Ansbach Airfield
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Katterbach Kaserne is a
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 ...
facility 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 to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, located in the village of Katterbach, about 3 miles east-northeast of
Ansbach Ansbach ( , ; ) is a city in the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk, administrative region of Mittelfranken, Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränk ...
(Bavaria); about 250 miles south-southwest of
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. Katterbach is part of the United States Army Garrison (USAG) Ansbach, being home to the
12th Combat Aviation Brigade 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 Initially, "USARV formed an "Aviation Group (Provisi ...
,
V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Arm ...
consisting of an attack helicopter battalion with several aviation and maintenance support units, and a
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
liaison squadron (Det. 4, 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.


History

Construction began in 1935 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 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 the
Dornier Do 23 The Dornier Do 23 was a German medium bomber of the 1930s. Design and development The earlier Do 11 had exhibited several problems, so two initiatives were launched to address those shortcomings. The first resulted in the Do 13. The second effo ...
and an early model of the
Dornier Do 17 The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Dornier Flugzeugwerke. Large numbers were operated by the ''Luftwaffe'' throughout the Second World War. The Do 17 was designed during ...
, the Do 17E. Other prewar bomber units assigned were KG 355 (July 1938,
Heinkel He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and medium bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Due to restrictions placed on Germany a ...
E); KG 53 (May 1939, He 111H). These bomber units were used in the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
/ref>


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 The Defence of the Reich () is the name given to the strategic defensive aerial campaign fought by the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany over German-occupied Europe and Germany during World War II against the Allied strategic bombing campaign. Its aim ...
", campaign, and day interceptor fighters were assigned to the airfield to attack the American
Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces S ...
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 Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint D ...
B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in t ...
medium bombers and
P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...
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 The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army that saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...
, in late April, and the IX Engineering Command 831st Engineering Aviation Brigade 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 The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint D ...
354th Fighter Group The 354th Fighter Group was an element of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Ninth Air Force during World War II. The unit was known as the Pioneer Mustang Group and was the first to fly the P-51B Mustang in combat. The group served as bom ...
flew
P-47 Thunderbolts The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...
beginning the next day and continued combat operations until the German capitulation on 7 May 1945.Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. . The Air Force combat units moved out in May 1945, and the facility was turned over to
Air Technical Service Command An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...
, 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.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.


United States Army use

After the end of the United States occupation of Germany in 1949, Katterbach Kaserne became a
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
facility, becoming the home of EES (European Exchange System) until the 60's when the first Army Aviation unit arrived, A Company 504th Aviation Battalion, 4th Armored Division APO NY 09177. The Facility became the home of the US Army 1st Armored Division in 1971. Numerous 1st AD units have used Katterbach over the past 60 years, the facility becoming a combat helicopter airfield in 1977, 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 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 ...
. Across the street is Bismarck Kaserne that was occupied by 1-37 Armor from 1970 - 1988. After 1-37 Armor redeployed to Vilseck in 1988, 1-1 Cavalry occupied Bismarck Kaserne until their deactivation. The Kaserne was occupied by elements of 1st Infantry Division Aviation units until 2006 when aviation was restructured, and the
12th Combat Aviation Brigade 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 Initially, "USARV formed an "Aviation Group (Provisi ...
was activated. 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 1,212' 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


References

{{USAAF 9th Air Force UK Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Germany Barracks of the United States Army in Germany Military installations of the United States in Germany Airports established in 1935 Luftwaffe bases Buildings and structures in Ansbach Airports in Bavaria