"Adversity makes you stronger. Don't give in, don't back down and never stop doing what you know is right. Nothing worth doing ever, ever, ever came easy and the more righteous your fight, the more opposition that you will face." --TRUMP
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
History and Pictures of U.S. Army Security Agency Field Station Berlin
My Berlin, Berlin, you pearl on the Spree You are, Berlin, which says you never say adieu Because your magic can never die My Berlin, Berlin, Berlin…
My Berlin, Berlin, you pearl on the Spree You are, Berlin, which says you never say adieu Because your magic can never die My Berlin, Berlin, Berlin… The Second World War is over.
The Cold War is over.
The Nazis are gone....and the Communists too.
The American, British, French and Russian military occupations are history.
Berlin has become the beautiful and free city it always wanted to be...
I spent three years in Berlin with the U.S. Army Security Agency Field Station (1974-77) in the Dark Days when Berlin was a gray city of fear divided by a ugly Wall. It was an honor to have played a small role in saving one of the world's most grand and glorious cities. The Field Station was closed in 1992 and in 1994, the Allied Occupation ended as the last American soldiers marched to the airport and home.
The U.S. Army Field Station Berlin entered the city's history in the turbulent post-war period in 1951. Strictly a mobile tactical-support unit, Detachment F, 6th Field Station was deployed from West Germany to a temporary site in the British sector's sprawling Grunewald forest. Several other ASA mobile units were also deployed into the city during the 1950's.
On July 1, 1957, these units were consolidated administratively into the 260th ASA Detachment. The detachment's headquarters was moved to Andrews Kaserne (Barracks) in the Berlin Lichterfelde district.One of the most historic military sites in Berlin, the post first opened in 1873 by order of Kaiser Wilhelm I as the Prussian Haupt Kadetten Anstalt (HKA) or Prussian Main Cadet Establishment.
The school became the Prussian equivalent of West Point, providing Germany with its senior military leadership for a period covering two world wars. Entry into the academy was extremely difficult as was the subsequent discipline, military training and academics. After graduation, the cadet was given a probationary rank and spent time with a line unit. After subsequent attendance at a "war school", the officer-candidate was elected into the Prussian officer corps by the officers of his regiment. Upon receiving his commission as a lieutenant, the officer swore his loyalty to the Officer Corp, which, as a body, swore their allegiance to the ruling monarch rather than the Prussian state.
In this way, cadets Goering, von Runstedt, Guderian, von Manstein and others because the military elite of the Nazi Wehrmacht. As an aftermath of the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I, the HKA was disbanded in March of 1920. On March 9, 1920, the entire cadet corps marched silently out the front gate and across Berlin through the Brandenburg Gate to the Prussian War Ministry. After presenting their guidons, they received their final dismissal as a cadet corp.From 1922-1933, the post was used to house a public school and a unit of the Berlin Police.
By 1933, after Adolf Hitler assumed power, the Kaserne became the SS Kaserne Lichterfelde. The dreaded Schutzstaffel (SS) used the post as a billet, training and administration area. Among other units, it housed the most infamous SS unit Liebstandarte Adolf Hitler (Living Banner Adolf Hitler). This Battalion sized unit was made up of the finest and most Aryan of the SS elite and served as the personal bodyguard of the fuehrer. The elegant Prussian academy's buildings were modified to glorify the Nazi myth. Statuary and symbols were placed throughout the post. Some, minus Nazi symbols, stand even today.
In March 1945, the remaining Liebstandarte troops in ranks and made a final cross city march to the Reich Chancellory, near the Brandenburg Gate, to prepare for the final siege of Berlin - an ironic and sinister reenactment of the final march of the Prussian Cadet Corps troops twenty five years earlier.By 1946, the Kaserne was under full US Army control and was named in honor Lt. General Frank Maxwell Andrews, Army Air Corp.
This, then, is the historic legacy of the post housing, current Headquarters of Field Station Berlin. By July 1961, the USASA Detachment had undergone several redesignations and was called the 78th USASA Special Operations Unit (78th USASASOU) the mobile equipment was moved to the top of Truemmerberg (Rubble Mountain), this hill, the highest in Berlin, was built mostly by hand from rocks, bricks and debris left of the city. It was started in 1946 by the gaunt survivors of the war - mostly women.
After an operation feasibility study was made a permanent site was built what became known as Teufelsberg or "Devil's Mountain". All ASA assets were relocated to Teufelsburg by 1966, at which time the unit was redesigned the 54th USASA Special Operations Command (54th USASASOC). In 1967, it became the USASA Field Station Berlin. In 1977, the United States Army Security Agency became the Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM), and this unit became the United States Army Field Station Berlin.
8 comments:
Anonymous
said...
