Gablingen Kaserne is a former military facility in

Gablingen Gablingen is a municipality in the district of Augsburg in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and ...

near

Augsburg, Germany Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

, which was closed in 1998. Its primary use was signals intelligence collection during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

History

Part of Gablingen Kaserne was constructed prior to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

for use by the Royal Bavarian Air Force. The airfield was closed in 1918 and flight activities were prohibited in 1919 as a result of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

.USAAF Advance Landing Ground R-77 Gablingen, Germany
/ref> Reopened in 1936 as a

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

airfield, Gablingen was home to three Luftwaffe flying schools: Flugzeugführerschule A5, Nachtjadgschule 1, and Flugzeugführerschule C7. In addition, the entire facility was enlarged as one of the two German Air Bases in the

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

area, the other one being Lechfeld Airbase. The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
/ref> One of the most interesting aspects of the history of Gablingen is the complex tunnel system beneath the old airdrome, which may have been used to conceal the existence of a

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in partic ...

test facility located there prior to, and during, the Second World War. The Messerschmitt plant used laborers from the

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

. Messerschmitt's rocket-powered

Messerschmitt Me 163 The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet is a rocket-powered interceptor aircraft primarily designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt. It is the only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft in history as well as th ...

were tested at this facility as early as 1941. American forces seized the base almost unopposed on 1 May 1945 and the facility was quickly secured. IX Engineer Commandbr>
engineers from th
833rd Aviation Engineer Battalion
moved into the facility and designated the base as

Advanced Landing Ground Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) were temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II during the liberation of Europe. They were built in the UK prior to the invasion and thereafter in northwest Europe from 6 June 19 ...

"R-77", although no combat unit moved to the airfield until 15 May, after the German Capitulation to perform occupation duty. Renamed as Army Airfield Station Gablingen, several USAAF groups were assigned to the airfield until 1 July 1946, when the facility was turned over to the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

.Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.

U.S. Army use

Gablingen was used by the U.S. Army as a barracks, housing various elements of the different divisions stationed in the Augsburg area, as well as

USASA Field Station Augsburg United States Army Security Agency (USASA) Field Station Augsburg was the site of a Wullenweber AN/FLR-9 (V8) radio direction finder, established during the Cold War. Field Station Augsburg was located on Gablingen Kaserne, near the village of Ga ...

, a

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...

facility. Around 1970, the 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division moved to Goeppingen. The

AN/FLR-9 The AN/FLR-9 is a type of very large circular "Wullenweber" antenna array, built at eight locations during the cold war for HF/DF direction finding of high priority targets. The worldwide network, known collectively as "Iron Horse", could locate H ...

circular "Wullenweber" antenna array, was built at many locations during the cold war for HF/DF direction finding of high priority targets. The worldwide network, known collectively as "Iron Horse", could quickly and accurately locate an HF communications from almost anywhere on the planet. Today, advances in technology have made the AN/FLR-9 obsolete. The kaserne was closed in 1998.

References

{{Reflist Luftwaffe bases Barracks of the United States Army in Germany Military installations closed in 1998