On the Frontlines of the Cold War: Voices of the Veterans Vol. II

SrA D. Fair, United States Air Force

Air Force Security Police

Memmingen, West Germany /Barksdale Air Force Base, United States

My interest in serving the United States as a member of its armed forces began when I forged a bond with a childhood friend whose family had moved to the United States from England. His parents were older than most parents in our community who had children my age. One of the things that stood out the most to me was that his parents had grown up through the German Blitz and the Battle of Britain during the Second World War and hearing their stories of their wartime experiences and descriptions of the German Luftwaffe aircraft they saw soon inspired me to one day join the United States Air Force with hopes of one day being assigned to Germany. With German ancestry in my family background it would be an interesting experience to witness my cultural heritage first hand and soon I became determined to make my dream a reality.

Nothing could prepare me for the experiences that I had while serving in the United States Air Force. My enlistment took me not only to Germany but also warranted me inclusion into a small unit independent of the larger Army or Air Force organizations which allowed for greater immersion into the German culture. The unit had a manpower strength of roughly 120 personnel, dependents included and placed us in a Bavarian community away from the areas with greater American presence.

By the time I came of enlistment age I was more than ready to go. I had grown up in a small town in Ohio which was mostly rural and afforded not much else beyond the scope of agricultural work. I had about a year’s worth of college under my belt, but coming from a relatively low income family I saw military service as a way of improving my education while learning an occupational skill. My dream to join the United States Air Force officially became a reality when I formally enlisted in July of 1983. Due to the amount of people wanting to join the Air Force at this time, my shipping off to basic training was postponed until 1984 when I was sent from Cincinnati, Ohio to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Following the completion of basic training, I was awarded my first stripe and the rank of Airman partially because of my previous college. After basic training, I progressed on to Tech School where I went to the Air Force Security Police Academy also located at Lackland. As the Air Force is not a primarily land focused combat organization, the Security Police in the Air Force fulfill multiple duties. One of the best ways to describe the Security Police is as a combination of Military Police, Security and Infantry forces. Some of the training involved included guarding sensitive areas such as silos housing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and undertaking the appropriate measures necessary to ensure their safeguarding. One of the primary missions of the Air Force Security Police is defending airbases in the event of attack as well as guarding aircraft, components and munitions. 

Soon I came under orders to report to West Germany. With the risks associated with performing security assignments in Germany, all Security Forces had to participate in the Air Base Ground Defense or ABGD course.  The Air Base Ground Defense course was essentially a training course in infantry tactics which provided familiarity with a wide variety of weaponry ranging from individual small arms such as the M-16 rifle to crew served weaponry such as the M-60 machine gun. This portion of my training took my fellow Security Policemen and myself from Lackland Air Force Base, to Camp Bullis part of the Army’s Fort Sam Houston installation also in San Antonio.  Going from an Air Force facility such as Lackland to an Army facility such as Camp Bullis provided a bit of a culture shock. Almost overnight we went from having nice dormitories to plywood huts on slabs in the middle of Texas. We went from running a mile and a half in basic, to two miles in the Police Academy to having to run in combat boots during the ABGD course. Running was always the most difficult part of physical training for me and I disliked it. Being from Ohio, I was not prepared for blistering Texas heat of summer. Another part of our training included Nuclear, Biological & Chemical Warfare Training often abbreviated as NBC. This trained us in how to  prepare and respond to a potential situation if the Soviets or the Warsaw Pact employed chemical or nuclear weapons against us. This training continued yearly throughout the duration of my enlistment and we I can’t recall exactly how many times we were gassed. As part of this training we became familiar with not only our individual gas masks but also the individual ChemSuit along with rubber gloves and boots.

After completion of the ABGD Course, I briefly returned home to Ohio before shipping out to West Germany. My destination was Memmingen, a small town in the Swabia region of Bavaria. I would arrive here in December of 1984 where I was assigned to the 7261 MUNSS Munitions Support Squadron. This was a small unit comprised of security, munitions maintainers and support personnel who were assigned to support the West German Luftwaffe’s Jagdbombergeschwader 34 or ‘34^th Fighter Bomber Wing’. The JaBoG 34, was a unit of the West German Air Force assigned under the 4^th Allied Tactical Air Force or 4 ATAF responsible for the defense of the southern approaches into West Germany against Soviet or Warsaw Pact offensive operations. Our unit and the Germans forged a close bond and many of those friendships remain intact even up to this day. The 7261’s commanding officer was a Lieutenant Colonel named Worthen and my Chief of Security Police was a Captain named Rivera. Daily, we carried M-16 rifles complete with a two day supply of ammunition, a canteen, gas mask, ballistic resistant flak jacket and a steel helmet for personal protection.  Due to the JaBoG’s status as being a quick reaction force and front line fighter unit, the upmost measures for facility security were in place and German K-9 units were on hand to further augment the already strict security measures.

By September of 1985, I was training to become an entry controller for our facility, but on the final day of training I broke my leg when I deployed from a Mercedes Benz two ton truck we used for transportation around the base. The tailgate on these vehicles are very high and with my rifle in one hand and kit bag in the other I leapt from the vehicle and landed on the cement curb causing great damage to my ankle and left leg. By this time I had received a promotion to the rank of Airman First Class, and now with my injury I was temporarily assigned to assist the NCOIC Law Enforcement. Intended to be a temporary assignment while I recovered from my injury, it became permanent and I became accustomed to filling out police reports, vehicle registration, as well as processing and issuing ID cards along with other administrative duties. When I finally recovered from my injury, I returned to pulling sentry duties across the installation. These duties would often prove uneventful with long hours spent with no personal contact however occasionally the monotony was broken by the sound of alert sirens and the sight of pilots rushing for their aircraft. This would be such a thrill with a rush of adrenaline because it was always unknown whether or not it was just another drill or the pilots were actually launching on a real time mission.

The facilities at Memmingen had been constructed in 1937 and were utilized by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. One of the buildings in which I worked was one of the original structures used by the Germans during World War II and many times I often found myself wondering who had been here and used my office during the years of the Third Reich.  What happened to them? Had they survived the war? I never received these answers but it still proved interesting to think about none the less.

Our West German unit’s insignia consisted primarily of blue and white, the colors of Bavaria and incorporated two planes against a blue background over the Alps and the NATO symbol in the upper left corner of the insignia. Two of the subordinate squadrons utilized World War II era insignia with the first squadron utilizing the ‘Grunherz’ emblem reflecting their title ‘Green Hearts’ and the second squadron utilizing the Edelweiss insignia as their emblem.

Training exercises were a regular occurrence during the duration of my assignment in Germany. These exercises varied in scope and scenario ranging from small scale exercises to the larger NATO exercises which included the REFORGER exercises. West German and Canadian armed forces fought mock battles on the airfield and on several occasions friendly aircraft from other NATO nations would fly low level mock air attacks on the base facilities. I was confident in our Luftwaffe partner’s ability to fight a coordinated effort alongside us. At the time, Germany was a warzone without being exposed to an exchange of gunfire. Battle tanks and artillery moved freely through towns and villages and combat aircraft were constantly flying in training scenarios to prepare for conducting live combat operations in the event of war in all weather scenarios to maintain the upmost state of combat readiness. One of the things I’ll never forget is the sounds of working at Memmingen, between the roar of the F-104G Starfighters taking off and landing day and night and on occasions ground crews test firing the Starfighter’s 20mm Vulcan cannon you tend to get used to the noise of daily operations.

There was always a looming threat for potential terrorist encounters particularly during that time. The Baader-Meinhof Gang and Red Army Faction amongst other groups were a threat we took very seriously in the mid 1980s. We were always receiving or conducting detailed briefings on terrorist activities in the region and we were constantly on the lookout for them within the vicinity of our facilities. The local German Polizei and the Air Force OSI services worked hand in hand to ensure we had the latest detailed reports on the groups and any potential threat. Sometimes I would work as a liaison between our unit and our Luftwaffe counterparts. I was on duty the night of 15 April 1986, when President Ronald Reagan authorized Operation El Dorado Canyon which was a series of strikes against targets in Libya.  The event came as surprise when our shifts that usually were eight hours were extended to twelve hours. The heightened state of alert caused much excitement and we were never quite sure of what was exactly going on or the cause behind some of the things we were doing but we were ready none the less. The going joke was that even though we were ready to go to war at a moment’s notice we would go to neutral Switzerland which was only some forty miles away.

