Gablingen Kaserne is a former military facility in

Gablingen Gablingen is a municipality in the district of Augsburg in Bavaria in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps t ...

near

Augsburg, Germany Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and the regional seat of the Swabia with a well preserved Altstadt (historical city centre). Augsbu ...

, which was closed in 1998. Its primary use was signals intelligence collection during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

History

Part of Gablingen Kaserne was constructed prior to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

for use by the Royal Bavarian Air Force. The airfield was closed in 1918 and flight activities were prohibited in 1919 as a result of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

. Reopened in 1936 as a

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

airfield, Gablingen was home to three Luftwaffe flying schools: Flugzeugführerschule A5, Nachtjadgschule 1, and Flugzeugführerschule C7. In addition, the entire facility was enlarged as one of the two German Air Bases in the

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

area, the other one being Lechfeld Airbase. The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
/ref> One of the most interesting aspects of the history of Gablingen is the complex tunnel system beneath the old airdrome, which may have been used to conceal the existence of a

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in parti ...

test facility located there prior to, and during, the Second World War. The Messerschmitt plant used laborers from the

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

. Messerschmitt's rocket-powered

Messerschmitt Me 163 The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet is a rocket-powered interceptor aircraft primarily designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt. It is the only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft in history as well as ...

were tested at this facility as early as 1941. American forces seized the base almost unopposed on 1 May 1945 and the facility was quickly secured. IX Engineer Commandbr>
engineers from th
833rd Aviation Engineer Battalion
moved into the facility and designated the base as Advanced Landing Ground "R-77", although no combat unit moved to the airfield until 15 May, after the German Capitulation to perform occupation duty. Renamed as Army Airfield Station Gablingen, several USAAF groups were assigned to the airfield until 1 July 1946, when the facility was turned over to the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

.Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.

U.S. Army use

Gablingen was used by the U.S. Army as a barracks, housing various elements of the different divisions stationed in the Augsburg area, as well as USASA Field Station Augsburg, a

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...

facility. Around 1970, the 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division moved to Goeppingen. The

AN/FLR-9 The AN/FLR-9 is a type of very large circularly disposed antenna array, built at eight locations during the Cold War for HF/DF direction finding of high priority targets. The worldwide network, known collectively as "''Iron Horse''", could loc ...

circular "Wullenweber" antenna array, was built at many locations during the cold war for HF/DF direction finding of high priority targets. The worldwide network, known collectively as "Iron Horse", could quickly and accurately locate an HF communications from almost anywhere on the planet. Today, advances in technology have made the AN/FLR-9 obsolete. The kaserne was closed in 1998.

References

{{Reflist Luftwaffe bases Barracks of the United States Army in Germany Military installations closed in 1998 Military airbases established in 1910