US Army's last tanks depart from Germany
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German
railway loadmasters with the Theater Logistics Support Center Europe
help load an Abrams main battle tank at the railhead in Kaisersalutern.
The tank was one of 22 bound for South Carolina, marking the end of an
Army tank presence in Germany.
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STUTTGART, Germany — The U.S. Army’s 69-year history of basing main
battle tanks on German soil quietly ended last month when 22 Abrams
tanks, a main feature of armored combat units throughout the Cold War,
embarked for the U.S.
The departure of the last M-1 Abrams tanks coincides with the
inactivation of two of the Army’s Germany-based heavy brigades. Last
year, the 170th Infantry out of Baumholder disbanded. And the 172nd
Separate Infantry Brigade at Grafenwöhr is in the process of doing the
same.
On March 18, the remaining tanks were loaded up at the 21st Theater
Sustainment Command’s railhead in Kaiserslautern where they then made
the journey to the shipping port in Bremerhaven, Germany. There they
boarded a ship bound for South Carolina.
The tanks belonged to the 172nd along with a mix that were leftover from other units, according to the 21st TSC.
“It is an honor to be one of the soldiers escorting the last battle
tanks out of Germany,” said Sgt. Jeremy Jordan of the 529th Military
Police Company, in an Army story about the journey. “As these tanks sail
back to the U.S., we are closing a chapter in history.”
From World War II on through the Cold War, tanker units were a heavy
presence in Germany. At its peak, Germany was home to 20 NATO armored
divisions, or about 6,000 tanks, according to the 21st TSC.
“There is no [U.S.] tank on German soil. It’s a historic moment,” said Lt. Col. Wayne Marotto, 21st TSC spokesman.
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