On one occasion before we were to start our normal shifts, we learned from an outgoing flight coming off guard duty that one of the German tower sentries had attempted to commit suicide. In the United States, a flight is organized roughly into 100 men but due to the small size of our unit in Germany, a flight for us was roughly about ten men. An investigation was launched into the incident and it became aware that the suspect had suffered a particularly bad breakup with his girlfriend and became fixated on the idea of taking his own life. Standing guard in what was known as a mini-tower, a small two man observation post roughly six feet above the ground the sentry had taken his issued G3 rifle and placed the barrel to his stomach and pulled the trigger. By the time that I had come up for duty, the sentry had already been removed however things got worse when during my shift, several VIPs came to visit and viewed the mess left in the tower. The sentry survived his wounds but his fate following the incident is uncertain.

In April of 1986, the nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl facility in Ukraine went into meltdown and spewed radioactive clouds across Europe. We were issued strict orders not to go outside and no one was certain what would happen in the wake of such a disaster. Memmingen is located about 1,000 miles from Chernobyl but even at this distance, roughly 40 to 50% of Europe would be contaminated by fallout from the Chernobyl disaster. Although, I have had follow up checkups and appear to be healthy and unaffected, several members of the 7261 MUNSS have developed signs of exposure to radioactive materials which include loss of enamel in teeth and degenerative disk development in the spine, as well as having children with birth defects and in others sterility.  Thyroid cancer is another potential concern.  Because it is impossible to prove that Chernobyl is the cause, it is not considered a harmful source of radiation by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Due to the amount of radioactive fallout absorbed into the water and soil, were told not to eat foods grown locally such as vegetables or meats.

Life in Memmingen became routine but at times there were groups that posed problems for us. One of these groups was of course members of the United States Army. During REFORGER, several of them became intoxicated and caused some problems but never anything too serious that we could not handle. The second group, were usually Jaguar pilots from the British Royal Air Force. They would cause random mischief and in one instance even stole a restricted area warning sign from one of the perimeter fences.

My time in Germany came to an end in December 1986 when I was reassigned to Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana. This would be my final duty station where I would end my enlistment.

When I arrived at Barksdale, I was assigned under the US Air Force’s Strategic Air Command where I performed essentially the same duties I had in Germany at the airbase in Louisiana. I went from the real feel of Germany, to the simulated atmosphere of stateside duty assignments. The massive force of Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers was kept on a constant state of readiness, capable of being deployed 24-7, 365. The assignment to Barksdale did not share the same appeal as the assignment to Memmingen and I do not share the same strength of bond with service members from the SAC assignment that I do with members from the Germany assignment. Like Germany however, there were often readiness exercises conducted and sirens would sound often to the response of crews rushing to their aircraft and preparing to deploy in response to attack anywhere in the world. I would finish my Air Force enlistment at the rank of Senior Airman, and even though I was urged to attend the Air Force Non Commissioned Officer’s Academy I chose not to reenlist.

On 17 September 1987, tragedy struck when SGT. Joseph M. Burgio Sr. was killed when his Boeing KC-10 Stratotanker exploded on the ground at Barksdale. Three dozen others were injured in the disaster and following an investigation it was learned that a fuel leak caused the fatal explosion. While offloading fuel from the tanker, a generator unit ignited the fumes of the fuel and caused the explosion. I became aware of the disaster when one of my fellow service members SGT. Gray; stated that something was on fire. I turned to see a large black cloud of smoke billowing into the sky. I turned in time to see one of the largest explosions I’d ever witnessed echo through the area in a series of three blasts. The first explosion blew apart the center section of the plane, the second blew apart the nose and the final blast occurred when the wings ruptured.

Since Barksdale is the home of the Eighth Air Force headquarters, we took up defensive positions and only after it became apparent that this was an accident and not an attack did we stand down. While the investigation was carried out on the accident, I pulled security over the wreck many times.

By the time my Air Force enlistment concluded, I was a Senior Airman and I had been awarded the Air Force Training Ribbon, Overseas Long Tour Ribbon, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, as well as the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. Of particular significance to me were letters of service and a plaque presented to me for my service in the 7261 MUNSS at Memmingen. I will never forget the many American, German, and other European allies and friends I served with throughout the duration of my enlistment and I definitely have no regrets about my service during the Cold War. 

On the Frontlines of the Cold War: Voices of the Veterans Vol. I

“From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remember'd;

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother” – Henry V, William Shakespeare 1598

The Cold War was an intense moment in world history where at the strike of a match the fragile peace could be engulfed in a sea of flames. Although the Cold War is referred to as a relative period of uneasy peace, there were numerous occasions of incidents where blood was shed by military forces of varying nations. In Europe, the British while maintaining numerous overseas deployments battled against the insurgency in Northern Ireland as well as dealing with troublesome skirmishes by terrorist groups on mainland Europe. The United States Army in Europe was also plagued by a number of attacks from radical terrorist elements like the Red Army Faction held bent on undermining the legitimacy of the Allied cause. Most often these groups were funded by the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact groups to carry out strikes against NATO installations and forces. The sacrifices of military personnel throughout this tense period have often proven undocumented if not under documented and the stories of the conflicts gone unseen and or unheard by those outside of the entities that were there.

Operation Banner, the British military's operation in Northern Ireland for example is not as well known in the United States as it is in the United Kingdom, nonetheless they are stories that should be known and shared with the world. Men and women sacrificed so much to maintain the balance of peace that was the Cold War period and their exploits have largely gone unrecognized. While there were a vast number of conflicts that should be documented for historical purposes, this particular look is aimed at Europe and experiences documented will cover mainly the veteran’s experiences in Northern Ireland and West Germany.  It’s hard to say just how many lives were lost throughout the duration of the European Cold War period and every life has value. Losses across Europe from Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom to West Germany and across the rest of Continental Europe are hard to exactly pinpoint as well as they typical were inflicted in ones and twos rather than on a large scale as in a conventional scenario. Alerts went up and precautions were taken against terrorist elements accordingly. In an age where terrorism is a common phrase, soldiers in Europe were dealing with terrorism ever since a rogue group believed they could use violence and intimidation to gain a voice. 

The purpose of this writing is to document the stories of the veterans to preserve them and archive them for the future. To highlight the importance of the sacrifices bore by these individuals in the name of brotherhood. The unexplainable brotherhood shared uniquely by soldiers exposed to hostile areas. This writing is dedicated to the memory of the fallen who are forever fused into the history that has shaped our world, and to those who experienced it firsthand and live with their memories. These are the stories of those who were there. We salute them and We honor them. For security and privacy reasons I have altered the names of the individuals who have submitted their stories.

  

PTE M. Swift, British Army

1st Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire

Infantry

Ballykinlar, Northern Ireland

1987

Northern Ireland: I carried out patrols throughout South Armagh (Armagh County) known as Orchard Country to the world but commonly referred to as 'Bandit Country' to those that served there. These patrols took us close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. On one occasion the patrol base of Bessbrook Mill was mortared 3 days after I left. I was part of a protective cordon that was tasked with setting up and providing defense during the rebuilding and strengthening of the watch towers in and around Crossmaglenn. On that task, I heard an explosion while in a covert operations location. Later we were told that the IRA had murdered a Judge as well as his wife. Several years later during another tour they struck again at the exact same location. IRA groups were known as Active Service Units (ASUs) by us operating in Northern Ireland. While on this tour Provisional Irish Republic Army (PIRA) & Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) were feuding and doing tit for tat killings against one another. We were all pretty happy with that as it kept them busy and not attacking our forces. My first tour only lasted 3 months as the regiment then got posted to Catterick in North Yorkshire. Although short and relevantly uneventful, it was none the less an exciting tour and experience for a young 18 year old soldier.

CPL A. Steventon, British Army

252 Provost Company (Volunteers)

Royal Military Police

Hameln, Hannover, Sennelager, Paderborn, West Germany

Participated in Exercises Keystone & Keyflight in 1987 & 1988.

