US Army Europe | The USAREUR Story | Part 1 of 2 | Cold War Documentary | ca. 1961

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This documentary spotlights the massive power and technical prowess of USAREUR, the US Army Europe. It is the amazing story of what it takes to equip, train and back up the soldiers who defend the freedom of the Western Alliance. Scenes never before seen on film relate in graphic detail the scope and readiness of men and machines - from the massed might of the American Fourth Armored Division to the colorful spectacle of Italian Bersaglieri and Alpini troops. These forces are part of NATO which stands with US Army Europe as a most effective deterrent to any would be aggressor.


HISTORICAL BACKGROUND / CONTEXT

United States Army Europe (USAREUR) is an Army Service Component Command of the United States Army. It is responsible for directing US Army operations throughout the United States European Command Area of Responsibility. During the Cold War, HQ USAREUR supervised ground formations primarily focused upon the Warsaw Pact militaries to the east as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) Central Army Group. Since the Revolutions of 1989, USAREUR has greatly reduced its size, dispatched US forces to Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and increased security cooperation with other NATO land forces.


History of the US Army Europe during the Cold War:
The Berlin Blockade began June 24, 1948 when the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied control. General Lucius D. Clay, in charge of the US Occupation Zone in Germany, gave the order for the Berlin Airlift. Headquartered out of Wiesbaden Army Airfield, the Allies supplied almost 9,000 tons per day of supplies to the beleaguered city until the blockade was lifted on May 12, 1949.

From 1948 to 1950, the Cold War began to warm, and the outbreak of hostilities in Korea heightened East-West tensions in Europe. The Seventh Army was reactivated at Stuttgart in late November 1950, the V and VII Corps headquarters were organized, and four divisions were alerted to move back to Europe from the United States. The first to arrive was the 4th Infantry Division in May 1951, followed by the 2nd Armored Division and the 43rd and 28th Infantry Divisions during summer and fall of 1951.

A new joint United States European Command (USEUCOM) was established on Aug. 1, 1952. On that day, the Army headquarters at Heidelberg, formerly known as EUCOM, became Headquarters,United States Army Europe (USAREUR).

In 1953, the Korean War Armistice was signed, and tensions began to ease in Europe. About 13,500 soldiers manned each of the US Army Europe divisions. New equipment fielded at the time included the M-48 tank, the M-59 armored personnel carrier, and tactical nuclear weapons.

Although the open East-West conflict had ended, political tensions remained high in Europe. Particularly troublesome was the impasse over the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany, the former British, French and U.S. zones of occupation) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany, the former Soviet zone of occupation). Berlin posed an additional problem; it was surrounded by East Germany, but Great Britain, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union all occupied sectors in the city. At that time, travel between the sectors was unrestricted. At the time Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev announced in June 1961 that the Soviet Union was planning to conclude a peace treaty with the East German government, 3,000 East German refugees flowed daily into Berlin.

Suddenly on the night of Aug. 12, 1961, the Soviets closed the border crossing points and began to construct the Berlin Wall, isolating the three western sectors of the city both from East Germany and the Soviet sector, or East Berlin.

In response, the United States deployed an additional armored cavalry regiment to Europe, along with additional support units. US Army Europe strength reached an all-time high of 277,342 in June 1962 as the crisis deepened. The command dispatched a reinforced infantry battle group to Berlin to strengthen the existing garrison.

The crisis cooled in Berlin from 1962 to 1963, and augmenting forces returned to the United States. Equipment modernization programs during this period included the M-113 armored personnel carrier, the M-14 rifle, the M-60 machine gun, the OV-1 fixed wing observation aircraft, the UH-1B Huey helicopter, the M-151 jeep, and the M-60 tank.

On Dec. 1, 1966, the separate headquarters of Seventh Army was eliminated, and USAREUR became Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army.

US Army Europe | The USAREUR Story | Part 1 of 2 | Cold War Documentary | ca. 1961