Support Command (WHNS)

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As part of REFORGER , mobilization was also practiced under the WHNS contract

The Support Command of the Armed Forces were major units of the Territorial Army . The main task was to support the US armed forces with mobilization as part of the Wartime Host Nation Support (WHNS) . The WHNS program existed from 1982 to 1997.

history

Political background

At the beginning of the 1970s, a new Cold War situation had arisen in the balance of power between NATO and the Warsaw Pact as a result of the armament efforts of the Soviet Union .

WHNS contract

According to the previous NATO plan for the rapid deployment of armed forces from the United States and Canada to Europe ( Rapid Reinforcement Concept (RRC) ), these reinforcements should be operational in Europe within 30 days.

On April 15, 1982, the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany signed the agreement on the Wartime Host Nation Support (WHNS) (German: "Support by the receiving state in crisis or war").

In this treaty, the United States undertook to station an additional six divisions and 1,000 combat aircraft in the Federal Republic of Germany within ten days . The material ( combat and transport vehicles , weapons , supplies, etc.) of these divisions was stored in Germany or in immediately adjacent foreign countries. By quickly bringing in the personnel from overseas, who then only had to take over and activate the material, the rapid reinforcement of the conventional armed forces in Europe should be made possible.

In return, the Federal Republic undertook to provide appropriate support services. The type and scope of the military services as well as the equipment, training and organization of the support forces was specified in the “Follow-up Agreement for Military Services” in June 1986. These included in detail:

In addition, there was the repair and expansion of 26 airports .

The required material was divided into four classes:

Six support commands were set up to carry out the support mission.

Lineup

On January 11, 1982, the WHNS planning team was initially set up in Cologne - Raderthal . He was for the army transferred WHNS tasks to carry out the feasibility studies, planning bases for the ASSEMBLY and operational structure work and the conditions for implementing decisions of the Joint Staff of the Army create. The planning staff, which was renamed the support command WHNS on October 1, 1983, completed its work at the end of 1985 and the support commands were set up in the following period.

resolution

On April 27, 1995, the United States canceled the WHNS agreement as a consequence of the changed security and military policy situation in Europe . As part of the implementation of Army Structure 5 , the German support commands for the US reinforcement forces were disbanded between September 1992 and March 1997.

assignment

The task of the support commandos was to meet the demands of the armed forces of the United States for support in accordance with the principles of command and operation as well as the logistical procedures of the armed forces within the framework of the contractual agreements. This included in detail

To this end, they worked directly with the US consumers to be supported.

In peacetime, the Ukdos made appropriate preparations for this:

  • the establishment of mobilization troops as well as the preparation of the alarm and mobilization including the establishment of mobilization bases,
  • developing, coordinating and determining the procedures for the interaction of the units with the United States troops to be supported,
  • Participation in exercises of the corresponding US units, in particular in connection with the Return of Forces to Germany (REFORGER) maneuvers.

organization

Structure of Support Command 5 in American documents

The support commandos were structured very differently, since they were supposed to work with different American command authorities and assuming different situations . The troop units set up included associations and units with direct support mandates as well as for the management , supply and replacement of personnel for their own troops. The peace tasks should be fulfilled for the army part by present forces in the form of about 780 soldiers and 620 civilian employees . There were also 650 military training places (planning number, position where a reservist can perform a military exercise every day of the year). In the event of a crisis and war , these forces were to be increased to about 85,000 men through the drafting of reservists . The material equipment of the support commandos consisted of about 60% equipment for the material mobilization supplement and 20% each of STAN equipment of the German Armed Forces and US material. The following support commands were set up:

literature

  • Manfred Berg , Philipp Gassert : Germany and the USA in the international history of the 20th century. Festschrift for Detlef Junker . Franz Steiner Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-515-08454-1 .
  • Gerd Kaldrack: WHNS support command . New large association of the German army . In: Troop Practice . No. 3 , 1986, pp. 225 ff .
  • Federal Minister of Defense , Information and Press Staff (Ed.): Army, Keywords + Numbers . Bonn 1980 (leaflet).
  • OW Dragoons: The Bundeswehr 1989. Territorial Command SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. Territorial Command NORTH. Territorial Command SOUTH. Appendix: Territorial structure . 4th edition. 2.2 - Army, February 2012 ( religte.com [PDF; accessed July 10, 2018]).

Web links

Commons : Coats of arms support commandos (Bundeswehr)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Announcement of the German-American intergovernmental agreement on support from the host country in crisis or war. Dated April 15, 1982. Federal Law Gazette 1982 Part II, issued in Bonn on April 22, 1982