BAOR: I performed Provost operations in West Germany and some Police work mainly RTA accidents. I also performed border patrol along Berlin Wall and saw East German NVA troops and Soviet troops regularly. My main job was convoy movements. I used to sign up routes to get ALL the BAOR troops to the battle front or FEBA as we called it and to Brigade HQ's, rendezvous points etc. We set up TP's (traffic posts) IP's (info Posts) BDE HQ (Brigade HQ's) etc. We also secured areas in the infantry role using GPMG, SLR, SMG and Browning 9mm. I got the chance to work alongside US aggressor forces on enemy evade and capture exercises near Nordhausen. We captured them and handed over to intel for interrogation.

I dealt with a fatal road traffic accident in Unter Oldershausen in September when I was on guard duty at a Brigade Headquarters. A Regular Dispatch Rider of the Royal Engineers came to my Information Post (IP) looking for his Brigade HQ. He was fatigued and tired and got his grid reference, he then and drove up the road and was killed instantly by decapitation. I was the first to respond to him following the accident and the last to contact him when he passed away. It has haunted me ever since. It has been nearly 25 years and I've only now found out his name this year, Sapper Dougie Hogg 13th Postal Courier Squadron Royal Engineers 25 years old from Lancaster in Lancashire.

Another assignment I held was to look for Soviet Mission on the Rhine spies (SOXMIS whom used to drive around taking photos for intelligence purposes mainly of troop numbers, vehicles, strength, equipment, movements, locations etc. If we saw them we detained them under a special card we carried and handed over to Intel Corps.

I was nearly killed during an attack by the PIRA in 1988 whilst serving in the Royal Air Force (regular Forces). While in Hereford, the PIRA planted an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) outside of my barracks block but one of my mates found it in the trash can before it could be detonated.

My reflections on the Cold War period are that it was a very tense time with many occasions we thought we were going to war with the Warsaw Pact. Alerts were issued regularly for war footings. We lost hundreds of troops in accidents on the big exercises which people forgot and we never got any recognition for the sacrifices we made over there, not just in encounters with Warsaw Pact forces but also with PIRA in Northern Ireland.  They were very active and as a result many British troops were killed. The days were long but times were fun and enjoyable. The Germans were very good to us unless they held ties to the previous regime the Nazi party. I enjoyed my time spent over there and loved the country. I'll never forget it.

SPC S. Moore, United States Army

558th Military Police Company

Military Police

Rheinland Pfalz, West Germany

2 Years in West Germany

USAREUR: I pulled physical security on a NATO Missile site known as Site No. 107. During the duration of my deployment to West Germany, we were plagued by constant bombings and attacks at clubs mainly by the Red Army Faction which peaked in 1987.

My West Germany assignment was similar to dealing with modern day terrorism. Movements were always done on the high alert with the upmost suspicion of everyone. Between the Soviets and Red Army Faction encounters taking out small groups of service members, travel was usually done in packs for security. Whenever there was an incident it was briefed to all of United States Army Europe (USAREUR). Working on a Nuclear Compound, National Security concerning Nuclear Warheads was of utmost priority so the 24/7 security of the facility was monitored very closely. While I was assigned to Site No. 107, there was an incident at different Nuclear Facility where the perimeter had been breached, the guard house was infiltrated and all of the security forces were shot in their sleep. None of the nuclear materials were disturbed in the attack. It was just done to prove that the security of a sensitive NATO site was indeed penetrable.

RFN D. Harding, British Army

2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets

Infantry

Belfast, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Northern Ireland

Multiple deployments from 1985-1996

Northern Ireland: I served as a military dog handler in Northern Ireland performing searches in the Palace Barracks area of operation around Belfast. Our Tactical Area of Responsibility which we covered included Fort Whiterock, North Howard Street Mill, Girdwood and Woodburn which was a Royal Ulster Constabulary station. My first two initial tours in Northern Ireland were fairly quiet. There were two occasions where there were attempts made to engage our patrols by enemy forces which were thwarted by our experience. As a result of the thwarting of their attempts, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) Active Service Units (ASUs) launching an attack and shooting up the Sanger of Clogher, Royal Ulster Constabulary Station. The second year, residential operations were quite hectic but again most incidents of attempts against the battalion were thwarted thanks to good scenario drills and patrolling techniques. Sadly, we lost seven members of the Battalion, due to accidents including a Lynx crash in Gortin Glen.

The period of 1993-1996 was hectic as well. There were incidents almost daily with an upsurge in shootings, bombings and sectarian murders. It was during this particular tour in Northern Ireland that I was blown up by a PIRA explosive device which resulted in the loss of the majority of the hearing in my left ear and half in my right ear. Due to the constant rotations into Northern Ireland I was diagnosed with complex combat related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The worst encounter during this tour was the aftermath of the Shakhill Bombing, when Fizzel’s Fish Shop was targeted for twenty one days. Following that attack I was lucky to get an average of three hours of sleep per day due to tit for tat murders carried out by rival factions.

CPL M.Sandham, British Army

Parachute Regiment/Royal Military Police

Infantry/Royal Military Police

Roberts Barracks, Osnabruck, West Germany, Aldergrove & Clooney Base, Northern Ireland

4 Years Regular Forces & 3 Years Reserve

BAOR: While assigned to the British Army of the Rhine I primarily performed Garrison policing duties. The experience of serving in West Germany also allowed me the opportunity to train alongside our allied military unit counterparts including American, West German and Dutch military police. I also participated in several large scale military exercises in Germany the primary two being Exercise Lionheart and Exercise Spearpoint.

Northern Ireland: In Northern Ireland I mainly performed mobile patrols, search and intelligence gathering operations, performed raids on suspected enemy strongholds which often including pubs, bars and clubs as well as escort duties. When performing operations in the Londonderry areas we were often brought close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. City Center security patrols were also another task we were frequently assigned. In Northern Ireland we were frequently exposed to enemy actions committed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) including shootings and bombings in Belfast. Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police stations were regularly targeted for attack by PIRA elements. Some operations yielded results such as search and seizure operations which led to discovering and capturing PIRA weapons caches in East Belfast. Riot control in the Londonderry City Center was also a regular occurrence during my tour in Northern Ireland. One encounter in particular stands out in my mind, one day following a PIRA operation, we were tasked to recovery a victim’s body from the River Lagan in Belfast.

My service in both BAOR and in Northern Ireland ultimately was a great training experience. For a young Non Commissioned Officer it was an amazing introduction to life in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces. Despite the exposure to conflict zones such as Northern Ireland, I believe young soldiers today would benefit from the experiences we had during the Cold War. We gained a wealth of knowledge and experience in a short period of time and I don’t regret any moment of my service. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. 

Behind Enemy Lines Part I: The Berlin Brigade: America's Force in the Heart of East Germany

With the Allies declaring a victory in Europe with the surrender of the Nazis in May 1945, the stage was set for the post war occupation and rebuilding of Germany and Europe. World War II had proven devastating to the city of Berlin. Between 92,000 to 100,000 German soldiers were killed in the Battle of Berlin with some 125,000 civilian casualties inflicted on the population. In the initial days and weeks after the fall of the city and the capitulation of German forces, the Soviet Red Army enacted a dreadful period of reprisals and revenge against the German inhabitants of the city as they engaged in mass rapes against the female populous, pillaging and often murderering countless Germans. Soviet forces also went door to door arresting and imprisoning any German in uniform including non-military personnel such as firemen and railway workers. When military forces of the western Allies reached Berlin, they divided the city in a reflection of the division of Germany with each of the four victories allied nations maintaining a section of the city under its own jurisdiction. This was done in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement with the western nations occupying the western portion of the city and the Soviets occupying the eastern portion of the city. Under the Potsdam Agreement, the status of the city could not be changed without a quadripartite agreement. With the Allied controlled section lying so deep within the boundaries of Soviet controlled territory, the western Allies were guaranteed three air corridors for use flying into the city.

