If you do
NOT see the Table of Contents frame to the left of this page, then
Click here to open 'USArmyGermany'
frameset |
Bad Tölz Army Airfield
10th Special Forces Aviation
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 contact me .
|
|
|
|
|
Bad Tölz Army Airfield, 1958 (Steve Smith) |
| |
Bad Tölz Army Airfield, 1958 (Steve Smith) |
| |
Bad Tölz Army Airfield, 1963 |
|
| |
| History |
| |
Capt J.P. Smith (4th from left), AAF commanding officer, with fellow officers (Steve Smith) |
| |
| 1958 |
| (Source: Email from J. Stephen Smith, son of Maj Joseph P. Smith, CO of Bad Tölz AAF, 1958-59) |
 |
|
I (Steve Smith) was an Army dependent in Bad Tölz from August of 1958 until July of 1960. I attended Munich American HS.
My father, Joseph P. Smith, was CO of the airfield during the same period of time. This picture was taken in 1958 when he was a senior Captain but soon afterwards he was promoted to Major. My father was also a senior army aviator when this picture was taken, having flown in WWII and Korea. He was a Signal Branch officer as his detachment was a Surveillance unit. Part of his detachment was the Radar School, in Lenggries about 10 KM away.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| Prior to being assigned to Bad Tölz AAF, he was assigned to Heidleberg AAF and I believe his unit was detached from a unit there to BT. In this picture are two L-23’s, an L-20 Beaver, an L-19 Birddog, and a U1A Otter. The Otter was used extensively by the 10th Special Forces Group at nearby Flint Kaserne. My dad had a great respect for the soldiers of the10th and they coincided well together. |
|
| |
Prototype SLAR pod under the belly of an L-23 at Bad Tölz AAF (1959) |
| |
I believe this to be an historic early picture of a SLAR system -- the long tube slung under the L-23. It was fairly hush-hush back then but that is one of the first prototypes of what is now generally referred to as SLAR (Side Looking Airborne Radar). If you are not familiar with SLAR you can find out about it on the Internet.
This was during the Cold War and the Army always wanted to know what the Soviets were doing just inside their zone border. SLAR was one of the possible answers and I believe why my father may have been chosen for his job. He was a signal officer who was assigned to the Army Electronic Proving Ground, at Ft. Huachuca, where he also flew L-23’s, before being assigned to Germany.
I also believe he was involved in bringing the OV-1 Mohawk into the Army inventory once he left Bad Tölz and went back stateside. The Mohawk was a platform for future versions of SLAR. Eventually, he was the CO of the large 14th Avn. BN in RVN which contained most of the Mohawks in the country in 1965.
My dad retired as an O-6 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery near many of his friends.
|
|
|
| |
| (Source: Hanno Englaender, Germany) |
|
|
|
|
1. AAF and Family Housing (KB) |
2. Tower and hangars (KB) |
3. Close up (KB) |
4. Wooden hangar (KB) |
5. (KB) |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| |
| Aviation Company, 10th SF Group |
| |
| 1968 |
| (Source: Email from Jose A. Munoz) |
I served with the 10th Special Forces Aviation from 1968-69, at the Flint Kaserne. The airfield was not called aker AAF at that point.
It is my understanding that Flint Kaserne was an SS headquarters during WWII. Also, I heard that the bottom floor of the Kaserne was purposely flooded to hide whatever they had after the war. Due to that, a pond adjacent to the Kaserne was formed due to water leakage, it is still there.
I was part of their aviation department working as a crew chief. They had only two helicopters and one Beaver at the time. I believe that was the beginning of what they have now call, "The Special Forces Aviation"
At the airstrip the had an Air Force detachment that provider weather forecast, in other word, a small weather station.
That's all I know, I hope I partially answered your question. |
|
|
|
| |
| Detachment 54, 7th Weather Sq |
| |
| 1963 |
| (Source: Allan Bell, Det 8, Brienne Airfield, France, 1962-1963; Det 54, Bad Toelz Airfield, 1963-64) |
Personal Recollections of My European Duty Assignments
I graduated from the weather school at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois as a weather observer in 1962. I was then assigned to the U.S. Army airfield at Brienne La Chateau, France. The fact that there was not yet a weather station, nor any other Air Force personnel stationed at Brienne resulted in significant confusion upon my arrival in Paris. Army personnel in Paris were convinced my transfer orders were FUBAR and not knowing what to do with me put me on a train to Orleans – the only Army Post they knew of that had an Air Force weather station.
At Orleans I learned the reason for the confusion: there indeed was not yet a weather station at Brienne and I was one of the first airmen assigned to that post.
Two days later I boarded a CH-34 helicopter, packed with weather equipment, and was flown to Brienne. A SSgt Robert Smith had arrived a few days ahead of me, and for the next several months he and I worked as carpenters, electricians, painters and scroungers constructing our weather station (Detachment 8 of the 7th Weather Squadron).
In 1963 I volunteered (along with four other 7th Weather Squadron airmen) to attend the Army’s jump school in Wiesbaden, Germany. Only two of us successfully graduated. Sgt. Smith and I were then transferred to Bad Tölz, Germany to provide weather service for the Army’s 10th Special Forces (ABN). Again as there was not yet a weather station at Bad Tölz, Sgt. Smith and I spent several months building one out of an acquired Air Force deuce and a half. We became Detachment 54 of the 7th Weather Squadron.
While at Bad Tölz Sgt. Smith and I designed a portable weather pack that could be hung below a reserve parachute – with which I made several jumps. My normal duties at Bad Tölz included daily weather observations, setting up drop zones, providing weather support during field operations, and periodically acting as the control tower operator. I left Bad Tölz in 1964 upon discharge.
Attached are several photos taken at and around the airfield at Bad Tolz.
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. (KB)
|
2. USAF 2½-ton truck (KB)
|
3. Airfield (KB)
|
|
4. Hangar area in the winter (KB) |
5. LZ near the airfield (KB) |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Related Links:
|
| |
| |
