The Babenhausen Kaserne


           36th Field Artillery Group












36th Field Artillery
Group





Distinctive Unit Insignia

 
Description
A Gold color metal and enamel device 1 3/16 inches (3.02 cm) in height consisting of a shield blazoned: Per chevron Gules and Or.

Symbolism
The “per chevron” division of the shield signifies that the organization has been placed on the active list twice.

Background
The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 36th Field Artillery on 10 September 1934. It was redesignated for the 36th Field Artillery Battalion on 27 November 1944. The insignia was redesignated for the 36th Artillery Regiment on 21 November 1958. It was redesignated for the 36th Field Artillery Regiment on 1 September 1971.




Coat Of Arms
 
Blazon
Shield
Per chevron Gules and Or.

Crest
On a wreath of the colors Or and Gules, two sprays of long leaf Southern pine in saltire Proper.

Motto
IN ORDER.

Symbolism
Shield
The “per chevron” division of the shield signifies that the organization has been placed on the active list twice.

Crest
The crest of long leaf pine denotes the allocation of the regiment.

Background
The coat of arms was originally approved for the 36th Field Artillery on 10 September 1934. It was redesignated for the 36th Field Artillery Battalion on 27 November 1944. The insignia was redesignated for the 36th Artillery Regiment on 21 November 1958. It was redesignated for the 36th Field Artillery Regiment on 1 September 1971.







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The 36th FA Yearbook of 1954








1954






36th Field Artillery
 Group

(original writing from 1952-53)

_________________________



Reactivation in Germany

As a result of a Department of the Army action taken on 6 February 1951, implemented by Seventh Army on 21 March, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 36th Field Artillery Group, was reactivated on 1 April 1951 at Sonthofen, Germany. Col Paul R. Weyrauch, commander of the concurrently disbanded 7732 Field Artillery Group (US Constabulary), became the new group commander.

Personnel for the new group were drawn from the 7732 Group; the 70th, 74th, 517th and 519th Field Artillery Battalions the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment; and the 2nd Recoiless Rifle Group. Equipment for the battery was drawn from the disbanded headquarters and headquarters battery and the 2nd Recoiless Rifle Group, with additional supplies from EUCOM stocks.

Upon activation, the Group was assigned to Seventh Army and remains so assigned at this writing. Following movement to its present home station at Babenhausen, Germany, on 16 May 1951, the Group was attached to 1st Constabulary Brigade, but was relieved from its attachment on 1 July. It was attached to V Corps on 10 September 1951 and on Corps order was further attached to V Corps Artillery. This attachment is still in effect at this time.


Original Battalions Attached

As of 1 April 1951, this Group had four battalions attached, with stations in Germany, as follows:
  • 70th Field Artillery Battalion, Füssen
  • 74th Field Artillery Battalion, Landshut
  • 517th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, Wetzlar
  • 519th Field Artillery Battalion, Babenhausen

Changes

Effective 16 May 1951, the 70th and 74th FA Battalions were relieved from attachment to this headquarters and shortly thereafter, the 443rd Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion (AW)(SP), located at Mainz, was attached to the Group. On 6 August 1951, the 18th Field Artillery Battalion and the 631st Armored Field Artillery Battalion, with stations at Babenhausen and Hammelburg, respectively, came under group attachment, and on 25 November, the Group lost the attached AAA battalion.

Additional attachments to this headquarters during 1952 raised to six the total number of battalions attached to the Group. On 12 March 1952, the 597th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, with ultimate home station at Hanau, was attached. At about the same time, the 593rd Field Artillery Battalion, stationed at Nellingen, joined this headquarters. The 593rd moved to its permanent home station at Babenhausen on 30 July, placing three battalions in the same kaserne with Group headquarters.

Current Battalions Attached

The latest change made was that, effective 23 January 1953, the 631st Armd FA Bn was detached from the 36th Group
 (it was subsequently attached to the 142nd FA Group) and was replaced by the 594th Field Artillery Battalion, stationed at Sandhofen (Mannheim).


