Katterbach Kaserne
Encyclopedia
Katterbach Kaserne is a United States Army
facility in Germany
, located in the village of Katterbach, about 3 miles east-northeast of Ansbach
(Bavaria); about 250 miles south-southwest of Berlin
.
Katterbach is part of the United States Army Garrison (USAG) Franconia, being home to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade
, V Corps consisting of an attack helicopter battalion with several aviation and maintenance support units, and a United States Air Force
liaison squadron (Det. 5, 7th Weather Squadron).
It also has family housing; two schools, the Ansbach Elementary School and the Ansbach Middle High School
; two banking facilities; AAFES facilities; the commissary and other essential services such as SATO travel and Army Community Services.
Bismarck Kaserne is located directly across German Federal Highway 14. It has several key services, the AAFES Post Exchange, Car Care Center and gas station. It also has family and guest housing.
airfield named Fliegerhorst Ansbach and was completed in 1938. The airfield was primarily a bomber airfield, with the first unit, Kampfgeschwader 155 (KG 155) being assigned to the new base in April 1936, equipped with an early model of the Heinkel He 111
, the He 111B. Other prewar bomber units assigned were KG 355 (July 1938, Dornier Do 17
Z); KG 53 (May 1939, He 111). These bomber units were used in the German invasion of Poland in September 1939.
It was only in the late summer of 1943, with the increasing number of Allied bomber attacks on Germany, that Ansbach was assigned to the "Defense of the Reich
", campaign, and day interceptor fighters were assigned to the airfield to attack the American Eighth Air Force
heavy bomber formations. Numerous Luftwaffe fighter units were assigned to Ansbach during 1943-late 1944, when as a result of Allied attacks, the airfield became unusable. Known units assigned were ZG 76 (1943–1944, Bf 110), JG 3 (1944, Bf 109G), JG 4, JG 300 (Fw 190A). The last operational unit assigned, KG 101, equipped with Ju 88As, moved out in August 1944, after which Ansbach was the home of various Luftwaffe ground units (Flughafen-Bereichs-Kommando), the last of which moved out in April 1945 (FBK 14/VII), blowing up the runway, aircraft hangars and other technical buildings.
B-26 Marauder
medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolt
fighter-bombers beginning in early 1945 as Allied ground units began fanning out into Bavaria to deny the Luftwaffe use of the airfield. The airfield was seized by the United States Third Army, in late April, and the IX Engineering Command 831st Engineering Aviation Bragade moved in on 23 April 1945 to repair operational facilities and clear unexploded mines and other dangerous munitions from the field. Engineers also patched the 4000' concrete runway and the facility was declared operational on 29 April, being designated as Advanced Landing Ground
"R-45 Ansbach".
The Ninth Air Force
354th Fighter Group flew P-47 Thunderbolts beginning the next day and continued combat operations until the German capitulation on 7 May 1945. The Air Force combat units moved out in May 1945, and the facility was turned over to Air Technical Service Command, becoming a maintenance and supply facility under the 42d Air Depot (Ansbach Air Depot). United States Army units moved in when the Air Force depot was closed at the end of May 1947 and used the airfield as a garrison post as part of the American Zone of Occupation, renaming the facility Katterbach Kaserne.
.
Although used as a helicopter airfield for the past 40 years, Katterbach Kaserne has little resemblance to the Luftwaffe wartime airfield from which it originated. The airfield retains its circular support area, with numerous hangars and warehouses from its air depot use by the Air Force, however a large concrete ramp was constructed by the Army over the original grass airfield for helicopter parking. The wartime 4000' concrete runway has been removed, with a short 600' asphalt runway replacing it, aligned 08/26 for helicopter use. All of the wartime taxiways and aircraft parking dispersals have been removed, and the support area buildings have all been replaced by postwar construction, although built in a traditional German architectural style.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
facility in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, located in the village of Katterbach, about 3 miles east-northeast of Ansbach
Ansbach
Ansbach, originally Onolzbach, is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is situated southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the Fränkische Rezat, a tributary of the Main river. As of 2004, its population was 40,723.Ansbach...
(Bavaria); about 250 miles south-southwest of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
Katterbach is part of the United States Army Garrison (USAG) Franconia, being home to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade
12th Combat Aviation Brigade (United States)
The 12th Combat Aviation Brigade is a Combat Aviation Brigade of the United States Army. It was first organized as the 12th Aviation Group at Fort Benning, Georgia, on 18 June 1965.-Vietnam:...
, V Corps consisting of an attack helicopter battalion with several aviation and maintenance support units, and a United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
liaison squadron (Det. 5, 7th Weather Squadron).
