Crossed Swords 86
Crossed Swords 86 (German "Crossed Swords" ) was an American , German , British and Belgian FTX autumn maneuver in the autumn of 1986 in Hesse , Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia .
Division of troops
The BLUE exercise force was composed as follows:
- 16th BE Division / 16de Pantserdivisie COMRECCE (Corps Reconnaissance Command - Corps Reconnaissance)
- 33rd UK Armored Brigade , (Task Force ECHO) - 4th Armored Division, Paderborn
- Homeland Security Brigade 53 , Düren
- Paratrooper Battalion 251, Altenstadt / Schongau
- Pioneer Command 800 , Hilden
- Army Aviation Regiment 16 , Celle
ORANGE was structured as follows:
- 1st BE Division / 1st Division d'Infanterie, Liège , Belgium
- Panzergrenadierbrigade 7 / 7éme Brigade d'Inf. Blindée, Marche-en-Famenne
- BE Para-Commando Regiment / Para-Commando Regiment
-
2nd US Armored Division "Hell on Wheels"
- 3rd Brigade, Garlstedt
The Feldjägerbataillon 730, Düsseldorf , provided support for the steering function on the marching streets.
scope
Crossed Swords 86 took place under the guidance of the I. BE Corps from September 8 to 19, 1986 in the Warburg , Höxter , Bad Karlshafen , Hameln , Bad Pyrmont , Hildesheim , Holzminden , Northeim and Einbeck area . A total of 24,500 soldiers (15,000 Belgian soldiers, 3,500 German Army soldiers, 3,000 British and 3,000 US soldiers), 7,000 wheeled vehicles and 2,000 tracked vehicles were involved in the exercise.
procedure
The agglomeration was located west of the Weser , Holzminden , Kassel , Borgentreich , Haaren , Uslar , Ziegenbusch airfield , Vienna , Dinkelhausen , Bollensen , Volpriehausen and Bredelar . On September 8, 1986 the deployment phase of the exercise began. A day later bridges were built at Zons and Hitdorf across the Rhine for the vehicles of the staff of the 1st BE Division and the BE 7th Panzer Grenadier Brigade and the land march into the practice room. On September 10th, the attack of the BE division of the ORANGE troops began, as well as the start and conduct of the delay battle by COMRECCE BLAU on the other side, which meant that COMRECCE had to fight over the Weser.
On Thursday, September 11th 1986, the 16th BE Division (BLUE) fought a defensive battle at the VRV , while the 1st BE Division crossed the Weser to attack. On the same day, ORANGE airborne operations took place in the Haaren area in the Eggegebirge by the BE Regiment Para-Commando, which led to the deployment of Homeland Security Brigade 53 to protect the rear areas.
On Friday, September 12, 1986, the BLUE counterattack by the 16th BE Division and the 33rd UK Armored Brigade took place in the area south of Borgentreich , while ORANGE continued its airborne operation. On September 13, 1986, the 16th BE Division (BLUE) moved into a new defensive position at Haaren. On Sunday the 1st BE division took the Eggegebirge . On the same day, the issuing of orders for the 2nd phase of the combat exercise was announced, which resulted in preparatory measures for the BLUE counterattack.
Road traffic between Göttingen and Nörten-Hardenberg was severely hampered by the use of smoke .
Monday, September 15, 1986 began with the counterattack BLUE, which ORANGE countered with a delayed battle. A day later the enemy pressure was too strong, so that ORANGE had to evade the attacking forces over the Weser and BLUE was able to cross the river. Paratrooper Battalion 251, subordinated to the 16th BE Division (BLUE), carried out an air landing in the Uslar area. The 16th BE Division (BLUE) continued their counterattack. On September 18, 1986, the leadership ordered the end of the exercise and the exercising troops returned to their home base.
See also
Web links
media
- The great exercises of the Bundeswehr 2nd DVD. Breucom-Medien, 2011, ISBN 978-3-940433-33-6 .