As of this writing, therefore, 36th FA Group has the following attached units, with stations as shown:
  • 18th Field Artillery Battalion, Babenhausen
  • 517th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, Büdingen
  • 519th Field Artillery Battalion, Babenhausen
  • 593rd Field Artillery Battalion, Babenhausen
  • 594th Field Artillery Battalion, Sandhofen
  • 596th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, Hanau

Commanding Officer

Following the departure of Col Paul R. Weyrauch, Lt Col Cornelius A. Murphy assumed temporary command of the Group on 14 April 1952. Seven days later command was assumed by Col Robert N. Tyson who retains command at the present time.

Training

In training exercises conducted in the US Zone of Germany during the past few years, the 36th Field Artillery Group has acquired am excellent reputation. The high professional standards of training and operation evidenced by the group and its attached units has drawn many favorable comments from Senior Commanders. It appears that the group motto, "In Order" has guided the unit in its actions and that it is the goal of all personnel to maintain all things "in order" at all times.


Kaserne

By coincidence, the 36th FA Group occupies a kaserne once utilized by a unit of the German Army's 36th Field Artillery Regiment. Actually, Babenhausen Kaserne, home of the 36th, is more than 50 years old and has had a varied role in the history of Germany and Europe. Since its completion in 1901, it has been, progressively, an army hospital, a veterinary hospital, a French military post, a German police unit, civilian living quarters, a riding and driving school, a prisoner of war center and a DP center.

Following the designation of this Kaserne as a semi-permanent US military post, complete reconstruction of the buildings and grounds was begun. When the last dependents' housing is completed in January 1955, a total of 264 families, approximately 700 dependents, will be housed in Babenhausen.










The history of the

36TH
FIELD ARTILLERY GROUP

1918-1954

(original writing from the 36th FA Yearbook 1954)
____________________________




"InOrder" is the motto of the 36th Field Artillery Group. "In Order" has been its history, and "In Order" is its goal for the future.
Officially, the present military lineage of the 36th Field Artillery Group extends back to the 36th Field Artillery Regiment which was organized in 1918. However, some linear association is thought to exist with a 36th Field Artillery (Regiment) that was active in the Philippine Insurrection at the turn of the century. A blood-stained guidon once belonging to Battery F, 36th Field Artillery, plus other now-destroyed pictorial evidence, gives indication of some relation with this older organization.
The 36th Field Artillery Regiment was constituted by the War Department on 5 July 1918 as a National Army Unit assigned to the 12th Division. On 7 August 1918, at Camp McClellan, Alabama, it was officially organized as a 155mm howitzer regiment. The regiment remained at Camp McClellan for the balance of World War I and was demobilized at that station on 8 February 1919.
More than ten years later, on 22 July 1929, the War Department reconstituted the 36th Field Artillery Regiment on the inactive list of Regular Army units. For all intents and purposes it remained a fully inactive unit for more than four years. It became partially active on 1 October 1933, when the Second Battalion, Fifth Field Artillery Regiment, was inactivated and its personnel were transferred to the concurrently activated Second Battalion of the 36th Field Artillery. This event took place at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, which was to be the home of the battalion for most of the following decade.
Next significant step for the 36th was the choice of coat of arms, approved by the Office of the Quartermaster General on 18 April 1935, and the approval of the motto, "In Order."
On 29 September 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, the War Department decided to expand the existing Second Battalion of the 36th Field Artillery into a full regiment. Accordingly, this decision was implemented on 10 October 1939 when Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 36th Field Artillery Regiment, was activated at Fort Bragg.
By the end of 1939, the Regiment had reached full strength and was composed of a headquarters and headquarters battery and three battalions of two firing batteries each. By mid-summer of 1941, it had become the first U.S. Army field artillery regiment to be equipped with the 155mm gun and had been reorganized into two battalions of three batteries each.
On activation the 36th became the gun regiment of the 13th Field Artillery Brigade, then stationed at Fort Bragg. The 13th Field Artillery Brigade was, in turn, the Corps Artillery Brigade for the I Army Corps, the headquarters of which was located at Columbia, South Carolina.
Entering the early stages of the Allied offensive against the Axis, the regiment took part in the Tunisian Campaign, following which it saw action with the Seventh United States Army on Sicily. The Regiment was subsequently active in the Naples-Foggia and Rome-Arno Campaigns under the Fifth United States Army in Italy.
On 5 March 1944, before the capture of Rome, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery of the 36th were redesignated Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 36th Field Artillery Group, while the battalions organic to the Regiment were redesignated as separate field artillery battalions.
Back under Seventh Army, the Group participated in the assault landings in Southern France, earning an arrowhead for the streamer awarded for that campaign. Swinging into Germany, the Group subsequently was active in the Rhineland and Central Europe Campaigns.
For its action in support of the engagements at Belfort and Alsace, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery of the Group received the French Croix de Guerre, with palm. Battle honors were also awarded the Group for the following campaigns: Tunisia, Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Southern France, Rhineland, Central Europe.
After serving for a short time with the Army of Occupation in Germany, the unit was returned to the United States where it was inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, on 1 April 1946.
The 36th Field Artillery Group claims another post-war unit as a more immediate parent unit in the group's present active life. This unit was the 7732 Field Artillery Group, a European Command Table of Distribution organization, which was formed at Sonthofen, Germany, on 20 July 1948. Assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Constabulary, this unit was at one time the only field artillery group active in Europe and it remained in existence under Constabulary control and later under Seventh United States Army after the latter's reactivation in November 1950. On 1 April 1951, the unit was disbanded.
As a result of a Department of the Army action taken on 6 February 1951, implemented by Seventh Army on 21 March, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 36th Field Artillery Group, was reactivated on 1 April 1951 at Sonthofen, Germany.
On activation the Group was assigned to Seventh Army and remains so at this time. Following movement to its present home station at Babenhausen, Germany, on 16 May 1951, the Group was attached to First Constabulary Brigade but was relieved from this attachment on 1 July. It was attached to V Corps on 10 September 1951 and on Corps order was further attached to V Corps Artillery. This attachment is still in effect at this time.