By 1948, relations between the western Allies and the Soviet Union began to rapidly deteriorate and came to a boiling point when the Soviet Union blockaded the city. The Soviet attempt to force the western Allies from Berlin was countered when the western Allies mounted a massive airborne relief effort by supplying the city from the air. The Berlin Airlift known accordingly as Operation Vittles and Operation Plainfare would prove largely successful and prove a psychological and physical defeat to the Soviets. By the end of 1949, the declaration of the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany in the West and German Democratic Republic in the East largely ended the occupational status of Germany. With the establishment of West Germany and East Germany respectively, Berlin remained occupied as it's status could only be changed with a quadripartite agreement. West Berlin, which was the Allied controlled section of Berlin consisted of 12 boroughs. The French would occupy the northern sector of the city administering the boroughs of Reinickendorf and Wedding. The British would occupy the central portion of the city with the boroughs of Charlottenburg, Tiergarten, Wilmersdorf and Spandau falling under their jurisdiction. The Americans would occupy the southern portion of the city with the boroughs of Neukölln, Kreuzberg, Schöneberg, Steglitz, Tempelhof and Zehlendorf falling under their jurisdiction. The Soviets would occupy the twelve boroughs that made up East Berlin which included Friedrichshain, Hellersdorf, Hohenschönhausen, Köpenick, Lichtenberg, Marzahn, Mitte, Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg, Treptow and Weißensee.

The first American units would enter Berlin in July 1945, when elements of the 2nd Armored Division followed by elements of the 82nd Airborne Division and 78th Infantry Division entered the city to begin postwar occupational duties. These units were replaced by the 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry of the 1st Infantry Division along with the 16th Constabulary Squadron (Separate) which would remain in place in the American sector of West Berlin from 1946 until 1950. These units were replaced following the activation of the 6th Infantry Regiment. Following restructing and reorganization of Army units in 1958, the 6th Infantry Regiment was replaced with two other units the 2nd Battle Group, 6th Infantry Regiment and 3rd Battle Group, 6th Infantry Regiment respectively. When Soviet forces and East German units began tearing up roads and setting up barricades the Berlin Brigade, the United States Army's permanently assigned military contingent to West Berlin was placed on high alert in anticipation of a coming Soviet attack. As tensions rose with the construction of the Berlin Wall beginning on 13 August 1961, the Brigade reflected President Kennedy and the United States's resolve to defend West Berlin from aggression and stood firm during a period of Soviet threats demanding the Allied withdrawal from Berlin. Tensions came to a headway on 27 October 1961, when American tanks and armored vehicles took up positions at Checkpoint Charlie and faced down Soviet armored vehicles. Eventually, the Soviets would relent and the tank standoff would end with no shots fired.

The Berlin Brigade had been established in response to the Crisis in Berlin. Infantry units of the brigade were organized along the lines of the pentomic structure. One formation designated as a "battle group" consisted of five line rifle companies, a combat support company, and a headquarters & headquarters company. The newly established Berlin Brigade would consist of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 6th Infantry Regiment and the 4th Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment. The 4th Battalion, 18th Infantry was later redesignated as the 4th Battalion 6th Infantry Regiment. These battalions would later be reflagged to 4th, 5th and 6th Battalions of the 502nd Infantry Regiment. Additional units of the Berlin Brigade consisted of Battery C, 94th Field Artillery which would be replaced by Echo Battery, 320th Field Artillery. Company F of the 40th Armor, 42nd Engineer Company, 42nd Military Police Company (Customs), 287th Military Police Company (Separate), 43rd and 76th Chemical Detachments, 279th Station Hospital which was redesignated as US Army Hospital Berlin in 1976, 168th Medical Detachment (Veterinary Service), 592nd Signal Company, 298th Army Band. The 168th Medical Detachment and 298th Army Band would go on to share the distinction of being the longest serving United States Army units in Berlin.

The 4th Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment; 5th Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment and 6th Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiments would be positioned in West Berlin until the end of the Cold War and leave Berlin in 1994. U.S. Army Berlin would maintain four large military installations known as McNair Barracks, Andrews Barracks, Roosevelt Barracks and Turner Barracks in the West Berlin boroughs of Zehlendorf and Steglitz. In the borough of Tempelhof, the Tempelhof Airport which had been used as a Nazi airport and was later occupied by the Soviets during the Battle or Berlin before being turned over to the 2nd Armored Division on 2 July 1945 was expanded and used as a military terminal for military personnel arriving in West Berlin. United States Air Force operations were typically transportation and intelligence gathering in nature. The United States Army also maintained a small contingent of helicopters at Tempelhof to augment the capabilities of the Berlin Brigade. The Berlin Brigade Headquarters was located at the Clay Headquarters Compound, named after the American Military Governor of the American Zone during the Berlin Airlift. The Clay Headquarters Compound also contained the headquarters of U.S. Army Berlin and the headquarters of U.S. Command Berlin. Together the three units were typically referred to as the Berlin Command. This would function as an independent command separate from United States Army Europe (USAREUR) which former commanded American forces in West Berlin.

American troops in West Berlin had standard ammenties authorized to all American units including a branch of the American Forces Network Europe better known as AFN which provided radio and television broadcasts for American servicemembers stationed in West Berlin. AFN Berlin maintained a facility near Saargemünder Straße and became immensely popular among Americans and Germans alike. During the Berlin Airlift, American pilots flying their Douglas C-47 Skytrain and C-54 Skymasters loaded with supplies bound for the airfield at Tempelhof, tuned their radios in to AFN Berlin due to the transmitting towers proximity to the airfield. AFN Berlin also proved immensely popular with listeners on the other side of the Iron Curtain as it maintained a way for people in communist nations to maintain contact with the West and it was not jammed by the Soviets such as was the case with Radio Free Europe. Soldiers assigned to the Berlin Brigade also had their own BX/PX facilities operated by the Army Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) located at the Truman Plaza along with a Commissary, and several clubs and theaters. There was also an Army Post Office Facility located there along with a branch of the American Express bank, Stars & Stripes book store, a barber shop, florist, a branch of the Deutsche Bundespost along with the the Major Arthur D. Nicholson Memorial Library. For family members of servicemembers accommodations were located in the Düppel, Dahlem, and Lichterfelde boroughs along with educational facilities in the form of the Thomas A. Roberts Berlin American Elementary School (TAR) and Berlin-American High School (BAHS), were located in close proximity to the Truman Plaza shopping facilities.

 A close bond of friendship and appreciation was quickly forged between the residents of West Berlin and the American forces stationed in the city.

Soldiers of the Berlin Brigade had a unique duty of being assigned to pull guard duty in month long rotations at Spandau Prison located in the British Sector of the city. Beginning in 1947 through 1987 a period of forty years, elements of the Berlin Brigade took turns along with elements from the British Berlin Brigade, French Forces Françaises à Berlin and Soviet Forces in Berlin guarding prisoners at the prison. This mission would end when the last prisoner, Rudolf Hess the former  Deputy Führer of the Nazi Third Reich until his capture 12 May 1941 died in custody at Spandau on 17 August 1987 at the age of 93.

With the unit's position deep within the heart of communist East Germany, the unit often engaged in close cooperation with their Allied counterparts. American forces had a training facility in the West Berlin Grunewald borough which housed a shared training facility which was used by both the Americans and the British forces. The Americans designated their training facility here 'Doughboy City'. 

If they received authorization, soldiers could also travel into East Berlin often to see the Neue Wache, and the elite East Guard guard unit the Wachregiment Friedrich Engels as they stood guard around the SED communist parties important government facilities. Another common point of interest visited by American forces in East Berlin was the Soviet war memorial in Treptow Park. When visiting East Berlin, soldiers would travel in their Class A uniforms but were restricted from wearing nametags to prevent East German Stasi agents from gathering personal information regarding American personnel in the area.

With Berlin's unique legal status as an occupied territory left over from the days following the conclusion of the Second World War, members of the Berlin Brigade were authorized the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp. The soldiers of the unit wore the standard patch of the United States Army Europe which maintained heraldic ties to the United States Seventh Army along with a special Berlin tab. The patch depicts a flaming sword and a arch of three colors representingthe three basic combat branches that make up a standing field army, these colors were blue for Infantry, red for Artillery, and yellow for Armor and Cavalry.

U.S. Army Berlin was commanded by a major general who was appointed the title of "Commandant; U.S. Commander Berlin and Commander, U.S. Army Berlin". In addition to this, a brigadier general would serve as the "Commander, Berlin Brigade (Infantry) along with receiving the titles "Deputy Commander, U.S. Army Berlin and Community Commander". There was also a specialized military liaison mission known as U.S. Military Liaison Mission (USMLM) positioned in West Berlin to serve as military intelligence services in the city and their support staff which often conducted their duties in Potsdam, East Germany. This was agreed to between the western Allies and the Soviets with each nation maintaining a small number of intelligence personnel in each others territory for the purposes of monitoring and improving relationships between the Soviet forces and Western occupation forces. The Mission teams were usually comprised of one officer accompanied by a non commissioned officer and a driver. The missions continued their operation throughout the Cold War period and ended in 1990 just prior to German reunification.

