I served with in the 69th and found some information about several others. Tyrone Dixon (who served two tours with the 69th), Bill Toler and Sgt. Davis were living in Lawton, OK and First Sergeant Jessie D. Jackson was living in Princeton, WV. I found no one else until the past eight months. I have since located three of my best German friends from those years plus "Duck" Goyeau, a former member of the 1 SSM who was the first Canadian I met in Germany and I also found Charlie Brooks, my old roommate in the 69th. He now teaches high school in North Carolina but he did return to Germany after leaving the Army and spent 25 years teaching in the Iserlohn area. If you need any more information about the first two years of the 69th I would be glad to help so please feel free to contact me at any time. Dick Murphy is the ultimate source of information about the unit during the late 60s and he has been in contact with many others who served with the unit during the 70s, 80s and early 90s. A couple years ago he wrote a history of the unit. Charlie Brooks would also be a good source of information because he lived in Iserlohn during those years and knew many of the people who served with the 69th over a long period of time. Dick and Charlie and I are all good sources for information about the years the unit was located in Fort MacLeod in Deilinghofen, but Charlie probably knows more about the years after the unit moved to Menden than anyone else. |
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| 1967 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Dick Murphy) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I reported to the 69th USA Missile Detachment on May 31, 1967. At that time, the unit was located on Fort Prince of Wales in Deilinghofen. Prince of Wales housed not only the 69th, and its supported unit, the 1st Canadian Surface to Surface Missile (SSM) Battery, but also the First Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (1RCHA). The 69th was one of a number of subordinate units of the 570th USA Artillery Group in Munster (Handorf), W. Germany. Other subordinate units of the 570th at the time included the 1st Missile Det in Wesel, the 22d Det in Sennelager, and the 81st Det in Dülmen. The 583d Ordnance Company was co-located with 570th. I served under two different 570th Group Commanders: LTCs Donald J. Gray and Bailey B. Smith. They in turn reported to 514th Arty Group in Mönchengladbach. The 514th was an O-6 level (Brigade) command, and we had two commanders during this period: COLs Robert Blake (a West Pointer, Class of Jan '43), and Robert Parks. The Commander, 514th reported to the Commander, Special Ammunition Support Command (SASCOM) in Frankfurt. Colonel Leverne Blount commanded SASCOM for most of my time with the 69th. Colonel Gilbert K. Anderson was his Deputy. Gray (1951), Parks (1944), and Blount (1943) were West Point graduates. In 1967 the 69th supported both the Canadian 1SSM Btry, and the UK 50th Missile Regiment, in Menden. Two Honest John Teams supported the Canadians, while the British support consisted of two Honest John and two 8" Teams. The storage site was fully operational and located a few kilometers away, on the back road to Menden. There were approximately 50 personnel assigned to the unit, including 5 single side band (SSB) radio personnel who were attached. A good percentage (50% perhaps) of the first term soldiers were draftees, and a number of them had college degrees. The NCOs were seasoned and experienced, and at least a half-dozen of them had fought in the Korean War. In 1967, no one in the 69th had yet served in Viet Nam, but in 1968 a young Corporal arrived wearing the 1st Cavalry Division patch on his right shoulder. By the time I left in 1969, this young Corporal was still the only one in the unit with experience in Viet Nam, although nearly everyone departing the unit was either separating or was on their way to Viet Nam. Single soldiers lived in the 69th's Headquarters Building, while most married personnel occupied British housing in Menden. Single officers lived on the Camp in Building 9, the Canadian BOQ. Dependent school-aged children attended Summern Elementary School, or the Canadian High School. In 1968, 1SSM Btry relocated from Prince of Wales to Fort Qu'Apppelle in Iserlohn. Simultaneously, the 1SSM and 69th single officers relocated to the Lord Strathcona's Horse (LdSH) Officer's Mess in Iserlohn. During this period of the late 60's, personnel rotation through the 69th was heavy and turnover was high due to the war in Viet Nam. The average tour for officers was less than 2 years, with enlisted tours being slightly longer. Except for draftees on 2 year tours, most soldiers were ultimately sent to Viet Nam. Promotion came quickly in those days - a Second Lieutenant made First Lieutenant in one year, Captain in just two. It was not uncommon for a draftee to make SGT E-5 in 18-20 months, while several RA soldiers made E-6 in less than 3 years. Stripes were so plentiful that on more than one occasion, as the Commander, I was forced to promote some soldiers who I felt weren't quite ready for promotion. As the Group SGM (we didn't have CSMs then) told me, "If you don't use it (the promotion), you lose it." I objected several times but the Group Commander overruled me every time. From my perspective, life seemed good for soldiers in the 69th. Inspections came in spurts, and providing you passed, you were pretty much left alone. The training day consisted of some Technical Training, military classes, and of course there was the inevitable guard duty at the Site. Shifts of 3, all night, with the next day off. For the officers and E-6s and above, there was EMAS duty with a required 5 minute response time to certain message traffic. The 69th's "Beverage Bar" was a popular social spot for soldiers - U.S. and Canadian - primarily due to the cheap beer and good burgers and fries. In addition, the Beverage Bar made a lot of money for the unit, most of which went back into renovations for the Day Room. Around