As we used to say, "I Know YOU!" Excellent information on our bit in history. Absolutely loved it. Hope you don't mind, I shared a piece of it and told people if they want to see more, I provided the link. Bill M Supervisor S/S A; S/S K B Trick 74-77
If you visit there today, you can check to see if the Stasi (East German Secret Police) had a file on you, as they did on many members of Field Station Berlin.
I understand when Germany was re-united in the early 1990s, all the Stasi records were transferred to Andrew's Barracks and placed in the rooms where Company "B" USASA(of which I was a member) lived in the 1970s.
The Berliners were good friends in those Cold War days to the American troops, especially the older people who could remember what the Red Army did to the city in April and May 1945 - raped, pillaged and looted it back to the Dark Ages.
Thus the U.S. Army, the Royal Army and the French military were the cavalry riding to the rescue of Berlin on July 4, 1945, and ended the Russian Reign of Terror in the Western occupation zones.
I was stationed in Berlin as an ASA M.P. 1969 -1971, housed at Andrews Barracks. Worked shifts at the "Hill", site 4, and site 1. Visited Berlin and Andrews Barracks in 2014.
Video of East Berlin in 1978 - the same time frame that I served in the West Berlin (1974 - 1977) the dialogue is in German, but lots of good scenes of the Russian Sector of the city we at Field Station Berlin never saw due to having security clearances.
"Ideas power men. Men power cultures. Cultures power civilizations. Civilizations power history. Ideas are the fuel of man's mind. (Ayn Rand)
It is not a question of whether man chooses to be guided by [philosophy]: he is not equipped to live without it." (Ayn Rand) "History is philosophy teaching by example "(Lord Bolingbroke)
"The trouble with nations is that there is an unequal distribution of capitalism. "(Rush Limbaugh)
"Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. "(Thomas Jefferson)
"It is better to be infamous than never be famous at all.”
"You know what the fellow said: In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock." -Orson Welles as Harry Lime in The Third Man
"No" To EU
Club Gitmo
Did You know?
90%-95% OF ALL THE CONFLICTS ON THIS PLANET TODAY INVOLVE MUSLIMS FIGHTING NON-MUSLIMS OR EACH OTHER.
Muslims Eat Their Own Children
"Speaking through an American interpreter, Lieutenant David Wallach who is a native Arabic speaker, the Iraqi official related how al Qaeda united these gangs who then became absorbed into “al Qaeda.” They recruited boys born during the years 1991, 92 and 93 who were each given weapons, including pistols, a bicycle and a phone (with phone cards paid) and a salary of $100 per month, all courtesy of al Qaeda. These boys were used for kidnapping, torturing and murdering people. At first, he said, they would only target Shia, but over time the new al Qaeda directed attacks against Sunni, and then anyone who thought differently. The official reported that on a couple of occasions in Baqubah, al Qaeda invited to lunch families they wanted to convert to their way of thinking. In each instance, the family had a boy, he said, who was about 11 years old. As LT David Wallach interpreted the man’s words, I saw Wallach go blank and silent. He stopped interpreting for a moment. I asked Wallach, “What did he say?” Wallach said that at these luncheons, the families were sat down to eat. And then their boy was brought in with his mouth stuffed. The boy had been baked. Al Qaeda served the boy to his family." -- Michael Yon
IDEA POWER
"Ideas power men. Men power cultures. Cultures power civilizations. Civilizations power history. Ideas are the fuel of man's mind.
It is not a question of whether man chooses to be guided by [philosophy]: he is not equipped to live without it." (Ayn Rand)
"History is philosophy teaching by example "(Lord Bolingbroke)
"The trouble with nations is that there is an unequal distribution of capitalism. "(Rush Limbaugh)
"Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. "(Thomas Jefferson)
Teddy Roosevelt
T.R. On Islam
The following passages were written in 1916 in Teddy Roosevelt’s book, “Fear God and Take Your Own Part”, reproduced in “What Every American Needs to Know About the Qur’an” by William Federer.
Christianity is not the creed of Asia and Africa at this moment solely because the seventh century Christians of Asia and Africa had trained themselves not to fight, whereas the Moslems were trained to fight.Christianity was saved in Europe solely because the peoples of Europe fought. If the peoples of Europe in the seventh and eighth centuries, an on up to and including the seventeenth century, had not possessed a military equality with, and gradually a growing superiority over the Mohammedans who invaded Europe, Europe would at this moment be Mohammedan and the Christian religion would be exterminated. Wherever the Mohammedans have had complete sway, wherever the Christians have been unable to resist them by the sword, Christianity has ultimately disappeared. From the hammer of Charles Martel to the sword of Sobieski, Christianity owed its safety in Europe to the fact that it was able to show that it could and would fight as well as the Mohammedan aggressor. …..The civilization of Europe, American and Australia exists today at all only because of the victories of civilized man over the enemies of civilization because of victories through the centuries from Charles Martel in the eighth century and those of John Sobieski in the seventeenth century. During the thousand years that included the careers of the Frankish soldier and the Polish king, the Christians of Asia and Africa proved unable to wage successful war with the Moslem conquerors; and in consequence Christianity practically vanished from the two continents; and today, nobody can find in them any “social values” whatever, in the sense in which we use the words, so far as the sphere of Mohammedan influences are concerned.There are such “social values” today in Europe, America and Australia only because during those thousand years, the Christians of Europe possessed the warlike power to do what the Christians of Asia and Africa had failed to do — that is, to beat back the Moslem invader.