 Following the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Berlin Brigade remained in West Berlin and elements of the Brigade would deploy in support of military operations in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Shield & Desert Storm. Elements of the unit would also participate in Operation Provide Comfort, a relief and protection mission for Iraqi Kurds following the cease of hostilities. Further elements of the unit would see service  as members of the United Nations Protectionary Forces designated UNPROFOR to Macedonia in July 1993. This mission was later renamed as Task Force Able Sentry. Others still would be deployed in July 1994, to Entebbe, Uganda as part of Joint Task Force Support Hope, to help prevent a humanitarian crisis resulting from a refugee situation as a result of the civil war in Rwanda.

With Germany reunified and the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, a quadripartite agreement was reached and all non-German military forces were required to leave Berlin. The Berlin Brigade was officially deactivated by President Bill Clinton on 6 July 1994 having completed their mission of maintaining peace and freedom for over 49 years. The final review of Berlin Brigade forces was conducted when a ceremony took place in Berlin's Lichterfelde borough on the '4th of July Platz' located adjacent to McNair Barracks. The unit would go down in history as the American unit that existed deep within the heart of East Germany, and survive and maintain completely isolated and cut off from friendly forces for nearly half a century. 

United States Army Units in West Berlin

2nd Armored Division 1945

82nd Airborne Division 1945

•       325th Glider Infantry Regiment
•       504th Parachute Infantry Regiment
•       505th Parachute Infantry Regiment

78th Infantry Division 1945-1946

•       309th Infantry Regiment
•       310th Infantry Regiment
•       311th Infantry Regiment

11th Traffic Regulation Group (TRC), Detachment C, 1945-1947

483rd Air Service Group 1945-1948

US Military Liasion Mission, Potsdam (MLM) 1945-1990

7771st Document Center 1946-1994

Armed Forces Network Europe-Berlin 1945-1994

298th US Army Band 1945-1994

822nd MP -Co. 1945

388th MP -Co. 1945

296th MP -Co. 1945

18th MP Service Detachment 1947 - 1949

388th MP Service Platoon (Hospital) 1947 - 1949

62nd MP Highway patrol unit section 1949 - 1953

553rd Quartermaster Group 1945-1946

95th Quartermaster Battalion 1946

279th Field Station Hospital 1945-1976

US Army Hospital 1976-1994

3110th Signal Service Battalion 1945-1948

168th Medical Detachment 1947-1994

Berlin Military District 1945-1950

6th InfantryRegiment 1950-1958

759th Military Police Battalion 1945-1953

Horse Platoon 287th MP Company (Separate) 1945-1958

540th MP Co, Co. B, 2nd Platoon, Railway Guards 1949-1956

570th MP Co. Railway Guards 1957-1979

42nd Military Police Group 1973-1994

272nd MP-Co. (since 1947 combined US / West German police duty) 1953-1958

287th MP-Co. (combined US / West German police duty) 1953-1994

MP Helmstedt Detachment 1946-1961

Helmstedt Support Detachment 1961-1990

16th Cavalry Group 1945

16th Constabulary Squadron 1946-1950

7782nd Special Troops Battalion 1947-1994

39th Special Forces Det A 1956 - 1958

7781st Army unit Det A 1958 - 1984

Physical Security Element Berlin (PSSE-B) 1984 - 1994

S2 HQ Berlin District Command 1945 - 1949

Intelligence Office - COB 1950 - 1961

DCSI Berlin Command 1961 - 1994

979th CIC Detachment 1945-1950

66th CIC Detachment, 66th CIC Group 1950-1961

66th MI Group -Field Station- 1961-1969

766th MID, 66th MI Group 1969-1994

JAROC-B (from18th MI Batt. & 66th MI Group) 1950-1992

7829th Military Intelligence Platoon 1946-1949

7880th Military Intelligence Detachment 1949-1957

513th Int. Collection Group ( Berlin Station) 1948-1975

US Army Evalutation Unit 1962-1994

168th Medical Detachment (Veterinary Service) 1947-1994

Field Station Berlin 1949-1994

280th ASA Company  1957-1961

9539th Technical Service Unit (Signal Corps) 1954

22nd ASA Detachment 1955-1957

260th ASA Detachment 1957

78th Special Operations Unit 1961-1966

54th USASA Special Operations Command 1966-1967

7350th US Air Base Group 1948-1993

C Battery 94th Field Artillery 1963-1986

Company F, 40th Armor Reg.(Turner Tankers) 1958-1990

6th Battalion, 40th Armor Reg 1990-1992

503rd ENG Company 1949

7762th ENG Battalion 1946 - 1952

579th ENG Company 1946 - 1952

581st ENG Company 1946 - 1952

20th ENG, A Company 1958 - 1963

42nd Engineer Company 1963-1994

592nd Signal Company (Support) 1959-1979

Berlin Aviation Detachment 1962-1994

16th Inf./3rd Battalion (1st Inf. Div.) 1946-1950

US Army Europe / Tech. Intel. Center, Field Team No. 3 1962-1994

1st B.G. (8th Inf Div) & 4th Battalion / 18th Inf. 1961, 1963-1972

2nd Battle Group / 47th Inf.(4th Inf. Div.) 1962

1st Battle Group / 8th Inf.(4th Inf. Div.) 1962

2nd Battle Group / 12th Inf.(1st Inf. Div.) 1962-1963

1st Battle Group / 13th Inf.(1st Inf. Div.) 1963

1st B.G., 2nd & 3rd Battalions/19th Inf. (24th Inf. Div.) 1961, 1964-1965

1st & 2nd Battalions / 34th Inf.(24th Inf. Div.) 1963-65

1st Battle Group / 28th Inf.(-the Black Lions-from 1st Inf. Div.) 1963

2nd Battle Group / 26th Inf. (1st Inf. Div.) 1963

1st & 2nd Battalions / 21st Inf. (24th Inf. Div) 1964, 1966

2nd Battle Group, 6th Infantry 1958-1963

3rd Battle Group, 6th Infantry 1958-1963

2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry 1963-1984

3rd Battalion, 6th Infantry 1963-1984

4th Battalion, 6th Infantry 1972-1984

US-Army Berlin-Brigade (BBDE) 1961-1994

8001st US Army Reserve 1980-1994

43rd Chemical Detachment 1982-1994

E Battery 320th Field Artillery 1986-1994

4th Battalions 502nd Infantry Regiment (STRIKE) 1984-1990

5th / 6th Battalions 502nd Infantry Regiment (STRIKE) 1984-1994

United States Air Force Units in West Berlin

Transportation Units:

301st Troop Carrier Squadron (1945-1946)

47th Troop Carrier Squadron (1946-1947)

12th Troop Carrier Squadron (1947-1948)

53rd Troop Carrier Squadron (1948-1949)

Military Police Units:

1119th MP Company AVN, TCA, (1945-1948)

100th Complement Squadron, Army Air Force (1945-1947)

7352nd Air Police Squadron (1949)

7350th Air Police Squadron (1965-1993)

7350th Security Police Squadron (1965-1993)

Signal Units:

788th AAF Base Unit (1947-1948)

1946th Air Com. Squadron (1948-1953)

1946th AACS SQ/Com. Squadron (1954-1993)

Headquarters & Support & Units:

473rd Air Service Group (1945-1946)

715th Air Material Group (1945-1946)

891st Air Engineer Squadron (1945-1946)

808th Air Engineer Squadron (1946-1947)

632nd Air Material Squadron (1947)

HQ & Base Service Squadron (1947)

Tempelhof Base Unit (1947)

7351st Maintenance & Support Squadron (1948-1949)

7350th Air Base Group (1948-1993)

-Air Traffic Control Operations (AT)

-6912th Electronic Security Group (ESG)

-7025th Air Postal

Detachment 2, 435th Operations Group (1993-1994)

Detachment 1, 435th Air Wings (1993-1994)