As of June 1954, the 36th Field Artillery Group has the following attached units, with stations as shown:

18th Field Artillery Battalion Babenhausen
517th Armored Field Artillery Battalion Büdingen
519th Field Artillery Battalion Babenhausen
593rd Field Artillery Battalion Babenhausen
594th Field Artillery Battalion Giessen
597th Armored Field Artillery Battalion Hanau


In training exercises conducted in the U.S. Zone of Germany during the past few years, the 36th Field Artillery Group has acquired an excellent reputation. The high professional standards of training and operation evidenced by the group and its attached units has drawn many favorable comments from senior commanders. By coincidence the 36th Field Artillery Group occupies a Kaserne once utilized by a unit of the German Army's 36th Field Artillery Regiment. Actually, Babenhausen Kaserne, home of the 36th, is more than fifty years old and has had a varied role in the history of Germany and Europe.

Since its completion in 1901, it has been, progressively, an army hospital, a veterinary hospital, a French military post, a German police unit, civilian living quarters, a riding and driving school, Storm Trooper billets, a remount point, a prisoner of war center and a DP center. Following the designation of this kaserne as a semi-permanent U.S. military post, complete reconstruction of the buildings and grounds was begun. When the last of the dependents' housing is completed in January 1955, a total of 264 families, approximately 700 dependents, will be housed in Babenhausen.


Present commanding officer of the 36th is Colonel William R. Calhoun, who assumed command on 20 August 1953.

________________________________________

source: 36th FA GP Yearbook 1954






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source: 36th FA GP Yearbook 1954


















source: 36th FA GP Yearbook 1954


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©Maryann Sabol Crowther



___________________________















1962

___________________________













 





                                  
Chaplain MAJ William J. Mayer

Also known as
 "The Bishop of Babenhausen"




©1962,2013 Stars and Stripes

Artical in the Stars & Stripes
   April 19th 1962

Click HERE to read Article
 


           















Special thanks to

Fred Terry
HHB 36th Arty Gp
1962-1965






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All photos  © Walt Leon



36th Field Artillery HQ



Ron Ashby, Bob Butterly and ? with HQ-6,
the Colonel’s field van.




