Fulda Gap
ACR = armored cavalry regiment (US) | CAS = close air support | CSS = combat service support | D= Division | G = Guards | MR = Motor Rifle | Regt Hq = regiment headquarters | RHQ = regional headquarters | T = Tank
The Fulda Gap (
From 1815, the area appeared of minimal strategic importance, as it lay deep within the borders of the
During the Cold War, the Fulda Gap offered one of the two obvious routes for a hypothetical Soviet tank attack on
Strategic location during the Cold War
The northern route through the Gap passes south of the
The Fulda Gap route was less suitable for mechanized troop movement than was the
Strategic responses to the geographic feature
Strategists on both sides of the
From June 1945 until July 1946, reconnaissance and security along the border between the U.S. and
The mission of the armored cavalry (heavy, mechanized
The
From 1947 until 1951, the
The following is a summary of US Cold War history in Germany from the 1950s. US Forces were headquartered at Frankfurt and therefore had an orientation that included the Fulda Gap:
For many years, V Corps' principal adversary was the
Beginning in 1975, the Soviet Union's strategy for attacking Western Europe involved the use of operational manoeuvre groups to outflank NATO defensive positions such as the Fulda Gap.[13]
From 1976 to 1984, the 4th Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division was garrisoned in Wiesbaden and also subordinated to U.S. V Corps.
From 1979 onwards, the first V Corps unit detailed to reinforce the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in the Fulda Gap in the event of hostilities was the 8th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion,
In September 1980, the 533rd Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion was reactivated in Frankfurt and assigned to the 3rd Armored Division.
See also
- Observation Post Alpha – Cold War observation post that overlooked a part of the Fulda Gap, now the site of a Cold War memorial
- Seven Days to the River Rhine
- Focșani Gate
- GIUK gap
- Suwałki Gap
- Belfort Gap
- Fulda Gap (board game)
Notes
- ^ "Fulda Gap". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
- ^ a b c Wilson, W. B. (June 2015). "The Fulda Gap" (PDF). The Blackhorse Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
- ^ Stacy, William E. "Chapter One: Early Post-War Border Operations – 1945–1946". US Army Border Operations in Europe. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
{{cite book}}
:|website=
ignored (help) - ^ "Border Ops, Map 3". Archived from the original on 9 July 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
- ^ Stacy, William E. "Chapter Three: Transition Into a Tactical Force – 1950–1952". US Army Border Operations in Europe. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
{{cite book}}
:|website=
ignored (help) - ^ "History of the 14th ACR". Archived from the original on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
- ^ TRADOC conducted a hypothetical wargame based on the defense of the city of Fulda which involved both US officers and retired Wehrmacht Generals. The simulation was designed to compare World War Two concepts formed in Russia against current American doctrine, BMD Corporation, "General Balck and von Mellenthin on Tactics: Implications for NATO Doctrine," December 19, 1980., accessed February 2023
- ^ "USAREUR Units - 19th Armor Gp". Archived from the original on 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
- ^ "USAREUR Units - 7th SUPCOM". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-09-14.
- ^ "USAREUR Units - 7th SUPCOM". Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
- ^ "The History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: The Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Policy, Volume VI, 1955–56", by Kenneth W. Condit, (Washington: GPO, 1992)
- ^ "Personal knowledge"
- ^ pp. 104–105 of the Jan–Feb 2010 issue Archived 2014-01-11 at the Wayback Machine of Military Review, the journal of the U.S. Army's Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth KS.
- ^ "533rd MI Bn". Archived from the original on 2009-07-21.
Further reading
- Faringdon, Hugh. Strategic Geography: NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and the Superpowers. ISBN 0-415-00980-4.
- Harper, John L. American Visions of Europe. ISBN 0-521-45483-2.
- Vol.1, Encyclopedia of World Geography, R.W. McColl, Ed., 2005, Subj: "Fulda Gap" (by Ivan B. Welch). ISBN 978-0-8160-5786-3.
External links
- US Army Border Operations 1948–83 Archived 2010-11-06 at the Wayback Machine reproduced by the United States Army Center of Military History
- 14th Cavalry Association
- Squadrons, 14th CAV
- 11th CAV AOs Archived 2010-06-08 at the Wayback Machine
- 14th Cav at US Army Germany (History) site
- 11th Cav at US Army Germany (History) site
- From Fulda Gap button, one of 5 limited Fulda Gap pages at 1st Battalion 33rd Armor site
- Fulda Gap Big Picture from Decker's 1st Bn, 33rd Armor site
- 1st Bn 68th Armor at Wildflecken was a Fulda Gap screening force Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
- OPLAN 4102
- Fulda Gap Concerns in 1985