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Dortmund
Weather & Time
(click for forecast)
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Welcome!!!
It
would
seem pretty much the consensus, from communications I have had with
those who served and lived the USAFAD life, that, to steal a
cliché,
"it was the best of times, it was the worst of times"...
For
that same reason, it seems that we long from time to time to rediscover
what has
happened to old friends, and the places we served. There are some sites
that offer a means to communicate with old friends or alumni from our
past, but many cost money. Or you may even stumble across some relevant
message boards that often have objectionable or controversial content,
are poisoned with angry political (or other) biases, or are moderated
poorly, thus removing any interest you may have in becoming a member or
getting involved.
With
that in mind, and after some other issues and deliberations spurred the
idea along, it was decided that perhaps a FREE, decent site for people
to
gather, connect, and share pictures and stories from past and present
ought be born.
It
was decided to use the Group HQ level as a foundation, as we all shared
the
same HQ, the same section of Germany, and had very similar duties. The
59th
was just too big to cover, as it also had many units outside of Germany
as well.
Most
of these Units were not always
in the 570th (when the 570th was in Germany)... But don't let that
prevent you from becoming involed
here. If you were EVER a part
of one
of the Units, drop on in!!!
On
these pages are links to each individual unit. Each
"site" has a main page, which will give a cursory overview, and
hopefully some pictures of the Unit buildings,
area, landmarks, hangouts, etc...
At
this time,
the message boards are up and running, as is the photo
gallery for each unit. Eventually
more links to history, articles,
etc... will be added.
Message
board Logo provided pro bono by Tom
Murray, who gave his time in
order to help us out. Much thanks
to Tom...
Tom is also an excellent artist
(painter)- (See his
gallery)
(This
is not an
advertisemtent, but our way of saying thanks, as he donated the work.)
Unit Photo
Galleries-
The way it is set up as of now, you can
register, verify your eamil, then you can upload pictures. Those
pictures go into a waiting area out of view, and once Admin approves
them, they will be posted just as you sent them (unless too large, in
which case they will be reduced first).
This
is done to prevent drive by style "donations" of porn of other
garbage from would be pranksters.
All
you need to do to access the gallery is click on your Units gallery,
and go from there. You do not need to register to view pictures. You will
have to
register to upload
pictures.
Keep
in mind you can
post pictures on the message board- complete
details are on the
message board. You
may also post a picture in
the registry when you register, but try not to use the registry as a
"message board".
During
site contruction and while it grows, some areas may seem a little
sparse or repetitive.. What will be necessary to correct that is, in
part- YOU! Send me pictures to fill out
the site; pass along information you know about what happened during
phase out or after the sites were deactivated, current site useage (or
in the case of the 4th USAFAD, near total demolition). Or if you were there
when the Unit was "young", jump IN!
Even
though the messageboard is up and running, it may take a
while to
fill them
to any appreciable level where it will be more interesting to be
involved in discussions. Don't let that make you shy to be the "first
one". This site is VERY young, (May17, 2005), so somebody
has to be first!
Please
inform others that you know that may be interested of
this site, and perhaps the message board for your unit will grow over
time to some decent traffic- of course, providing more fun for all.
Regarding
the message boards, please read community standards, on the link to the
left.
If
posting on the board is not your bag, please feel free to register, at
least so any long lost friends of yours that might stumble by in the
years to come know how to get in touch with you.
Hope
you enjoy!!!
If
you are aware of any missing data on the history of any Unit's, or have
info on which commo and MP commands were attached to these units,
please email Admin@570thusaag.com
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59th
Ordnance Brigade
570th USAAG
USAFAD, Ordnance Companies
(Note: The weapons
systems illustrated above represent the
most "current" systems which were utilized in the final years prior to
deactivation of the Units. That said, ALL who have a history of any
type with these
Units (i.e., Sergeant, Honest John; 1960's on to '94) are encouraged to
post,
join, etc...)
I
thought this would be one of the easy
parts of
making this website... writing up the histories of each Unit.
As it turns out, the history of each individual unit is as varied as
the pedigrees of a pack full of mutts. The activation dates, acronyms
of, Country's we supported (and which Battallion's we supported OF
those Country's), weapons systems used, and Group HQ's that our units
have been attached to... well, it would fill a couple of pages. Units
moved, changed acronyms, change group HQ's, areas of responsibility-
you get the pitcture.
For example, according to the formerly classified documents that are
linked in the text below, you can see that some of the information
remains correct, but much of it changed over the years:
In
Mar. 1963, the 4th
USAFAD
was in Werl;
the 9th
was in
Villingen; the 15th
was in Villingen; the 22nd
was in Sennelager; the 26th
was in Dortmund; the 27th
Ord. was
in Büren but under the 5th
USAAG; the 69th did not
exist (constituted one month later, activated in Sept. '63); the 570th
was not in theater (at Ft. Sill being prepared to go to
Münster);
and the 583rd
was
in Dahn, under a different
command.
Since most of that historical compilation work has already been done, I
give you the links at the bottom of the Unit links on
the left ("59th Ord Bde History", "59th Acticle"; "570th Arcticle"),
which take you to an
exellent series of pages full of history of our Group and Brigade, and
appeared in the final edition of
the 59th Courier, our Brigade Newpaper.
... interesting reading for those who have historical
appetites.
The first link takes you to a very well written history of the 59th
Ordnance Brigade. The second link covers the 59th's role in NATO. The
final link covers the 570th USAAG.
Additionaly, there is a link (59th & the Cold War) to an except
from a USAREUR press release, which gives a brief but comprehensive
perspective as
to why our mission, units, command and structure was created or
organized.
Thanks to Walter
Elkins for
his exhaustive work on putting that information together on his website.
Be sure to look around the rest of Walter's site as well (scroll to the
top, for the directory), as there is much more information than just
the two story links I have posted here. A list of Det's from the 60's;
list of Det's from the 80's; Special Weapons Units info; and Redstone
Arsenal documents, many of which are VERY interesting, and formerly
classified. It is kind of eery, because some of what is there
is
like peering into the mind of a General, writing to someone
about the goals and
perspectives of our military buildup, including special weapons,
leading
up to the Cold War.
For the most part, the weapons Units histories goes roughly like this:
Activated (or re-activated) in or around '62-'64, as part of NATO's
goal to provide special weapons support to NATO
partners. Weapons systems such as Honest John and Sergeant
were
replaced over time with systems such as Lance. Some Units moved
geographically, changed HQ's, numerical names as well as Army suffixes,
as mentioned above. Different commo and Ordnance units
(including MP) came in and out of the picture over the years,
supporting the weapons detachments.
In the period '91-'93, most of the units were deactivated due to the
"end" of the Cold War.
The
following text is placed here solely for search engine spiders while
the
site is being recognized...
Note- this site contains:
4th USAFAD MESSAGE BOARD!
15th
USAFAD MESSAGE BOARD!
22nd
USAFAD MESSAGE BOARD!
27th
Ordnance Company MESSAGE BOARD!
26th
USAFAD MESSAGE BOARD!
69th
USAFAD MESSAGE BOARD!
583rd
Ordnance Company MESSAGE BOARD!
570th
USAAG MESSAGE BOARD!
4th USAFAD PHOTO
GALLERY!
15th
USAFAD PHOTO GALLERY!
22nd
USAFAD PHOTO GALLERY!
27th
Ordnance Company PHOTO GALLERY!
26th
USAFAD PHOTO GALLERY!
69th
USAFAD PHOTO GALLERY!
583rd
Ordnance Company PHOTO GALLERY!
570th
USAAG PHOTO GALLERY!
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570th
USAAG 