A Radio truck parked outside the Kaserne
The House on the left side was the Babenhausen Forestry Building, the house on the right was later a Night Club.


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36th Field Artillery
Group

1954



 
18th Field Artillery Battalion
 Babenhausen

517th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
 Büdingen
519th Field Artillery Battalion
 Babenhausen

593rd Field Artillery Battalion
 Babenhausen

594th Field Artillery Battalion
 Giessen

597th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
 Hanau
465th Field Artillery Battalion
 Darmstadt

816th Field Artillery Battalion
 Darmstadt



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36th Field Artillery
Group

1958




1st Msl Bn, 32nd FA (HJ)
 Hanau
62nd AAA Bn(AW)(SP)
 Käfertal
216th FA Bn (280mm)
Darmstadt
288th AFA Bn
(155mm How)(SP)
Hanau 
531st FA Msl Bn (Cpl)
Babenhausen
546th FA Bn (155mm How)(T)
 Babenhausen

553rd FA Bn (8in How)(T)
 Darmstadt


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36th Field Artillery
Group

1968




2nd Bn, 5th FA (175mm)
 Babenhausen

4th Bn, 18th FA (155mm)
Hanau
1st Bn, 32nd FA (HJ)
Hanau
2nd Bn, 75th FA (8in)
Hanau
5th Bn, 77th FA (SGT)
 Babenhausen

3rd Bn, 80th FA (SGT)
Darmstadt
B Btry, 1st TA Bn, 26th FA
 Hanau
C Btry, 1st TA Bn, 26th FA
 Darmstadt



 On 15 March 1972,
 the 36th Field Artillery Group was in-activated
and was replaced by the 41st Field Artillery Group





___________________________





MG Louis W. Prentiss Jr.
519th FA
Battery Officer
1950 - 1952
__________

36th FA GP
Group S-2
1952 - 1953


(click here to read Biography)




To read Chapter Six of "Memories of a Life in the Army" written by
MG Louis W. Prentiss Jr.


Please click here




___________________________



Wayne Dixon  ©2010

HQ-HQ Battery
36th Field Artillery Group
Babenhausen

1952


___________________________


©Fred Terry

Headquarters Battery 36th Field Artillery Group
-August 1964-

Click here to SUPERSIZE



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©Albert E Hunter
 
Headquarters Battery 36th Field Artillery Group
-August 1964-



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36th Field Artillery
Group






The
Field Grade Officers






-1964-


(Click on the Name to see Picture)


COL Albert E. Hunter

Gp Commander

MAJ Joe R. McCray

Group S-1 Officer

MAJ Francis R. Cipolla

Group S-3 Officer

CPT Don L. Walton

Group S-2 Officer

CPT Stanley W. Brooks
Group S-4 Officer

Lt William L. MacMurdy Jr.

Asst. S-2 Officer

CPT Lewis E. Vermillion

Asst. S-3 Officer

CPT Bernard D. Campbell
Hq Btry Co

CPT Eddie D. Monroe
Aviation Officer

CPT Franklin D. Scott

RW Aviator

CPT Henry D. C. Fuller

RW Aviator

CW2 Alfred R. Hughes
Personnel Officer

CW2 Kitt C. Roberts Jr.

Motor Officer

CPT Maurice H. Schrepel

Club Custodian

CPT Sollen C. Wilson Jr.

Group Commo Officer

CPT Julian J. Bundy

Ln Officer

CW4 Edward H. Cullenbeine

Ln Officer

CPT George Rowen
G-1 V Corps







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Dining In Ceremony


front row L to R:
MJR Morrison, LTC Buchanan
rear row L to R:
LTC Sandrock, Col Machette, LTG C.Abrams, BG, Norris, COL.Hunter, LTC Lewis
June, 1964





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