Europe – Over Three Decades

From: Scott Wallace

(1983-1988, 1992-1994, 2001-2003)

     I had the privilege of serving in various US Army positions in Europe (principally Germany) over 9 years.  Each of my tours was in a different decade, and upon reflection, each was a dramatically different phase of European and American history. 

     I served in the Second Armored Cavalry Regiment (2d ACR) from 1983 to 1988, serving at both the squadron and regimental level.  They were the days of the Cold War and the tension between the west and the Warsaw Pact ebbed and flowed with the political climate on both sides of the ocean.  Yet, some degree of tension was always present.  The Regiment assumed operational control of the divisional cavalry squadrons of the Third Infantry Division and the 1^st Armored Division for the purpose of border surveillance, conducted from six remote camps along the West German border with East Germany and Czechoslovakia. 

     During the period, military alerts and deployments which practiced movement to initial defensive positions were common.  One never really knew if the call to deploy was for practice or the real deal.  Each call was taken seriously, and from our positions along the border there was the realization that any provocation by the Warsaw Pact would be ours to deal with as best we could until other deploying formations were in position.

     The Cold War would turn hot on occasion, if only briefly.  I vividly recall three incidents, in particular.  Once, in late October 1985, one of our Regimental helicopters was on patrol along the border when a Czech jet aircraft fired upon it, subsequently claiming that the helicopter had violated the border and was thus a viable target (our detailed analysis proved the Czechs to be absolutely wrong).  I was surprised when much of our reporting of the incident showed up on the front page of the New York Times … verbatim.  A second incident was relatively benign, but interesting none the less as a Czech pilot flew his helicopter over the border into West Germany and asked for political asylum. We kept the pilot and gave back the helicopter after a thorough look to see if there was anything of intelligence value.  My final recollection was the death of a West German civilian who was shot and killed in 1987 by Czech border guards as he took a Sunday stroll in the normally bucolic woods near the border.  As a result, and in response, diplomatic relations between West Germany and Czechoslovakia remained suspended for almost a year.

     I left Germany in 1988 bound for the Navy War College never expecting there to be anything but an Iron curtain separating east and west on the European continent.  I watched in amazement, along with much of the world, from my seat at the War College in late 1989 as the Berlin Wall fell and the Warsaw Pact began to crumble.

     After a tour at the Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin, I returned to Germany in 1992 to assume command of the 11^th Armored Cavalry Regiment in Fulda, Germany.  My predecessor in command was Colonel Skip Bacevich… also, from the USMA Class of 1969.  This tour in Germany was different …. very different from my previous experience.  West and East Germany had reunified, hence there were no border operations or continuous patrolling of a sometimes-hostile line of separation.

     Our future in Germany was uncertain as the United States government wrestled with how to take advantage of the “peace dividend” afforded it by the fall of the USSR.  In time, it became clear that many US forces stationed in Germany would redeploy stateside, thus the mission of the Regiment shifted from combat readiness to taking care of soldiers, families and equipment in retrograde.

     The city of Fulda and its government officials had been exceptionally gracious hosts over the many years of US stationing.  Thus, in addition to our obligation to our soldiers and their families, some of our time had to be devoted to saying sincere and heartfelt thanks to our hosts.   We held farewell ceremonies in each of the host cities of Wildflecken, Bad Hersfeld and Fulda.  Perhaps our most meaningful farewell was a joint German/American evening church service held in the Fulda Dom followed by a torchlight parade of American soldiers through the old city of Fulda …. Thus, symbolizing the end of the US presence.

 To this day, the Fulda German-American Friendship Club remains active as does the German museum located at OP Alpha, the Regiment’s old border camp near Fulda. 

     I was the last 11^th ACR Commander in Europe.  We closed down the Regiment in a simple ceremony in Downs Barracks in Fulda on 14 April 1994.  At the time there were 11 officers and soldiers assigned to once-proud 5000-man Regiment. I left Germany in April 1994 never expecting to return. But …. return I did. 

     I assumed Command of the Fifth US Corps (V Corps) in Heidelberg, Germany in July, 2001.  The Corps was a major US European headquarters with the mission of maintaining the combat readiness of forward-deployed formations within the Command. 

     One might recall that from the period of mid-1991 until late 2001 the Balkans imploded with multiple wars of independence, insurgencies and ethnic conflicts associated with weakening control (and ultimate dissolution) of Yugoslavia.  The United Nations stepped in with a peacekeeping force, of which the US was a part, designed to enforce negotiated cease fire agreements and to separate the belligerents. Thus, in addition to our combat readiness training, we were obligated to prepare the subordinate Divisions of the Corps (1^st Infantry Division and 1^st Armored Division) for peacekeeping operations in the Balkans. 

     The unthinkable happened and everything changed on 11 September 2001.  We found out about the attack on the United States during a leadership seminar I was hosting at the Community Club in Heidelberg.  The training focus of the seminar quickly shifted to force protection as I directed my Commanders to return to their home stations, upgrade their security measures and stand by for further orders. 

     There was an immediate and overwhelming voice of support from every community in Germany.  The main gate to Campbell Barracks in Heidelberg (the Corps’ headquarters) became almost impenetrable … not due so much to enhanced security, as due to the throngs of German civilians demonstrating in support of America and the flowers, wreaths and candles they left in their wake. 

     The V Corps began planning in earnest during the winter of 2001, eventually deploying to the sands of Kuwait in 2002, then on to Baghdad and beyond in 2003.  But that is an altogether different story.

     From Cold War border operations to the American drawdown in Europe to deploying from Germany to the Middle East … no writer of contemporary fiction could write a more unlikely or less believable story.