Constant Enforcer 79

CONSTANT ENFORCER 79 Combat exercise of the NATO army group, September 10-21, 1979

Constant Enforcer ( en. " Standhafter Vollstrecker " ) was a US American , Canadian , Belgian and German NATO FTX army exercise in Hesse in the autumn of 1979 .

Division of troops

The BLUE exercise force was composed as follows:

• Staff of the III. DE Corps , Koblenz with ASOC (Air Support Operations Center)
• Headquarters of the 5th Panzer Division , Diez an der Lahn
  • Armored Brigade 15 "Westerwald", Koblenz

• Headquarters of the V US Corps , Frankfurt am Main
• 3rd US Armored Division
• Headquarters 3rd AD
  • 1st Brigade, Kirch-Göns
  • 3rd Brigade, Friedberg
• 11th US Amored Cavalry Regiment "Black Horse" , Fulda
• 42nd U.S. Field Artillery Regiment

• 2nd BE-Ulanen Lancier Regiment / 2e Régiment de Lanciers, Leopoldsburg (PzRgt) (MBT Leopard 1 )
• 1. BE-Carabiniers "Prins Boudewijn" / Lichte Bataljon 1st Carabiniers Prins Boudewijn - Grenadiers, Leopoldsburg (Mech. Infantry) (SPz M75 )

ORANGE was structured as follows:

• HQ, 8th US Infantry Division , Bad Kreuznach
  • 1st Brigade, Mainz
  • 4th Brigade (Army Aviation Brigade), Mainz-Finthen airfield with a cavalry formation in Mannheim
• 602nd U.S. HQ ASOC / 602nd Air Support Operations Group
• 3rd Squadron / 8th US Amored Cavalry Regiment (3rd Task Force)
• 41st U.S. Field Artillery Regiment

• 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group , Lahr (CMBG)

Air support for both sides was provided by the 4th Allied Tactical Air Fleet from Ramstein . The VII US Corps provided the referee service.

scope

Constant Enforcer 79 as a combat exercise of the NATO Army Group Center ( CENTAG ) took place from September 10 to 21, 1979 in the Bad Hersfeld , Kassel , Siegen , Gießen and Wetzlar area . 30,400 soldiers with 10,700 wheeled and 2,570 tracked vehicles were involved.

procedure

The maneuver center was in the Harthberg barracks in Schwalmstadt - Treysa . The area around Schwalmstadt, Schrecksbach , Gemünden , Kirchhain , Fritzlar , Treysa, Neustadt , Marburg , Allendorf / Lahn , Neukirchen , Ober Grenzebach , Großropperhausen , Lenderscheid , Siebertshausen , Willingshausen , Bad Wildungen and Alsfeld served as a conurbation . Constant Enforcer 79 was supported by the NATO air force exercise " Cold Fire 79" with 100 combat missions per day carried out by 700 aircraft and 300 helicopters. Homberg served as the unloading station for the M60 tanks .

The parade room was around Siegen - Marburg - Gießen and the actual practice room around Fritzlar - Schwalmstadt and Alsfeld. The assumed state border for the exercise followed the course of the E-63 in the north and E-4 in the south between Kassel and Bad Hersfeld .

The Canadian 4th CMBG Association moved into its disposal area in Ottrau between Alsfeld and Bad Hersfeld and was thus deployed on the left of ORANGE's combat section. Then the 4th CMBG attacked in the direction of Neukirchen - Schwalmstadt. The leading edge of the attack led south past Neukirchen am Knüllgebirge and aimed at the positions of 3rd Brig / 3. AD. After reaching the intermediate destination, the Canadians pushed further west into the area south of Marburg on September 13 .

After the exercise was interrupted, the 4th CMBG was reclassified and placed under BLUE. On September 17, 1979, the BLUE counterattack began to clean up territorial losses to ORANGE. On September 19th the enemy forces ORANGE were thrown back to their starting positions.

See also

• Military maneuvers

Web links

• Constant Enforcer 79 on M136
• Image gallery Constant Enforcer 79 on Military Database
• Synd 17 9 79 Annual CONSTANT ENFORCER Series of Military Exercises starts in Treysa. Film footage from Constant Enforcer 79. AP Archive

media

• The great exercises of the Bundeswehr 2nd DVD. Breucom-Medien, 2011, ISBN 978-3-940433-33-6 .
• Walter Böhm: Constant Enforcer 79 US Army and NATO allies are fighting over the 'Fulda Gap' . Brochure. 2015. Tankograd 3024. Verlag Jochen Vollert Tankograd Publishing.

Notes and individual references

1. ↑ Field Training Exercise, free-running exercise for the full force
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Constant Enforcer 79 on M136
3. ↑ 602nd Air Support Operations Group Duty Station Details
4. ↑ 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group on canadiansoldiers.com (en.)