Kaserne is a loanword taken from the German word Kaserne (plural: Kasernen), which means "barracks". It is the typical term used when naming the garrison location for American and Canadian forces stationed in Germany. American forces were also sometimes housed in installations simply referred to as "barracks", such as Ray Barracks in Friedberg.
Ayers Kaserne, 1985. Note motorpools with tanks, APCs and artillery
American forces within a kaserne could range in size anywhere from company size, with a few hundred troops and equipment, to brigade level formation with supporting units, or approximately three to five thousand troops and their equipment. The largest single unit combat force in Germany, the First Brigade of the U.S. 3rd Armored Division was housed at Ayers Kaserne, Kirch-Göns, Germany, also known as "The Rock". While several dozen kasernes with NATO forces were once spread across the American sector of Germany, after the end of the Cold War, many have since closed, and some have been demolished.
Most army posts within the United States house units and/or multiple units of a much larger size than one would find in a kaserne. These installations are typically called "forts", such as Fort Knox, Fort Campbell, Fort Dix etc. National Guard and Reserve installations, though sometimes designated as "forts", are more often referred to as "camps".
By contrast, British Forces in Germany used the term 'barracks' for locations containing one or a small number of units. For larger bases with several units, 'station' (e.g. Hohne Station) or 'complex' (e.g. Rheindahlen Military Complex) was used; 'garrison' referred to a number of barracks within the same general geographical area that formed the home for a formation such as a brigade.
Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor, Ft. Bliss has an area of about 1,700 square miles (4,400 km2); it is the largest installation in FORSCOM and second-largest in the Army overall. The portion of the post located in El Paso County, Texas, is a census-designated place with a population of 8,591 as of the time of the 2010 census. Fort Bliss provides the largest contiguous tract of restricted airspace in the Continental United States, used for missile and artillery training and testing, and at 992,000 acres boasts the largest maneuver area. The garrison's land area is accounted at 1.12 million acres, ranging to the boundaries of the Lincoln National Forest and White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Fort Bliss also includes the Castner Range National Monument.
Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Geary and Riley counties. The portion of the fort that contains housing development is part of the Fort Riley census-designated place, with a residential population of 7,761 as of the 2010 census. The fort has a daytime population of nearly 25,000. The ZIP Code is 66442.
V Corps, formerly known as the Fifth Corps, is a regular corps of the United States Army headquartered at Fort Knox, Kentucky and Camp Kościuszko, Poland.
The 2nd Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army. The division played important roles during World War II in the invasions of Germany, North Africa, and Sicily and in the liberation of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. During the Cold War, the division was primarily based at Fort Hood, Texas, and had a reinforced brigade forward stationed in Garlstedt, West Germany. After participation in the Persian Gulf War, the division was inactivated in 1995.
The 3rd Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army. Unofficially nicknamed the "Third Herd", the division was first activated in 1941 and was active in the European Theater of World War II. The division was stationed in West Germany for much of the Cold War and also participated in the Persian Gulf War. On 17 January 1992, still in Germany, the division ceased operations. In October 1992, it was formally inactivated as part of a general drawing down of U.S. military forces at the end of the Cold War.
Coleman Kaserne was a United States Army base located in the German city of Gelnhausen, located in the state of Hessen. Coleman Kaserne should not be confused with the U.S. Army "Coleman Barracks" which is located in Mannheim. Kaserne is a German word for barracks.
The 4th Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. It has served in the United States Armed Forces for approximately 200 years.
The 37th Armor is an armor (tank) regiment of the United States Army. It is often remembered as the successor to the 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division, commanded by then Lieutenant Colonel Creighton Abrams during World War II.
The Berlin Brigade was a US Army brigade-sized garrison based in West Berlin during the Cold War. After the end of World War II, under the conditions of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, the Allied forces occupied West Berlin. This occupation lasted throughout the Cold War. The French Army also had units in Berlin, called French Forces in Berlin and the British Army's unit in Berlin was the Berlin Infantry Brigade.
