Grafenwoehr Training Area (GTA) (), also known as the U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr (abbreviated USAG Grafenwoehr), 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 ...

military training base located near Grafenwöhr, eastern

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

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 ...

. At , it is the largest training facility of the United States of America in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The base is operated by 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command, and includes live firing training areas. Grafenwoehr facilities include the Tower Barracks. Grafenwoehr Training Area now comes under the command of the U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria.

History

The

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

training area was established in

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Moment magnitude scale, Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 9 – The "Mud March (suffragists), Mud March", the ...

by clearing at least 58 smaller villages, and used to train

troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a Squadron (cavalry), squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section (military unit), section or platoon. Exception ...

for the

III Royal Bavarian Corps The III Royal Bavarian Army Corps / III Bavarian AK () was a corps level command of the Royal Bavarian Army, part of the Imperial German Army, before and during World War I. As the German and Bavarian Armies expanded in the latter part of the 19th ...

. Undergoing a major expansion from in

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

and forcibly evicting more than 3,500 people from their villages, the base was used by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

to practice

blitzkrieg ''Blitzkrieg'(Lightning/Flash Warfare)'' is a word used to describe a combined arms surprise attack, using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with ...

tactics. During the course of the war, a myriad of different units were trained in the area, including foreign volunteers of the Wehrmacht and

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

, as well as four divisions of the

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...

National Republican Army The National Republican Army (; abbreviated ENR), colloquially known as the Army of the North ( Italian: ''Esercito del Nord'') was the army of the Italian Social Republic (, or RSI) from 1943 to 1945, fighting on the side of Nazi Germany durin ...

. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the base was occupied by the

. On 2 September

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

, 16 American soldiers were killed and 26 injured when an 8-inch howitzer shell crashed into them during a morning roll call. The shell had been overloaded with charge, and when fired, went beyond its target.

Assigned units

From December

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

to February

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, Grafenwoehr Training Area housed more than 5,000 soldiers of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division - Ironhorse brigade, which is the current Regionally Aligned Force in eastern Europe. As the current Regionally Aligned Force in Europe, one of the brigade's main mission is increasing interoperability with other

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 ...

nations. Grafenwoehr Training Area allowed the entire brigade to re-consolidate all forces in preparation for redeployment back to

Fort Hood Fort Cavazos is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. The post is currently named after Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, a native Texan and the US Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. The post is located halfway between Austi ...

, Texas. On 30 November 2018, the 41st Field Artillery Brigade was re-activated at Tower Barracks, U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria, controlling the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System-equipped 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment and 1st Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment. Within the training area, Camp Aachen and Camp Algiers are located on the Grafenwoehr Training Area, and provide housing support, as well as an Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR),

United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

(USO), and

Army and Air Force Exchange Service The Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES, also referred to as The Exchange and post exchange/PX or base exchange/BX) provides goods and services at U.S. Army, Air Force, and Space Force installations worldwide, operating department stores, ...

(AAFES) shoppette facility. In addition, Grafenwoehr Training Area is home to the Joint Multinational Simulation Centre specifically located on the Camp Aachen portion of the training area.

References

External links

Grafenwoehr Training Area
— official website, at Eur.Army.mil
Grafenwoehr Training Area official Facebook pageU.S. Army Garrison Bavaria
— official website, at Bavaria.Army.mil {{Authority control 1907 establishments in Germany Installations of the United States Army in Germany Military installations established in 1907 Military training areas in Germany