It also has family housing; two schools, the Ansbach Elementary School and the Ansbach Middle High School
Ansbach Middle High School
Ansbach Middle High School is a Department of Defense Dependents Schools 7-12 School located in Ansbach, Germany. The school is a Division Two school in DoDDS-European sports. Approximately 450 students attend Ansbach. The school's mascot is the Cougar. The Principal of Ansbach is Mrs. Jennifer...
; two banking facilities; AAFES facilities; the commissary and other essential services such as SATO travel and Army Community Services.
Bismarck Kaserne is located directly across German Federal Highway 14. It has several key services, the AAFES Post Exchange, Car Care Center and gas station. It also has family and guest housing.
History
Construction began in 1935 as a LuftwaffeLuftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
airfield named Fliegerhorst Ansbach and was completed in 1938. The airfield was primarily a bomber airfield, with the first unit, Kampfgeschwader 155 (KG 155) being assigned to the new base in April 1936, equipped with an early model of the Heinkel He 111
Heinkel He 111
The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium...
, the He 111B. Other prewar bomber units assigned were KG 355 (July 1938, Dornier Do 17
Dornier Do 17
The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift , was a World War II German light bomber produced by Claudius Dornier's company, Dornier Flugzeugwerke...
Z); KG 53 (May 1939, He 111). These bomber units were used in the German invasion of Poland in September 1939.
German use during World War II
During World War II, Ansbach was initially used to form and equip bomber units until mid 1943. KG 2, KG 77, KG 6 and KG 76 all were assigned to the base with a variety of bombers (Do 17, Ju 88s) which flew missions from Ansbach to France, England, and Russia.It was only in the late summer of 1943, with the increasing number of Allied bomber attacks on Germany, that Ansbach was assigned to the "Defense of the Reich
Defense of the Reich
The Defence of the Reich is the name given to the strategic defensive aerial campaign fought by the Luftwaffe over German occupied Europe and Germany itself during World War II. Its aim was to prevent the destruction of German military and civil industries by the Western Allies...
", campaign, and day interceptor fighters were assigned to the airfield to attack the American Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
heavy bomber formations. Numerous Luftwaffe fighter units were assigned to Ansbach during 1943-late 1944, when as a result of Allied attacks, the airfield became unusable. Known units assigned were ZG 76 (1943–1944, Bf 110), JG 3 (1944, Bf 109G), JG 4, JG 300 (Fw 190A). The last operational unit assigned, KG 101, equipped with Ju 88As, moved out in August 1944, after which Ansbach was the home of various Luftwaffe ground units (Flughafen-Bereichs-Kommando), the last of which moved out in April 1945 (FBK 14/VII), blowing up the runway, aircraft hangars and other technical buildings.
USAAF use
Ansbach airfield was attacked by Ninth Air ForceNinth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
B-26 Marauder
B-26 Marauder
The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
fighter-bombers beginning in early 1945 as Allied ground units began fanning out into Bavaria to deny the Luftwaffe use of the airfield. The airfield was seized by the United States Third Army, in late April, and the IX Engineering Command 831st Engineering Aviation Bragade moved in on 23 April 1945 to repair operational facilities and clear unexploded mines and other dangerous munitions from the field. Engineers also patched the 4000' concrete runway and the facility was declared operational on 29 April, being designated as Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground was the term given to the temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II in support of the invasion of Europe...
"R-45 Ansbach".
The Ninth Air Force
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
354th Fighter Group flew P-47 Thunderbolts beginning the next day and continued combat operations until the German capitulation on 7 May 1945. The Air Force combat units moved out in May 1945, and the facility was turned over to Air Technical Service Command, becoming a maintenance and supply facility under the 42d Air Depot (Ansbach Air Depot). United States Army units moved in when the Air Force depot was closed at the end of May 1947 and used the airfield as a garrison post as part of the American Zone of Occupation, renaming the facility Katterbach Kaserne.
United States Army use
After the end of the United States occupation of Germany in 1949, Katterbach Kaserne became a NATO facility, becoming the home of the US Army 1st Armored Division. Numerous 1st AD units have used Katterbach over the past 60 years, the facility becoming a combat helicopter airfield in 1964, and remaining so, although after 1993, the number of personnel and helicopters has been reduced as a result of the USAREUR restructuring after the end of the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
Although used as a helicopter airfield for the past 40 years, Katterbach Kaserne has little resemblance to the Luftwaffe wartime airfield from which it originated. The airfield retains its circular support area, with numerous hangars and warehouses from its air depot use by the Air Force, however a large concrete ramp was constructed by the Army over the original grass airfield for helicopter parking. The wartime 4000' concrete runway has been removed, with a short 600' asphalt runway replacing it, aligned 08/26 for helicopter use. All of the wartime taxiways and aircraft parking dispersals have been removed, and the support area buildings have all been replaced by postwar construction, although built in a traditional German architectural style.
See also
- Advanced Landing Ground