payday, soldiers had a tendency to head downtown to spend their money. I don't recall the names of the popular spots then, but the favorite Gasthaus was the "Fasstaube" in downtown Hemer that was noted for a particular schnitzel - the name of which slips my mind. Food in the Mess Hall was good. I had two Mess Sergeants: Sp5 Worley, and later SSG Piccone. Both were excellent, and I never heard anyone complain about the chow. We also had civilian KPs (German), so there was no KP duty for the men. Relations with the Canadians and the Brits were strong. While I was there we began to train with them more often, and on several occasions we deployed to the field (Hohne) with the SSM Battery. Because of the distance to Menden and the 50th, we spent less time with the Brits than was the case later, particularly after the Canadians moved south to Lahr and Baden Baden in 1970. Nevertheless, relations with both units were good, and a fair bit of joint training was done with both 1SSM and the 50th. Years later, (1980 I believe) the 69th moved from Prince of Wales to Menden to co-locate with 50th. In those days, sports were popular, particularly baseball and basketball, although a few tried to skate with the Canadians, with only limited success. Both the theater and the Hockey Rink at neighboring Camp McLeod were popular with our soldiers. Mail and finance support was provided by the 570th HQ in Munster, while rations and PX items were picked up in Kassel. We made daily runs to Munster for mail, and twice weekly to Kassel for PX supplies. Payday was the old fashioned pay line, with soldiers filing through, getting paid in cash (U.S.), although there was a DM fund that could be used to buy DMs. The exchange rate was consistently 4 DM to the dollar, and never fluctuated more than a penny or two, until the dollar was "floated" (by the U.S. Treasury) in late '68. I was the Pay Officer nearly every month for two years and only once do I remember the rate being other than 4:1. The small PX we operated at the 69th was popular with the Canadians. as well as with our own personnel. Popular items were parts for U.S. autos, cigarettes, and stereo equipment. Some time after I left there was bit of a scandal involving the "mark up" of stereo components, and one of the U.S. officers was court martialed. He survived, was sent to Viet Nam in 1971, and got out upon his return. I left the 69th in February of 1969, enroute to Viet Nam. I stayed in touch with some of the soldiers with whom I served, including some of the Canadians. In fact I married a Canadian schoolteacher, and we just celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary last month. One of the soldiers, Rich Gehner, returned to the 69th twice, serving finally as Detachment Sergeant in the 80's. A number of others I ran into over the years, mostly at Fort Sill where I spent three separate tours following my return from Viet Nam. In 1992, in one of the last ceremonies I witnessed on the Old Post Quadrangle at Fort Sill before my own retirement, was the inactivation ceremony of all of the SASCOM Goups, and the casing of their colors, including the 570th Artillery Group, symbolizing the inactivation of the 69th. |
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| Roster of senior leaders: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 570th ARTILLERY GROUP, Handorf, Germany, June 1967 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 570th ARTILLERY GROUP, Handorf, Germany, January 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The 1969 organization shows the effect the Viet Nam war had on the Captain population in USAREUR. Whereas in 1967, most positions authorized a Captain had one, by 1969 most were filled by Lieutenants. By that time, the only Captains to be found in Europe were those who had already completed a Viet Nam tour (as Fritz Muller, commander of the 81st had). To meet the demand for company-level commanders in Viet Nam, branch assignment officers put Artillery officers on orders to Viet Nam as soon as they reached the promotion point to Captain. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Roster: 69th US Army Missile Detachment, Deilinghofen, 1962-65 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personnel Roster 1962-1965 - Thanks to Jay Wilcox and Tyrone Dixon. This roster is not complete - please submit corrections or additional names if you know of former members from this period | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Roster: 69th US Army Missile Detachment, Fort Prince of Wales (Camp 1), Deilinghofen, 1966-69 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personnel Roster 1966-1969 - Thanks to Dick Murphy and other members of the 69th. This roster is not complete - please submit corrections or additional names if you know of former members from this period | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DET COMMANDERS: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| SUPPORTED COMMANDERS: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Others assigned to the Det (1966-69): | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| * KIA RVN, 18 July 1970; Panel 8W, Row 28, Viet Nam Memorial ** Died at Fort Sill c 1989 while leading his soldiers in a PT formation |
