Central Army Group

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Association badge of the CENTAG
Areas of responsibility of the corps in NATO Central Europe in the 1980s
American M110A2 203mm howitzers during a REFORGER exercise in 1985

Central Army Group (CENTAG) was the name given to an Army Group , which at the time of the Cold War in the defense case of several Army Corps of NATO had been formed -Mitgliedsländern. CENTAG would have served the defense of the southern half of the Federal Republic of Germany , while the NORTHAG ( Northern Army Group ) would have defended the northern half. Both were under the command of AFCENT ( Allied Forces Central Europe ), which in turn was subordinate to SHAPE ( Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ).

In 1993 the CENTAG was replaced by the headquarters of LANDCENT ( Allied Land Forces Central Europe ), which then moved to JHQ CENT ( Joint Headquarters Center Heidelberg ) in 2000 , CC-Land HQ HD ( Component Command-Land Headquarters, Heidelberg ) in 2004 and 2010 to HQ FC HD ( Headquarters Allied Force Command Heidelberg ) was restructured. The command was suspended on April 1, 2013.

assignment

The NATO Army Group Center (CENTAG) was divided into the V. US Corps in the center, with the III. DE Corps and the VII US Corps on the flanks. CENTAG had the order to conduct the delay battle with the cover troops, especially with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment stationed on the inner-German border in the East Hessian mountainous region, until the main forces have deployed at the VRV . The combat section of the V. US Corps was particularly endangered due to the special geography of the “ Fulda Gap ” (100 kilometers from the westernmost point of the GDR to Frankfurt Airport and from there only 40 kilometers to the Rhine ). Although CENTAG was numerically outnumbered by the Warsaw Pact, the Army Group was able to set up well-trained and equipped US and German combat units, which, in conjunction with armored and armored infantry troops , were able to use superior weapon technology, especially in the anti-tank defense on land and in the air to conduct the combined arms battle . In order to increase combat and firepower , the US divisions stationed in Europe were equipped with an additional maneuver battalion and the corps with an additional tank regiment. As early as 1958 , according to the Emergency Defense Plan EDP 2-58, from July 1958, CENTAG defined four lines of defense that were to be maintained. The neighboring Army Group NORTHAG initially had only nine divisions and a total front length of 380 kilometers, thus 42 kilometers of overstretched front width per division, an incomparably less favorable section of the battle to defend. The Central Army Group CENTAG was supposed to begin the battle on the inner-German border with the delaying battle of the cover forces. The main defense forces of the four corps were supposed to hold the forest areas of the Kaufunger Wald and the Knüllgebirge north of Fulda and prevent the enemy from breaking through to the Rhine . In addition to the Fulda Gap, the CENTAG terrain section also offers the Thuringia Corridor from Hof as natural obstacles that favor defense. Operationally, both US corps stood side by side as part of the “Forward Defense” in order to massively block the Warsaw Pact's routes of incursion from the Fulda Gap, the Hof and the Cham and to defend them against the enemy in the depths. Both air and ground reconnaissance forces should be deployed in order to identify enemy troop concentrations in the delay area at an early stage and to be able to fight them with far-reaching fire. This was the primary task of the airmobile cavalry regiments (Air Cavalry Regiment), which should be replaced by the advancing armored and armored infantry units after completion of their mission. The AirLandBattle doctrine should also be used on a large scale . This included, above all, deep-reaching air strikes in order to inhibit the enemy troops ( FOFA strikes ) and to slow them down. Meanwhile, M1 main battle tanks and M2 Bradley armored personnel carriers can intervene through attrition from enemy forces and counterattacks in the sector.

General Defense Plan 31001

CENTAG's plan of operations, in the form of General Defense Plan 31001 (GDP 31001), which formed the basis for the military deployment of the US Corps V, was fully clarified by the Ministry of State Security in the early 1980s . GDP 31001 follows the principles of forward defense and flexible response with regard to the nuclear strategy. The basic assumption of GDP 31001 is a short warning time from NATO of 48 hours. It is the mission of the V US Corps to restore the integrity of NATO territory and to smash Warsaw Pact attack formations at the earliest possible phase of the fighting by conducting counter-attacks or nuclear weapons strikes in the border area. In the operation type of defense should the 12th Armored Division as castling from the federation of the III. DE Corps will be detached and placed under the 1st Defense Squadron of the V US Corps. The basis of the GDP is the respective enemy situation assessment of the deployment and the presumed intention of the Warsaw Pact (six to eight divisions in the first operational attack squadron and three to four divisions in the second squadron). The focus of the attack is expected in the directions Eisenach , Bad Hersfeld , Alsfeld and Eisenach, Hünfeld and Schlitz .

