US ARMY BORDER

 OPERATIONS IN GERMANY

1945-1983

WILLIAM  E. STACY

Headquarters
US Army, Europe
and 7th Army

Classified By: Multiple Sources
Review: OADR

Military History Office

GSM 5-1-84

 

UNCLASSIFIED

 

Photo: Over 100 years of US Army cavalry uniforms.

(U) Over 100 years of US Army cavalry uniforms.

PREFACE

(U) This historical study began with a question, a very common question: "Why, almost 40 years after the war, are we still conducting border patrols in Germany?" It is a question "old German hands" have been asked for years, but in 1982 it was asked by a Congressman. As in the past, answers were generated, but the USAREUR Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Major General Charles W. Dyke, was not satisfied with this ad hoc effort. He thought it was time to ''answer in as comprehensive a manner as possible the recurring questions about US Army operations along the Federal Republic of Germany's eastern boundaries. The USAREUR headquarters Military History Office was given the rather broad assignment of conducting a study on how we had evolved into the present situation, how we had accomplished the mission over the years, and why we were still there. Essentially, this meant that research had to be conducted from the immediate postwar years to the present. In many respects, it became a selective 'history of the command because so many of the evolutionary changes in the command's organizational structure, stationing, and equipment had ;a direct impact on how the border mission was accomplished. Research revealed that in any given period US Army border operations were a 'microcosm of then-current US Army doctrine and operations in Europe.

(U) A study of this size and complexity could not have been accomplished without a lot of help. My colleagues, Mr. Bruce H. Siemon and Mr. Billy A. Arthur, not only gave freely of their knowledge and provided research assistance, but, more importantly, created the conditions which allowed me to devote the necessary time to this study. Ms. Patricia D. Lanting, our editorial assistant, was extensively involved in the preparation and production of the study, and could always be counted on to go the extra mile that would ensure that it had the right format and look. Individuals too numerous to name on the USAREUR headquarters staff and at the operational units -especially the 2d and 11th Armored Cavalry Regiments -- tried to educate me in the complexities of border operations, provided much needed research material, and answered endless questions. Without their assistance, the study would have remained a scholarly treatise rather than the operations-oriented document it hopefully became.

(U) This study is respectfully dedicated to the soldiers who stand watch on the border.

WILLIAM E. STACY

Heidelberg, Germany
1984

GSM 5-1-84

[iii]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER ONE EARLY POST-WAR BORDER OPERATIONS: 1945-1946 5
Control of the Frontier in the Early Days of the Occupation 5
Structure and Stationing 9
Land Border Police 11
Chapter One Notes 16
CHAPTER TWO THE CONSTABULARY TAKES CHARGE: 1946-1950 19
Planning for the US Constabulary 19
Assumption of Border Control by US Constabulary 22
Structure and Stationing 22
Border Control Operating Procedures 24
Border Incidents 31
Transfer of Border Control to the Land Border Police 33
Constabulary Reorganization 37
Special Border Operations 38
International Relations 39
Chapter Two Notes 43
CHAPTER THREE TRANSITION INTO A TACTICAL FORCE: 1950-1952 47
The New Alliance 47
Border Incidents 51
The Emerging Tactical Force 61
Intelligence Mission on the Border  63
Proposal to Use Labor Service Unit and Border Service Organization 64
Founding of the German Federal Border Guard 65
Seventh Army Border Operations 69
Chapter Three Notes 76
CHAPTER FOUR STABILIZATION OF THE BORDER FORCE: 1952-1960 79
German Sovereignty 79
Border and Customs Control 81
The Border 83
The Border Force Matures 83
Operation GYROSCOPE 84
Border Operations 88
Intelligence Operations Along the Border 93
German Control of the Border 99
Border Incidents 102
Chapter Four Notes 110
CHAPTER FIVE THE BORDER FORCE ADJUSTS: 1960-1970 115
International Relations 115
Adjustment in the Border Force 119
Roundout Program 121
French Participation in Border Surveillance Operations 124
Force Structure and Stationing at the End of the 1960s 126
Upgrade and Reorganization of Military Intelligence in USAREUR 128
Aerial Surveillance along the Border 135
Border Operations 143
Equipment Changes in the Border Unit 159
Border Incidents 163
Chapter Five Notes 167
CHAPTER SIX MODERN BORDER OPERATIONS: 1970-1983 175
Resolution of the "German Question," Temporarily 175
Inner-German Border (IGB) 178
The Federal Republic-Czechoslovak Border 195
Border Tour Program 201
Current Stationing and Force Structure 203
Equipment Modernization in the Border Force 215
Current Border Operations 225
Border Incidents 237
Military Intelligence Activity Along the Border 239
Border Resident Office (BRO) Structure 239
Aerial Surveillance Along the Border 242
Chapter Six Notes 249
APPENDIX I BRITISH BORDER OPERATIONS IN GERMANY 261
Appendix I Notes 265
GLOSSARY 267

TABLES

Table   Page
1 Constabulary Unit 25
2 Border Operations in 1968 151

FIGURES

Figure   Page
1 Border Control Plan  30
2 Border Patrols by the Armored Cavalry Regiments 70
3 532d Military Intelligence Battalion Structure-1959 97
4 532d MI Battalion Team Office Structure 98
5 Border Warning Sign, Czechoslovakia 154
6 Border Warning Sign, Soviet Zone 155
7 East German Control Zone 182
8 East German concrete Border Tower 184
9 Physical Security Measures at soviet Zone Border 186
10 SM-70 Anti-Personnel Device  187
11 New Command Post Tower 190
12 German Democratic Republic (GDR) Border Barrier System 192-93
13 Czechoslovak Border Barrier System 200
14 "CINC Note" on Border Crossing Incidents 240

MAPS

Map   Page
1 Border Control Plan 10
2 Border Patrol by the Armored Cavalry Regiments 12
3 Disposition by Areas of Constabulary & Tactical Forces as of 1 July 1946 23
4 The Untermuehle-Obermuehle Boundary Area 54
5 The Sexton-Askalepov Boundary Agreement 55
6 Disposition of EUCOM Forces in 1951  60
7 Armored Cavalry Regiment Area Responsibility 62
8 Major Locations for Border Units 86
9 Major 532d Military Intelligence Battalion Subordinate Elements 94
10 532d MI Battalion Locations 95
11 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Area of Operations 211
12 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment Area of Operations 213

All photographs are officially US Army photographs from official histories , unit scrap books, and the European Stars and Stripes reference collection. The photographs on pages 257-60 were taken by Mr. R. G. Crossley, of the USAREUR Office of the Chief, Public Affairs.

[viii]

page created 23 July 2002

Return to CMH Online