Army Units assigned to U.S. Army Berlin / U.S. Command Berlin

Headquarters, Berlin Brigade

4th Battalion, 502nd Infantry

5th Battalion, 502nd Infantry

6th Battalion, 502nd Infantry

Combat Support Battalion

• Headquarters & Service Company
• A Company (Provisional)
• C Battery 94th Artillery (redesignated E Bty, 320th FAR in 1986)
• 43rd Chemical Detachment
• 42nd Engineer Company (3)
• E-320th Field Artillery Battery
• Company "F", 40th Armor Regiment
• Helmstedt Support Detachment

US Military Community Activity (USMCA)

• 298th Army Band 
• Signal Support Company
• 287th Military Police Company

Aviation Detachment

6941st Guard Battalion

U.S. Army Field Station Berlin

U.S. Military Liaison Mission to the Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany

United States Army Europe Technical Intelligence Center, Field Team #3 w/Duty Station Berlin

Joint Allied Refugee Operations Center (J-ROC)

Allied Control Authority

Allied Kommandatura

Berlin MEDDAC

Berlin DENTAC

168th Medical Detachment (Veterinary Services) 

Tempelhof Central Airport

766th MI Det, 66th MI Grp, Intel & Scrty

Naval Advisor

U.S. Army Special Security Det (Berlin)

U.S. Army EOD detachment

Penetrating the Blockade: How Operation Vittles sustained an encircled City

The year was 1945, Berlin much like the rest of Germany lay in a state of ruin. Her streets and buildings were pockmarked with the graffiti of war. Shell craters, smashed windows and twisted figures of stone, mortar and steel littered the streets stretching towards the sky like some grotesque carcass reaching to achieve a final grasp. Adolf Hitler, the leader of the defeated nation was dead, committing suicide to escape the western Allies held bent on bringing him and his legion of cronies to justice for the crimes they had committed over the span of some twelve years. The nation was in a state of dispair facing an uncertain future as foreign forces occupied the wartorn land. As per the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences earlier in the year, Germany was carved up into zones of occupation administered by military forces of the wartime Allies. These sectors encompasses areas associated to the current positions of the Allied armies at the time and in a minature reflection of this, Berlin would reflect the division of the nation. Berlin, a once great city  had suffered catastrophic damage. Once boasting a population of 4.6 million people before the Second World War, it was now reduced to nearly 2.8 million people with only the capacity to produce 2% of the food needed to support the population. The forces of the United States, United Kingdom and France were not permitted to enter the war ravaged city until nearly two months after Germany had capitulated, during which time the local populace suffered brutal reprisals at the hands of the conquering Soviet Red Army.

The western portion of the nation would see the British taking responsibility for most of the northern part of the country, the Americans taking responsibility for the southern part of the country and both turning over two small portions of their zones of occupation that barely contacted each other along the French border over to the forces of France. The eastern portion of the nation would go to the Soviets. One area of protest came with the status of Berlin, which put forces of the United States, United Kingdom and France some 100 miles inside the Soviet zone of occupation. The areas under Soviet control, produced much of the food that fed the nation and thus the regions under American and British control largely relied on food imports from the very beginning. With the United States, United Kingdom and France largely instilling the principles of democracy to their post war areas, the Soviet Military Administration forcibly unified the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands 'Communist Party of Germany' and the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands 'Social Democratic Party of Germany' to form the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands 'Socialist Unity Party of Germany' claiming that it would not occupy a Marxist-Leninist or Soviet stance on its body politics. Immediately after its formation, the SED Party called for the establishment of an anti-fascist, democratic regime in the form of a parliamentary democratic republic. Under this ruse, the Soviets suppressed all activities of non SED aligned political parties and expatriated many factories and equipment as well as their technicians, managers and skilled personnel to regions deep in the Soviet Union.

Soviet leader Josef Stalin made his true intentions clear before the smoke of the Battle of Berlin had even fully cleared, telling German communists that he planned to undermine the authority of the British in their zone of occupation and force the United States to withdraw within the span of two years and thus he would unify Germany as a single communist nations under Soviet control.

One of the loopholes in the agreements reached by the western Allies was that there had never been any formal agreements guaranteeing rail or road access to Berlin through Soviet occupied territory. The first signs of ensuing tensions began when the Soviets imposed a limitation on the amount of cargo that could enter its territory. The Soviets set the limitation at only ten trains per day by only one single rail line. Believing the Soviet limitations were temporary at most, the Allies shrugged it off and began proposing addition alternatives to the Soviet Union which were rejected by the Soviets. In a move to further put a squeeze on the Allies in Berlin, the Soviet Union enforced the utilization of only three air corridors into Berlin with access to Berlin being authorized only from Hamburg, Bückeburg and Frankfurt. As the situation between the former allies began to deteriorate, the Soviets halted the delivery of agricultural goods from their zone of occupation into Berlin. This was countered accordingly when the American Commander, General Lucius Clay halted shipments of dismantled industrial goods from western Germany to the Soviet Union.

Angered by the American action, the Soviets began a campaign to undermine the Allies by slandering the American mission in Germany and hinder the administrative work of all four zones of occupation inside Berlin. Having surviving harsh treatment, forced emigrations, severe political repression and a particularly rough winter of the 1945–1946 period, Germans in the Soviet zone of administration were growing extremely hostile to the Soviets and their plans. Local elections in 1946 resulted in a massive anti-communist protest vote across the city, especially in the Soviet sector of Berlin. Berlin's citizens overwhelmingly elected non-Communist members to its city council reflecting an overwhelming 86% majority. The clouds of trouble had begun building on the horizon.

In January 1948, the Soviets began stopping American and British trains bound for Berlin to confirm the identities of passengers onboard the trains, With the Marshall Plan being enforced across, western Europe the Soviets began orchaestrating a plan to force the Allies to align their interests along with the wishes of the Soviet Union through further regulating access to Berlin. To test the waters, on 25 March 1948, the Soviets issued an order that hindered the movement of traffic between the American, French and British zones of occupation and Berlin stating that no cargo could leave Berlin without the expressed approval of the Soviet Commander.Each truck or train would be searched by Soviet authorities before it would be allowed to leave the city. On 2 April 1948, General Clay halted the use of military trains and ordered that all cargo be flown in and out of the city by air. This venture would be known affectionately as the 'Little Air Lift'. On 10 April 1948, the Soviets eased their restrictions but continued to harass Allied traffic in and out of the city. The Soviets then began a campaign of violations of West Berlin's airspace with their own military aircraft which resulted in a deadly incident on 5 April 1948 when a Soviet Yakovlev Yak-3 fighter collided with a British European Airways Vickers VC.1 Viking transport near RAF Gatow resulting in the deaths of all aboard the colliding aircraft.

The final calm before the store occurred when on 9 April, the Soviets first demanded that American communication equipment in Soviet territory be withdrawn thus preventing the use of navigational beacons to designate air routes. This was followed by a Soviet declaration demanding barges from the west to obtain a special clearance before entering Soviet occupied areas. With the introduction of the new Deutsche Mark in the western part of the country, the Soviets stated that the only currency allowed into Berlin would be one that they issued in a move to keep Germany weakened and in a state of recession. By the time the Soviets began to introduce their own currency into Berlin, the western Allies had already transported 250,000,000 Deutsche Marks into the city and it quickly took over as the standard currency of all four sectors of the city. The introduction of the Deutsche Mark and the Marshall Plan which would bring upon an economic miracle to the nation was seen as a move to undermine Soviet intentions and Stalin interpreted this a provocation against him. He now wanted the Allies out of Berlin completely.

On 18 June 1948, the Deutsche Mark was announced as the new currency to be used in the allied zones of occupation. The Soviets responded by halting all passenger trains and traffic on the autobahns of Berlin. On 21 June, the Soviets refused entry to an American military supply train and sent it back to American territory in western Germany. On 22 June, the Soviets introduced their own new currency that it called the 'Ostmark' for use in it's zone of occupation as a method to undermine the integrity of the Deutsche Mark. Also on the 22nd of June a Soviet official sent a memorandum to the Americans, British and French in the city stating that both their forces and the population of Berlin would be subjected to economic and administrative sanctions that would lead to the circulation in Berlin of only the currency of the Soviet occupation zone. This was followed by a propaganda campaign in which the Soviets denounced the United Kingdom, United States and France by radio, newspaper and loudspeaker. With a large Soviet military exercise on the outskirts of the city, rumors began to circulate of an impending Soviet invasion and occupation. German communists added to this state of aggitation when they staged protests, riots and attacks against pro-West German leaders in Berlin.