Strength and armament

In the mid-1980s, CENTAG consisted of four army corps with a total of 11 divisions, several independent brigades and two tank regiments. The armament included 48 Lance short-range missile launchers, up to 5,000 tanks and 3,500 artillery pieces and mortars . In addition, more than 6,700 anti-tank weapons (mainly MILAN , TOW and HOT anti-tank guided missiles ( PALR)) and 1,200 helicopters. The strength would have exceeded 300,000 US, West German and Canadian soldiers in the event of war. The ground forces were supported by the 4 ATAF air forces with 900 combat aircraft. Of the nuclear weapons, 36 Pershing launchers of the 56th PERSHING Missile Brigade in Schwäbisch Gmünd and 150 anti-aircraft missiles of the 32nd Air Defense Command (Army) were available. The use of nuclear weapons was the sole responsibility of the US. According to other sources, there were 108 Pershing and 36 Lance launchers, 2,000 tanks (4,000 tanks in POMCUS depots), 1,500 artillery pieces and mortars, 3,600 PALRs, 1,000 helicopters and 730 combat aircraft.

Structure of CENTAG

  • HQ / command post CENTAG
  • 1st Canadian Division
    • 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, CFB Lahr
    • 5 Groupe Brigade Mécanisé du Canada, CFB Valcartier
  • V. US Corps, Frankfurt am Main
    • 3rd US Armored Division, Frankfurt
    • 4th US Infantry Division (Mechanized), "Ivy", Fort Carson
    • 8th US Infantry Division (Mechanized), "Pathfinder", Bad Kreuznach
    • 194th Armored Brigade, Fort Knox - relocated to the German theater of war via REFORGER measures
    • 197th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized), Fort Benning - relocated to the German theater of war via REFORGER measures
    • 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fulda
  • VII US Corps, Stuttgart
    • 1st US Armored Division, "Old Ironsides", Ansbach
    • 1st US Infantry Division (Mechanized), "Big Red One" - Fort Riley - relocated to the German theater of war via REFORGER measures
    • 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), Würzburg
    • 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Nuremberg

Commanders

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The commanders of Army Group CENTAG carried the title Commanding General United States Army Europe (CINCUSAREUR) and Commander of the CENTAG Army Group (COMCENTAG) in personal union.

  • General Thomas T. Handy 1952
  • General Charles L. Bolte 1953
  • General William M. Hoge 1953–1955
  • General Anthony McAuliffe 1955-1956
  • General Henry I. Hodes 1956-1959
  • General Clyde D. Eddleman 1960
  • General Bruce C. Clarke 1960–1962
  • General Paul L. Freeman Jr 1962-1965
  • General Andrew P. O'Meara 1965-1967
  • General James H. Polk 1967
  • General Arthur S. Collins Jr. 1971
  • General Michael S. Davison 1971-1975
  • General George S. Blanchard 1975-1979
  • General Frederick J. Kroesen, Jr. 1979-1983
  • General Glenn K. Otis 1983--1988
  • General Crosbie Saint 1988-1992

literature

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Entry on the website www.globalsecurity.org (English). Retrieved April 30, 2016 .
  2. ^ Story on the NATO website. Retrieved April 30, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Entry on the NATO website. Retrieved April 30, 2016 .
  4. ^ Battlefield Germany. DER SPIEGEL 44/1978. Issued October 30, 1978
  5. ↑ US Army Maneuver Battalion. From the 1960s through the early 1980s, a typical maneuver (infantry or tank) battalion had five companies: headquarters and headquarters company (HHC) and A, B, and C Companies, plus a combat support company (CSC), with a scout platoon , 4.2 inch heavy mortar platoon, along with other elements that varied between organizations. These included heavy anti-tank TOW missile platoons, ground surveillance radar sections and man-portable air-defense system sections. Beginning in the early 1980s, some elements of the combat support companies (the mortar and scout platoons) were merged into the headquarters company with the staff and support elements, others were moved to their parent type organization (ground surveillance radar and air defense), and in infantry battalions the heavy anti-tank missile platoon was organized as a separate company (E Company). In the late 1980s, there was a fourth "line" company added (D Company) in most infantry and tank battalions.
  6. ↑ Revealed: How NATO Planned to Win World War Three in Europe. The high cost of stopping the Soviets. National Interest. June 6, 2016
  7. ↑ a b c Helmut R. Hammerich: Defense at the Forward Edge of the Battle or rather in the Depth? Different approaches to implement NATO's operation plans by the alliance partners, 1955-1988. Military and Strategic Studies. Volume 15. 2014
  8. ↑ Ideally, an armored / armored infantry division defends only 25 kilometers in width
  9. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Central Army Group [CENTAG on Globalsecurity.org]
  10. ↑ Covering Force Area - "Security zone", area in front of the VRV - front edge of the defense, on which the delay battle of the cover forces is conducted
  11. ↑ against the 2nd Operational Season of the Warsaw Pact
  12. ↑ US and NATO Military Planning on Mission of V Corps / US Army During Crises and in Wartime. December 16, 1982. This extensive document of 1982 presents major parts of the secret operational plan 33001 (General Defense Plan) for the US Army's V Corps in Germany, which was expected to bear the initial brunt of any Warsaw Pact attack. It was prepared by the East German Stasi (State Security) intelligence agency. This operational plan is the basis for defensive actions of the US V Army Corps within NATO's Central Army Group (CENTAG) and consists of two parts, the so called basic plan (OPLAN) and a part with annexes. The OPLAN includes information about the wartime intentions, objectives, and operational defensive structure of CENTAG. The annex part lists details such as the operational structure of the US V Army Corps, definitions of defense zones, and usage principles for nuclear and chemical weapons. , published on Parallel History Project