USAREUR Units - 15th QM Bn

[INITIAL DRAFT HISTORY – 26 MAR 96]

15TH QUARTERMASTER BATTALION (GS) – 1963-1965

By LTC John R. Sitten, Jr., US Army Retired

The 15th Quartermaster Battalion was the only general support battalion assigned to the Seventh Army in the early sixties. The mission activities included depots and maintenance shops plus local area direct supply and service activities to nondivisional units of the Seventh Army located in the Mannheim, Germany area. The battalion headquarters shared space at Funari Barracks with the Seventh Army Support Command and suffered the day-to-day exposure of having the commanding general's office overlooking the company B motor pool. MG William Harris, who had earned the title "Wild Bill" in the Korean War, was the CG and made his presence felt daily when a soldier was out of line. The chain of commander was often called to the CG's office to explain an infraction of uniform or vehicle maintenance. Greasy caps were a favorite target. We had learned from General Bruce Clark that an organization does well only those things the boss checks.

During my tour in the 15th the battalion commanders were LTC Frank McFadden, LTC (later Colonel) William "Chips" Cool and LTC (later Colonel) Walter Copper.

Each of these commanders had a different style and we quickly adjusted. Col McFadden, who had been a football coach in Georgia, often said "superior is our goal but satisfactory will suffice." Col Cool came from an office in Los Angeles with the movie industry and was indeed cool before it was cool to be cool. Col Copper arrived with many years of airborne division duty where he learned attention to detail and the need to train junior officers. Many officers who later completed the OCS training at Fort Lee will fondly remember Col Cooper. The executive officers were Major (later LTC) Bob Davis and Maj John Patterson.

The companies were HHC, Co A (depot), Co B (maintenance and services), Co C (labor service) and the 40th Transportation Co (POL). My assignments were commander of Co C and Co A. I also served as the Bn S-2/3. The battalion was redesignated the 115th Supply and Service Battalion (GS) when the merger of the technical services marked the beginning of the drawdown of units prior to the buildup in South Vietnam.

Company A (field depot) was unique among Quartermaster units in Seventh Army in that it operated depot level activities as well as direct support to local units.

The Class I supply point was collocated with the Heidelberg Commissary. Lt (later Colonel) Charles Perkins can provide details about ration breakdown and the warehouse located in the basement of the commissary. On the 20th anniversary of VE-Day the two German employees in the basement received 20-year service pins and we suspected the old forklift they used was also used during the war by the Germans.

There were three Class II and IV depots. Each held depot level stocks as well as DS inventory. Supplies arrived by truck or rail from the Nahbollenbach depot. As the COMZ was being relocated out of France we received rail cars marked for Seventh Army with everything that could be moved.

Lt (later LTC) Jack Muck was the lieutenant in charge of the Darmstadt depot. The depot was located in two grain elevators in Darmstadt. Stocks went up and down ancient elevators. The smallest soldier in the detachment was the elevator operator to permit maximum pounds on the elevator.

Lt (later Colonel) Clifford Tillman was the lieutenant in charge of the Ludwigsburg depot. It was located in former horse cavalry barracks where the pounds per square foot on the upstairs floors over the stables was so limited that nothing went upstairs that couldn't be carried by a soldier.

Lt Bland Davis was the in charge of the Seckenheim depot. We had a modern warehouse with rail and truck sidings, concrete floors, lights and relatively modern facilities. As I recall we did not have heat and sometimes stocks such as water based floor wax had to be stored outside to avoid freezing.

Lt (later Colonel) Neil Plocek was in charge of the mobile petroleum lab located at the Class III depot and supply point near the Coleman Army Airfield. Bulk and packaged products were stored in a large area divided by the autobahn near Ludwigshofen.

Lt Andy Dumovic was the platoon leader for the refrigeration platoon. It was another unique unit in Seventh Army and made frequent trips to places like Berlin to store beer for the annual rodeo.

The Company A barracks and orderly room were located on Taylor Barracks in Mannheim. The building was a large German troop facility with four floors. During my tour as the commander the First Sergeant was SFC Nedland.

Company B was a general support maintenance and services company with shops at the Seckenheim facility on the autobahn between Mannheim and Heidelberg. Captain (later LTC) Tom Cullin was the commander. In addition to the shops, the company operated a parachute packing and maintenance shop at the Coleman Army Airfield. There was also a rigging unit at the Illesheim airfield. The Seventh Army QM Repair Parts Depot was located at Spinelli Barracks. Company B was quartered with the battalion headquarters at Funari Barracks.

Company C was quartered at Taylor Barracks near the autobahn in Mannheim. I was the commander during the early months of 1963. The First Sergeant was Harris H Hewitt. The swastikas engraved in the stair railings reminded us we were not the original occupants of the building. We had a large barracks building with a mess hall. Space on the fourth floor was large enough to hold company formations and platoon close order drill on inclimate days. While cleaning the attic a soldier found a German soldier's ID card no doubt hidden in the rush to shed any military identity in the later days of the war.

Company C was a labor service company, the only one left in the US Army. The soldiers were known as duty soldiers, MOS 540. They provided daily labor details to the various operational sites in the battalion. With 160 soldiers and less than a hundred daily requirements there was a lot of time for individual training. The company basketball team won the district championship in early 1963. Most other labor service units were made up of foreign nationals with a reputation of dedicated soldiers.

The 40th Transportation Company was located at Taylor Barracks. Their mission was local and long haul of petroleum. Captain (later MG ) John Sanford was the commander. I recall the maintenance officer was CWO Singletary. The Fortieth Truck, as we called it, was right at home in a Quartermaster battalion and set the standard of excellence in maintenance, operational readiness, and basic soldiering. In the winter of 1963 the German economy suffered the worst winter in a century with the Rhein and Neckar rivers frozen. The Fortieth truck was dispatched to Rotterdam to transport fuel oil for the German economy. In a continuous convoy reminiscent of the Red Ball Express, which was a Quartermaster unit, the 40th met the need. There was a sister long haul unit in the 2d QM Group. I do not recall their designation.

Others who may be willing to add to this are Colonel Charlie Smoot, LTC Paul Herholtz, LTC Carl Allen and LTC James HD Allen. At this moment other names are faded in memory but I feel certain they will come up during this research. Most of the officers remained on active duty but some returned to civilian life after their tour. I regret I cannot recall as many of the Noncommissioned officers.