.....victorious with terror
"I have been made victorious with terror"
Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "I have been sent with the shortest expressions bearing the widest meanings, and I have been made victorious with terror (cast in the hearts of the enemy), and while I was sleeping, the keys of the treasures of the world were brought to me and put in my hand." Abu Huraira added: Allah's Apostle has left the world and now you, people, are bringing out those treasures (i.e. the Prophet did not benefit by them). Fighting for the Cause of Allah (Jihaad) Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Book 52: Volume 4, Book 52, Number 220
THE S.E.A.L. MOTTO
We train for war and fight to win. I stand ready to bring the full spectrum of combat power to bear in order to achieve my mission and the goals established by my country. The execution of my duties will be swift and violent when required, yet guided by the very principles I serve to defend.
Brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold. In the worst of conditions, the legacy of my teammates steadies my resolve and silently guides my every deed. I will not fail.
The Freedom Fighter's Journal
This Blog is dedicated to the heroic men and women of the world past and present who have stood up for liberty often at the cost of their lives; lives often spent in dubious battle against the forces of tyranny; lives that often end at the end of the tyrant's rope and the anonymous grave; but whose last thoughts often echo the words of Nathan Hale, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
Brilliant and Psychotic
"The Freedom Fighter’s Journal. Written by Ronbo, this BLOG is scary! Vacillating between brilliant and psychotic, if you come back often enough you will find yourself wondering if this is the writing of a tortured patriotic soul or that of a demented spirit awaiting the next white room vacancy in central Florida. But what matters is that the topics make you stop and think! And after all, this is the “Thinking Bloggers Award.” -- THE GRAY DOG
RONBO
The Freedom Fighter
Danger To The West
The biggest danger to the West is this climate of defeatism, appeasement, and cultural collapse now on display for the Islamists to see. This is the single biggest impetus to Islamist terrorism. We all have to grasp that terrorism is not the biggest threat we face. The biggest threat is the ideology that drives it. It’s not enough to fight terror, vital though that is. The principal battleground is the world of ideas, the battle for hearts and minds. The Islamists see this very clearly. They understand that psychological warfare — the fomenting of paranoia, resentment, hysteria, and demoralization — is their most effective weapon. If they can hijack the human mind to the cause of hatred and lies, they have an army; and if they can bamboozle and demoralize their victims, they will win.
8 comments:
As we used to say, "I Know YOU!" Excellent information on our bit in history. Absolutely loved it. Hope you don't mind, I shared a piece of it and told people if they want to see more, I provided the link.
Bill M
Supervisor
S/S A; S/S K
B Trick
74-77
If you visit there today, you can check to see if the Stasi (East German Secret Police) had a file on you, as they did on many members of Field Station Berlin.
I understand when Germany was re-united in the early 1990s, all the Stasi records were transferred to Andrew's Barracks and placed in the rooms where Company "B" USASA(of which I was a member) lived in the 1970s.
Fascinating stuff. Ronbo.
And a magnificent and charming city, despite the sometimes ugly history.
The Berliners were good friends in those Cold War days to the American troops, especially the older people who could remember what the Red Army did to the city in April and May 1945 - raped, pillaged and looted it back to the Dark Ages.
Thus the U.S. Army, the Royal Army and the French military were the cavalry riding to the rescue of Berlin on July 4, 1945, and ended the Russian Reign of Terror in the Western occupation zones.
I served in Berlin 1976-1977 and was the Field Station Career Counselor, and yes I was a lifer...
My first time at FS Berlin was 1968for training at Site 4, before I went to Vietnam.
We all had a mission ASA all the way 1965-1978.
Bill Graser
I was stationed in Berlin as an ASA M.P. 1969 -1971, housed at Andrews Barracks. Worked shifts at the "Hill", site 4, and site 1. Visited Berlin and Andrews Barracks in 2014.
I was there from 1977 to 1981. I wrote a novel about that experience. Google Citizen Soldier/Citizen Spy by Michael Riles
Video of East Berlin in 1978 - the same time frame that I served in the West Berlin (1974 - 1977) the dialogue is in German, but lots of good scenes of the Russian Sector of the city we at Field Station Berlin never saw due to having security clearances.
VIDEO OF EAST BERLIN 1978
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