The Berlin Blockade would begin on 24 June 1948, when the Soviet forces halted all communications on land and water between the western zones and Berlin. This was quickly followed by the halting of all rail and water traffic in and out of Berlin. The next day, the Soviets halted all supplies of food to the civilian population of western Berlin as well as cut the flow of electricity from power plants in eastern Berlin to the West. For the time being, road access to the city was still authorized but only after a fourteen mile detour to a ferry crossing. The official reasoning was that Soviet forces were conducting repairs to critical infrastructure. Traffic from the western zones of occupation bound for Berlin were blockaded and all arguments permitting to the occupation rights in western Berlin fell on deaf ears. Only Soviet good will towards the western Allies made access to Berlin possible, but with no formal agreement in place the Soviets could negotiate the terms of usage of transit routes in and out of its zone of authority any way that it wished.

West Berlin was now in a critical state. It had on hand only enough food for 36 days, and enough coal to last for only 45 days. Military forces in West Berlin numbered only a force of 8,973 Americans, 7,606 British and 6,100 French in contrast to a force of one and a half million Soviet troops in East Berlin and the Soviet zone of occupation which surrounded it. On 13 June 1948, General Clay sent a cable to Washington D.C. reaffirming his stance in West Berlin and declaring that their would be no withdrawal from Berlin. While, the Soviets celebrated their blockade of Berlin and anticipated the withdrawal of western forces from eastern Germany, General Clay called the Soviets bluff, believing that the Soviets would not intentionally initiate World War III, especially not having just barely recovered from World War II. With limited options at his disposal, Clay heard numerous proposals from Allied leaders including an aggressive response to the blocakde proposed by General Curtis LeMay, the Commander of United States Air Forces in Europe in which waves of Boeing B-29 Stratofortress strategic bombers and fighter escorts would engage Soviet airbases while ground troops in western Germany would attempt a breakthrough to reach encircled Berlin. This plan was ultimately rejected by Clay.

With time running, out Clay authorized the use of Berlin's airways to undermine the Soviet blockade. This was a move that the Soviets had not counted on. On 30 November 1945, the Allies had recieved in writing the approval for free access to Berlin via three twenty three mile wide air corridors. Further undermining the Soviet blockade, the usage of cargo aircraft could not justify the Soviets identifying them as posing a military threat to its forces in eastern Germany and thus put them in a very delicate position when the aircraft refused to turn back of either engaging and shooting them down or backing down. Shooting down unarmed humanitarian aircraft would put the Soviets in violation of their own agreements and cause a political uproar and backlash against the Soviet Union that it would not want. Clay initially approached LeMay with an inquiry regarding whether or not his aircraft could move amounts of coal to support the operations of the city. LeMay promptly responded that his planes could carry anything required. When they approached the British forces, it was confirmed that the British had already been conducting their own airlift in support of British forces in Berlin.

During the 'Little Air Lift' British military planner Air Commodore Reginald Waite made calculations towards the resources required for supporting the entire populace of the city. His calculations equated to a requirement of seventeen hundred calories per person per day, in the form of 646 tons of flour and wheat, 125 tons of cereal, 64 tons of fat, 109 tons of meat and fish, 180 tons of dehydrated potatoes, 180 tons of sugar, 11 tons of coffee, 19 tons of powdered milk, 5 tons of whole milk for children, 3 tons of fresh yeast for baking, 144 tons of dehydrated vegetables, 38 tons of salt and 10 tons of cheese to support the population of Berlin. In conclusion nearly 1,534 tons were needed daily to keep the over two million inhabitants of the encircled city alive. Additionally beyond the food needs, West Berlin needed to be kept heated and powered, which would require another 3,475 tons of coal and gasoline to be flown in.

Initially ill prepared in comparison to the British, the Americans began organizing the positioning of planes to support the operation. The entire thing would get the final green light when General Albert Wedemeyer, US Army Chief of Plans and Operations visited Europe and endorsed the operation. Wedemeyer had overseen the largest airlift of the Second World War when American aircraft flew from bases in India, over the Hump in the Himalayas to China in the war against Japan. The ensuing operation would be dubbed 'Operation Vittles' by the Americans, 'Operation Plainfare' by the British and 'Operation Pelican' by the Australians when they committed additional airlift capailities in September 1948. On 24 June 1948 General LeMay appointed Brigadier General Joseph Smith, then the headquarters commandant for USAFE at Camp Lindsey, to serve as the Provisional Task Force Commander of the airlift operation.  On 25 June 1948 Clay gave the order to launch Operation Vittles. The next day a force of 32 Douglas C-47 Skytrains lifted off for Berlin hauling 80 tons of cargo, including milk, flour, and medicine. The first British Royal Air Force aircraft lifted off headed for Berlin on 28 June. At that time, the airlift was expected to last for only a duration of three weeks.

By 1 July, the system was set into motion with C-47s and Douglas C-54 Skymasters arriving in mass at Rhein Main Air Base. Rhein Main would serve as a solely C-54 base with Wiesbaden operating a mixture of C-47s and C-54s. The aircraft would fly northeast and enter West Berlin through southern air corridor designated the American corridor and land at Tempelhof Airport, offload their supplies then exit through the central air corridor designated the British corridor. Upon reaching the British zone of occupation, the aircraft would then turn south and return to their respective bases. The British Royal Air Force operated a similar resupply system, flying southeast from several airports in the Hamburg area through their assigned corridor into RAF Gatow in the British Sector, and then also returning out on the central corridor. They would then turn for home or land at Hanover depending on the circumstance. Unlike the Americans, the British also ran several round trip operations using their southeastern corridor. On 6 July, RAF Avro York and Douglas Dakotas (the Dakota was the British designation for the C-47 Skytrain) were joined by Short Sunderland flying boats of the Royal Navy. Flying boats operated from Finkenwerder on the Elbe River near Hamburg, flying to the Havel River adjacent to RAF Gatow. The corrosion resistant hull of the Sunderlands better suited them to the particular task of delivering baking powder and other salt products to the city.

A maintenance system was soon coordinated to accommodate the large number of flights. Crews would work three eight hour shifts rotating between C-54s and C-47s. Aircraft were scheduled to take off at an interval of every four minutes, staggered at an altitude of 1,000 feet higher than the preceding aircraft. The initial aircraft would operate at a height of 5,000 feet and each aircraft adding an additional 1,000 feet for each of five aircraft before the sixth aircraft would return to a 5,000 foot operational profile. The first week of the airlift saw an average of only 90 tons of supplies per day reaching West Berlin, this number would increase to nearly 1,000 tons per day by the end of the second week. Soviet authorities in the East ridiculed the operation declaring it a futile attempt to save face against the superior Soviet authority.

On 28 July 1948, Major General William H, Tunner arrived at Wiesbaden Airbase to take command of the airlift operation. Having also had experience with the airlift operation in the China-Burma-India campaign, he set about to reorganize the entire operation. On 13 August 1948 a C-54 crashed at Tempelhof and burst into flames at the end of the runway and a second C-54 landing behind it burst the tires of its landing gear trying to avoid the wreckage. A third Skymaster made a ground loop maneuver on an auxiliary runway and Tempelhof was closed when the control tower lost control of the situation, a move that greatly embarrassed Tunner. Although no one was killed in the crashes, the incident became known as 'Black Friday'. As a result of the Black Friday crash, Tunner ordered that Instrumental Flight Rules be in effect at all times regardless of visibility. In addition to this he instituted a policy that each aircraft would only have one chance to land at the airport, any aborted landing would result in the aircraft returning to its base in western Germany. Sighting easier convenience for loading and unloading of aircraft, Tunner soon made the decision to replace all C-47s with C-54s or larger aircraft.