Lucius D. Clay Kaserne, commonly known as Clay Kaserne, formerly known as Wiesbaden Air Base and later as Wiesbaden Army Airfield, is an installation of the United States Army in Hesse, Germany. The kaserne is located within Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. Named for General Lucius D. Clay, it is the home of the Army's 2d Theater Signal Brigade, 66th Military Intelligence Brigade and is the headquarters of the U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF).
Patch Barracks is a U.S. military installation in Stuttgart, Germany. It is named after U.S. Army General Alexander M. Patch (1889–1945).
Ray Barracks was a United States Army installation in Friedberg, Germany until it was closed by the U.S. government in 2007 and returned to the German government. Located in the southern part of the city near the industrial area, the barracks had numerous facilities. The barracks included a firing range for personal weapons qualification, an Urban warfare training site, vehicle maintenance facilities and various recreation facilities. After World War II the barracks were named after First Lieutenant Bernard J. Ray, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest. Ray sacrificed himself to destroy a wire obstacle that was blocking his unit's path. The base was closed in August 2007.
Taylor Barracks is a former military installation in the Vogelstang suburb of Mannheim, Germany, operated and administrated by the United States Army, Europe, USAREUR. In Dec 2010 USAREUR announced that the installation was handed back to the German government.
The Bayern-Kaserne is a military facility in Munich, Germany, originally named General-Wever-Kaserne. The facility was constructed between 1936 and 1938. After World War II it was renamed by the United States forces to Henry Kaserne in honor of Private Robert T. Henry. When it was transferred to the German Bundeswehr, it was renamed once more in honor of General Walther Wever on 9 October 1969.
Storck Barracks/Illesheim Kaserne is a United States Army facility adjacent to Illesheim, Germany, located about 15 miles northwest of Ansbach (Bavaria), about 240 miles south-southwest of Berlin.
Warner Barracks was a United States Army military base in the city of Bamberg, Bavaria, southern Germany. The base had been occupied by U.S. forces since the end of World War II. Elements of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division and 45th Infantry Division entered the town on 13 and 14 April 1945. But before the war, this military site had a colorful history that goes hand-in-hand with Bamberg's history, which began in the 10th century. Bamberg was originally a fort on a hill. The view enabled soldiers of the time to watch the city and guard it against possible attacks. In 973, the Duke of Bavaria gained control of the fort. The city and fort fell under Swedish Protestants' control during the Thirty Years War when the Swedes engulfed the city and took it forcibly in 1634.
Panzer Kaserne, is a U.S. military installation in Böblingen, Germany, part of U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart. The post is administered by U.S. Army Installation Management Command-Europe (IMCOM-Europe), a legacy from its use as an Army installation since just after World War II. Panzer also hosts the headquarters of U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe & Africa (MARFOREURAF) and various Special Operations units of the Army and Navy supporting EUCOM and AFRICOM. There is also a different Panzer Kaserne in Kaiserslautern, Germany
Ayers Kaserne at Kirch-Göns, Germany was a U.S. Army installation built in 1952 as part of the major construction efforts under the U.S. Army troop augmentation program of the early 1950s, occupied by the 22nd Regimental Combat Team of the Fourth infantry Division until May, 1956, and by the Third U.S. Armored Division in 1956 and then home to Combat Command A, 3rd Armored Division was stationed at Ayers Kaserne beginning 12 May 1956. The troops arrived following an 11-hour train ride from the port of Bremerhaven.
United States Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) is an Army Service Component Command (ASCC) /Theater Army responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) area of responsibility.
Bergen-Hohne Garrison was a major British garrison in the post-Cold War period, with facilities located close to Bergen at Lager Hohne, at Lager Oerbke near Fallingbostel and at Celle in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was home to 7th Armoured Brigade and most of its subordinate units. It formed a major part of British Forces Germany.
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