Certain Sentinel 86

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U.S. satellite communications during Exercise Certain Sentinel 86
Aerial view of a tank maneuver during Exercise Certain Sentinel 86
Firing position of a heavy artillery battery during Exercise Certain Sentinel 86
Members of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment under the camouflage net of a military vehicle during Exercise Certain Sentinel 86

Certain Sentinel 86 ( en. "Safe Guard" ) / REFORGER 86 was an American , Canadian and German FTX winter maneuver in Bavaria at the beginning of 1986.

Division of troops

The BLUE exercise force was composed as follows:

The following REFORGER associations belonged to BLAU:

  • 32nd Motorized U.S. Infantry Brigade (ARNG), Wisconsin
    • 724th U.S. Engineer Battalion (ARNG), Wisconsin
    • Parts, U.S. 212nd Field Artillery Brigade, Ft. Still, Oklahoma
    • 145th U.S. Engineer Battalion (ARNG), Alabama
    • 166th US Engineer Company
    • 184th U.S. Transportation Brigade (ARNG), Mississippi
    • Parts, 34th U.S. Engineer Battalion

ORANGE was structured as follows:

The following REFORGER associations also belonged to ORANGE:

  • Headquarters 1st US Infantry Division (Mech), Ft. Riley, Kansas, 9,500 soldiers
    • 3rd Battalion / 6th Field Artillery Regiment ( MLRS )
    • 1st brigade
    • 1st Battalion / 34th Armored Regiment
  • 2nd Brigade
  • 32nd Separate U.S. Infantry Brigade (ARNG), Wisconsin

The 8th US Infantry Division (Mech) provided the command and referee service .

assignment

REFORGER 86 was a transfer exercise to the FRG by US forces in division strength. After taking over the stored combat technology from POMCUS depots, the forces brought in and the main forces of the VII US Corps unfolded in the training rooms. The aim was to organize and conduct combat operations under winter combat conditions in cooperation with the 4th ATAF and parts of the Territorial Command South. Attack and defense operations with conventional and chemical weapons were practiced in the combat strip of the VII Corps.

scope

Certain Sentinel took place from January 15 to 24, 1986 in the Schweinfurt , Hof , Dinkelsbühl , Regensburg , Cham , Kulmbach , Weiden , Schwandorf , Ansbach , Kitzingen and Bad Windsheim area . The deployment area for the 1st US Armored Division was the district of Nuremberg . 73,000 soldiers (US Army: 48,000, German Armed Forces: 4,800, Canadian Armed Forces: 4,100) and 21,000 wheeled and tracked vehicles took part in the large-scale exercise under the direction of the VII. US Corps .

The implementation of Certain Sentinel / Reforger 86 has long been considered unsafe. He kept giving interruptions until it was completely stopped at the end and continued as a frame exercise . The rainy and relatively mild weather in January was to blame for the early termination of the exercise. For extensive tank movements, the ground would have had to freeze at least 20 centimeters deep.

procedure

Pre-orders moved into the exercise room on January 15, 1986 in order to prepare for the official start of the exercise on January 20, 1986. The agglomeration with the maneuver center in Herzogenaurach was around Ansbach , Colmberg , Wolframs-Eschenbach , Wassertrüdingen (the US field bakery was located here), Grafenwöhr and Kappel . During the deployment phase, the 363 tank battalion was loaded into Tauberbischofsheim and moved under in Zeinried. The battalion remained there until the end of the exercise. The 362 Panzer Grenadier Battalion was loaded into Walldürn. At the beginning of the exercise, 219 rail transports and 337 road marches were carried out.

The 18,000 men of the REFORGER units were flown in from the USA. They landed at Frankfurt , Ramstein and Stuttgart-Echterdingen airports . In Stuttgart alone , 35 machines with a total of 6,000 soldiers from the 1st US Infantry Division landed. Other airports were in Brussels and Luxembourg . The device of the REFORGER troops was embarked on January 13 by USNS “Antares” and USNS “Algol” via Antwerp . Another device was delivered by unloading the GTS “Callaghan” in Zeebrugge . The 32nd US mot. Infantry Brigade (ARNG) from Wisconsin was the largest reservist association that had previously participated in an exercise on German soil. Your large equipment was completely relocated from the USA via Antwerp to the FRG.

A total of three bridges were built: on the Main-Danube Canal by the 16th US Engineer Battalion of the 1st US Armored Division for a US National Guard unit, across the Main near Bischberg by the 1st US Engineer Battalion of the 1st US Armored Division Division by means of the M88 MFAB / F mobile storm bridge, and finally also on the Main near Eltmann by the 1st US Engineer Battalion.

Serious accidents occurred during the maneuver. A US helicopter of the 11th AVN Battalion crashed 400 meters east of Zell bei Hof after it got stuck in the snow with a runner. Two more AH-1A Cobra helicopters of the 11th US Amored Cavalry Regiment “Black Horse” collided, and two soldiers were killed.

The planned end of the exercise on January 30th was brought forward to January 24th, 1986. The troops marched back overland via the A9 and A6 , among other things .

Innovations

New M977 supply vehicles were used for the first time. The Leopard 2 A4 also got its first simulated combat mission.

Web links

Commons : REFORGER 1986  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

media

  • The great exercises of the Bundeswehr 2nd DVD. Breucom-Medien, 2011, ISBN 978-3-940433-33-6 .
  • Soldiers . Volume 41. United States. Department of the Army, United States. Department of the Army. Office of the Chief of Public Affairs. Department of the Army. P. 52, 1986.

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Field Training Exercise, free-running exercise for the full force
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Central Sentinel 86 - REFORGER 86 on M136
  3. ^ Klaus Marxen, Gerhard Werle, et al .: Criminal justice and GDR injustice. Espionage: criminal justice and injustice in the GDR. Volume 4: Espionage. Volume 2. Order No. 6/85 of the Chief Clarification of the main staff of the NVA about the clarification of the transfer exercise REFORGER 86 and the troop exercise of the VII AK of the USA Armed Forces on December 23, 1985. De Gruyter, 2004, ISBN 978-389- 9490-81-7 , p. 856.
  4. ↑ US Navy Ship. High Speed ​​Container Ship. SS Antares (T-AKR 294) is an Algol class vehicle cargo ship that is currently maintained by the United States Maritime Administration as part of the Military Sealift Command's Ready Reserve Force (RRF)
  5. ↑ US Navy Ship. High Speed ​​Container Ship. SS Algol (T-AKR 287) is an Algol-class vehicle cargo ship that is currently maintained by the United States Maritime Administration as part of the Military Sealift Command's Ready Reserve Force.
  6. ^ GTS Admiral WM Callaghan. US cargo ship
  7. ↑ REFORGER '86. Exercise 'Certain Sentinel'. 32D 'Red Arrow' Infantry Brigade (Separate) (Mechanized)
  8. ↑ M-88 MFAB / F bridge middle section
  9. ^ Two US Soldiers Killed in Helicopter Crash. AP Press. January 24, 1986 (en.)
  10. ^ Exercises End With Thousands Of Military Vehicles On Highways. AP Press. January 25, 1986 (en.)