71st Ordnance Group
Communications Zone
Looking for more information from military/civilian personnel assigned to or associated with the U.S. Army in Germany from 1945 to 1989. If you have any stories or thoughts on the subject, please email me (webmaster).

I was assigned to the newly designated AWASP Detachment in March 1958, as part of 82nd Ordnance Bn.

We spent the initial months (commuting) from Pirmasens to Massweiler, Ger. I was at first a high speed radio operator then my MOS changed to radio teletype operator. Had top secret clearance at that time.

I believe in spring or early summer of 1959 our signal people transferred to Zweibrucken, I believe as part of the 541st Signal and I was stationed there until discharged in June 1960.

I hadn’t thought about this period of my life very often, much less discussed it with anyone. I haven’t seen or talked to anyone I served with save a high school buddy of mine who was stationed not too far from Zweibrucken in 1960. I missed seeing him when I was there in Germany but we attended college together after we were both discharged.

AWASP was Advance Weapons Ammunition Supply Point, as I recall. It was a sort of ad hoc unit that the army threw together I’m assuming in the spring of 1958. And it was part of the 82nd Ord. Bn. Unfortunately there were a lot of army misfits brought into the unit, lot’s of shortimers who were bordering on delinquents. We didn’t have a very strong company commander when we were organized and actually we almost went into a riot situation about two months after we were operating. They actually called us out and “read us the riot act” the next day. Pretty serious stuff. I don’t think we quite grasped all of the implications. After that, a new C. O. came in, “Capt. Novak," who put us pretty ship shape for the rest of the time we were in Pirmasens.

Often during the first six months I was there, I was radio operating in Massweiler though never barracked there. As an ammunition supply point (AWASP) we were to operate at these supply point areas during exercises and alerts and it seems we must have gone to the field for exercises every month from March 1958 till May 1959.

In May 1959, the AWASP detachment may have been deactivated. Most of the signal attached (there were about two squads of us with AWASP: radio operators, repairmen, land cable guys.) were sent to Zweibrucken, I believe, as part of the 541st Signal Compay.

There, our mission situation and jobs changed, less field exercises and mostly garrison duty as Signal Corps rather than ordnance attached. I, along with my radio operator buddies, operated the mobile AN/GRC 26 units. I was assigned to Zweibrucken I believe from May 1959 until discharged in June 1960.

Radio nets we operated included most of the ordnance groups and supply points mentioned in one of your web pages. When we were posted out of Fort Dix for assignment in Germany, I remember the sergeant telling us that we were going to support the “atomic cannon.” I never saw any atomic cannons nor any of the short range missiles armaments etc. while I was with these units.

Massweiler was more of the “James Bond” security post than any other I’d been associated with. There, it seemed to be pretty serious stuff. I read in one of our associate’s emails that security seemed a bit lax compared to what we see now in the films. I would agree except for the Massweiler post. By the way my recollection of Zweibrucken was eclectic. Stationed on our post was a U.S. Air Force unit. About a half mile away there was a West German basic training command. And in or near Zweibrucken were elements of the First French Army and a Canadian Air Force unit. Very NATO.

Additional Information:
I know that the 541st Sig Co had a message center there and a sense of permanence that we didn’t have working as Signal Corps in an Ordnance Battalion. I don’t know that there were outstations of the 541st Company located outside of Zweibrucken. There was a large signal company located in Pirmasens and I’ll try to remember that unit. I know they operated powerful microwave facilities as I visited their facilities one day. There was also a large engineer unit in Pirmasens I believe. I also think I remember that the ASA ran a radio group above our barracks in Pirmasens.

I do recall with relish that in the week between the transfer of our signal personnel from the 82nd Ord. Bn. to the 541st the Army somehow lost us for a week. We were actually in limbo, no orders to report to 541st had arrived and orders to separate us from the 82nd we had in hand. So, we all took off for Paris for a week. I guess the army never knew.