Pilots were forbidden to leave their aircraft for any reason while on the ground in Berlin and military jeeps were converted into mobile snack bars often staffed with German women to distribute refreshments to the crews while they remained at their aircraft. Clearance documents and flight information were given to the pilots while they snacked. As a result of this method, the time on ground from the shutdown of engines on the ramp, unloading and turn around before heading back to Wiesbaden or Rhein Main was set at only thirty minutes. Operating profiles were later also adjusted with flights launching every three minutes instead of four with 500 foot separation rather than 1000, stacked in altitude from 4,000 to 6,000 feet operating altitude. Maintenance was strictly emphasized and given the highest priority to maximize turn around time to implement a goal of 1440 landings in West Berlin each day. This figure would mean, an aircraft would be landing in West Berlin for every minute there was in a day. The Germans countered the problem of manpower, with Berliners serving as unloaders and airfield repair crews, a task which was rewarded with additional rations. As the crews began to improve their execution of duty, unload times dropped dramatically and a record was set first when an entire 10 ton shipment of coal was offloaded from a C-54 in a span of ten minutes and then later a twelve man crew unloaded another 10 ton shipment from a C-54 in five minutes and forty five seconds.

After only a month of operations, daily flight operations flew more than 1,500 flights each day and delivered more than 4,500 tons of cargo, enough to keep West Berlin sufficiently supplied. Supply shipments improved to a rate of 5,000 tons a day.

One of the most memorable moments of the Berlin Airlift was known as 'Operation Little Vittles' this occurred when Colonel Gail Halvorsen used his off time to fly into Berlin and shot a series of home movies with a handheld camera. One day upon encountering a group of German children he introduced himself and he handed out two sticks of Wrigley's Doublemint gum and promised that if the children did not fight over the gum, he would bring more when he returned to Berlin. As he left, the German children divided up the gum as best they could and inquired as to how they would know that it was him when he returned. His reply was that he would wiggle his wings. The following day on his approach to Berlin, he put inputs into the controls which rocked the aircraft and he dropped chocolate bars attached to hankerchief parachutes to the children below. Everyday the number of children would increase and so to did his airdrops. Soon Base Ops at Tempelhof began receiving stacks of mail addressed to 'Uncle Wiggly Wings', 'The Chocolate Uncle' and the 'Chocolate Flier'. Initially Halvorsen's exploits were met with dissatisfaction from his commanding officer but ultimately the gesture was approved of by General Tunner who designated the mission as 'Operation Little Vittles' adding additional airplanes and pilots to Halvorsen's venture. When news of Operation Little Vittles reached the United States, children across th country enthusiastically donated candy of their own to be dropped to the German children. Some children even participated by attaching parachutes to the candies that would be dropped over Berlin. Soon, major manufacturers nationwide became involved. In the end, over three tons of candy were dropped on West Berlin, and the "operation" was designated as a success. The candy dropping aircraft were christened 'Raisin Bombers" or "Candy Bombers" by the German children.

In response to the mounting airlift operation, the Soviets first countered by offering free food to anyone who crossed into East Berlin and registered their ration cards with the Soviet authorities. The Soviet move was ultimately rejected by West Berliners. The Soviets then ramped up their propaganda campaign against the people of West Berlin utilizing psychological warfare and declaring that all of Berlin fell under Soviet authority. They further declared that it was only a matter of time before the Western allies abandoned the city and the populous of West Berlin. As further measures, Soviet and German communist harassed democratically elected officials from West Berlin that had to conduct its business in the city hall which was located in the Soviet sector of the city. In an effort to harass the airlift itself, the Soviets often attempted to impede on the arrival of inbound aircraft by varying means including buzzing transports with Soviet fighters, scheduling parachute jumps in the paths of the air corridors and using searchlights to disorient pilots flying at night. Try as they may, none of the Soviet measures were effective in hampering the operation.

By the onset of winter, estimates for amounts needed to sustain the population in winter were adjusted and the transportation force was enhanced when the Royal Air Force added larger Handley Page Hasting transports to their available fleet. To accommodate for winter operations, Tunner hired a force of majorily former Luftwaffe ground crews to maintain the airfields. Due to weight restrictions imposed on the airfields at RAF Gatow and Tempelhof Airport, and the stresses put upon them by the rotations of C-54s, a 6,000 foot asphalt runway was constructed at Tempelhof to better accommodate the air fleet. The French although entangled in the Indochina War supplied several aging Junkers Ju-52 transports to supply its personnel in Berlin. French aircraft flew into Tegel on the shores of Lake Tegel. There was one problem with this, the approach to Tegel Airfield was hampered by the placement of a Soviet radio tower in proximity to the airfield. After the Soviets refused to remove the tower, French General Jean Ganeval ordered that the tower be demolished and on 16 December 1948, the tower was blown up much to the delight of the Berliners. The destruction of the radio tower would spark widespread protest from the Soviets. When General Ganeval's Soviet counterpart General Alexej Kotikow, asked him angrily by phone how he could have committed such an act, Ganeval is said to have replied laconically, "With dynamite, my dear colleague."

To improve control over the air traffic entering and exiting Berlin, the newly developed Ground Controlled Approach radar system was sent to Europe and installed at both Tempelhof and  Fassberg in the British Zone in West Germany, a measure which guaranteed operations in all weather conditions. Soon the only hinderance on flight operations would prove to be the weather itself. The months of November and December 1948 were the worst of the entire operation. On many occasions aircraft would fly to Berlin only to be met with a thick layer of fog which prevented landing and they were forced to return to West Germany. On one occasion on 20 November 1948, forty two aircraft departed for West Berlin, but only one managed to there. At one point, West Berlin only had enough coal for one week of operation. The shortage was made up for ultimately when weather conditions improved and more than 171,000 tons of supplies were delivered in January 1949, followed by 152,000 tons in February, and 196,223 tons in March.

By April 1949, General Tunner declared that he wanted to do something big to boost the morale of everyone involved in the operation. On Easter Sunday, he set to break all records and he would do so by only hauling coal thus in preparation for this coal was stockpiled for the effort. By the time it was completed, 12,941 tons of coal had been delivered in 1,383 flights to West Berlin, without a single accident. A welcome side effect of the effort was that operations in general were boosted, and tonnage increased from 6,729 tons to 8,893 tons per day in the days following the Easter operation. In total, the airlift delivered 234,476 tons in April of 1949. On 21 April, it was recorded that the tonnage of supplies flown into the city exceeded amounts that were previously brought into the city by rail.

The Airlift operation proved an embarrassment to the Soviets and the Easter operation was the nail in the coffin. On 15 April 1949, the Soviets announced that they were willing to lift the blockade of Berlin. After a series of negotiations on 4 May 1949, the Allies reached an agreement which would end the Blockade in an eight day period. The Soviets relented and removed their blockade of Berlin at 12:01 on the morning of 12 May 1949. The British drove a convoy through Berlin as a symbol of the victory of the airlift and the first train from West Germany arrived in West Berlin at 5:32am. Celebrations erupted across West Berlin to commemorate the lifting of the Blockade. Flights however would continue into Berlin to build up a surplus of supplies in case the Soviets tried to blockade the city again in the future. By 24 July 1949, three months worth of supplies had been stockpiled at facilities in West Berlin, ensuring that there was ample time to restart the Airlift if it were required. The Berlin Airlift officially came to an end on 30 September 1949, after fifteen months of continued air operation. In total the United States delivered 1,783,573 tons and the United Kingdom 541,937 tons, totaling 2,326,406 tons, nearly two-thirds of which was coal, on some 278,228 flights to airfields in West Berlin.

The Royal Australian Air Force bolsted this number further with the  delivery of 7,968 tonnes of freight and 6,964 passengers while flying 2,062 sorties. The force of C-47s and C-54s together flew over 92 million miles during the operation, almost the distance from Earth to the Sun. At the height of the Berlin Airlift, one plane was landing at an airfield in West Berlin every thirty seconds. The cost of the Airlift was 101 fatalities including 40 Britons and 31 Americans, mostly due to crashes. Seventeen American and eight British aircraft crashed during the duration of the operation. Financial responsibility of the Airlift was shared between the United States, United Kingdom, and West Germany. Some 692 transport aircraft were engaged in the Berlin Airlift, of which more than 100 were operated by civilian aviation entities.

In 1974 Colonel Gail Halvorsen, the original 'Candy Bomber' was decorated with the Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz 'Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany', one of Germany's highest medals for his actions during the Berlin Airlift.