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| 1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Richard Brown) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In 1974-75, I was the Detachment Commander, 69th USA Field Artillery Detachment. Our parent HQ was the 570th Artillery Group in Münster. At that time, we were housed at Deilinghofen, next door to O Battery (The Rocket Troop), 2d Field Regiment. Our only affiliation with 2d Field Regt was that we were on the same installation. Our detachment supported both 24 and 50 Missile Regiments, in Dortmund and Hemer respectively. Both 24 and 50 Missile Regts were equipped with Honest John rocket at that time. At the time I was the Det Cdr, we had all the Honest John warhead assets of the I (British) Corps. The Det had six custodial/assembly teams, three that went with 24 Missile Regt (one per battery) and three for the three batteries in 50 Missile Regt. The Honest John rocket is a general support artillery weapon. We had consolidated all the assets in one location for technical operations training. Training was a challenge. The most critical mission we had was security of the warhead storage site as well as maintaining proficiency on the command and control system and the associated comms. In a wartime configuration, I went with the Det HQ to the Brit 4th Div HQ and provided a "Non-Strategic Nuclear Command and Control" function for the Division. The subordinate detachments were "task organized" to support each division's organization for combat, hence, I had assets from the 15th and 22d Detachments. I also picked-up an Atomic Demolition Munitions squad from 5th (US) Corps in Hanau. |
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| 1980s | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| During the 1980s, the 69th USA Field Artillery Detachment was located at Northumberland Barracks in Menden, Germany. Billeted in Block (bldg.) 11, the detachment's mission was to provide warhead custodial support for the British 50 Missile Regiment which was equipped with the LANCE missile system. The 9th USAFAD was also located at the post (but not sure if in the same building.) I have very little detail on the 9th except that it apparently supported a British heavy regiment equipped with nuclear capable 8-inch SP howitzers. The 69th was organized as follows: a detachment headquarters section and four LANCE maintenance & addembly teams, one for each of the 50 MSL firing batteries (each battery had three launchers). In total, five officers, 21 NOC's and 72 EM's. |
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| (Source: Email from Greg "Mark" Borgeson) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I was a CA with the 69th USAFAD in Menden from 1987-90. I was there when the Wall came down. We were on alert for several days while Washington decided what was going to happen. We did lots of training, a few weeks in the field annually and of course guard duty at the site. We had three platoons with an additional platoon of the HQ slackers... I think we had one Volkwagen van and a couple of Deuces. The 50th Missile was our only customer and they supplied all of our transport. Can you say Bedford? In a sleeping bag? After reading the other info on your site about the past not much had really changed. Daily trips to Muenster and a few trips to Giessen weekly for PX and getting out of another class on the sucking chest wound. We did a quarterly cycle of training so in the 2.5 years I was there I sat through the same classes 10 times. Guard was rotated between the three platoons on a weekly basis. Guardmount was too early for a hung over PFC. I made it but there were a couple of times that there was a no smoking sign on my body armor. I might have blown up. There were random "piss tests" each month. Not a very effective measure since I never got busted. Oh well. Man, I wanted that go home early card but I never got it. Today I am glad but the dumb kid wasn't happy about it. I was the RTO for 2nd platoon and I held the dubious honor of having been promoted to E3 three times. 1SG Anderson, SSG Robert Whipple, SFC Rice, and SGT Sanchez were all there when I was on post. Captain Ward Hawley was commander when I left but I don't remember the other CO. He was a huge guy but he left soon after I got there. My last platoon leader was LT Rainey. A good guy. Some guys I served with were John Kemp, Phil Napier (Hi Phil! Sorry about the boots. I was an ass and you suffered for it.), "JJ" Johnson, Calvin Johnson, SPC Brogdon, Vincent Rampello (Who could forget him? Huh, Chief?), "Gunny" Lane, and Jorge Acosta, Todd Austin, Spec Hand and PFC Jack. We had a mess hall but the Mess Daddy had lots of trouble getting us to eat there. The food wasn't bad but we all left as soon as possible to head out into the economy. They had beer. So did the Brits at their NAFFI store in the same building as our barracks. We had ration cards for booze at the NAFFI and they had all the good stuff so we almost never shopped at the PX in the basement. I only took passes while I was in so I could get out with terminal leave sooner. Honestly, while the Army taught me many good things, I hated it and I wanted out. I owe Captain Hawley a big "Thanks" for not pitching me out in the last few months of my tour. I deserved a discharge for some of the stuff I did but he saw I was a dumb kid and he helped me despite myself. As a side note, I was the only PFC (sometimes E2) who had his own room in the barracks. I was a total pain in the ass but that made me less of a problem for them... In hindsight I regret many of my actions and words while I was there. On the positive side my father was living in Dusseldorf during my tour so I got to see him several time a month. That time with him was good for both of us. I'm back home here in the Northwest after some time in Texas and Florida. Life is much better here, a bit slower too. I have a wife and a couple of the cutest kids on the planet and I am working as a telephone technician. I was glad to see that Herman had made the barracks into housing. There was a big web site about the remodel but it might be gone now. I remember Papa's bar too. There was a german (and off limits too) biker bar in Menden that played lots of Deep Purple. Several times I took some guys and we went to Dusseldorf to drink. New years eve of 1989 was a rough one and we almost wound up in Berlin. The train back from Dusseldorf kept going to the border and we had to stay awake to make a connection. If you have other contact with folks from my time in the 69th please feel free to give them my email address. |
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34 SERINGAPATAM BATTERY (8 INCH M110) 
- Lonnie Rotili's website dedicated to the early days of the 583rd Ord Co (Camp Dahn) that served in Germany from 1959 - 1991. 