ISUM #3, Per10d Ending 142400 Dec 61
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, 6-2.. • S'=I'R..."'~ ET. HEAIlQUARTElIS BERLIN BRIGADE Off ice of the AC of 8, G2 APO 742 US FOR::ES + 1 . (8 \ ~!l..'ClE1' FORCES: a. Hf'llccpter f light over Installation 4154 and AUf,J'1..lst Bebel PIa t."':t.:1 E.l.f"t Ber::'ln on 13 December revealed the following: (1) 29 T-S4 tanks , 1 BTR ~ 1 bus and 3 wheeled vehicles are lonat;u 1n August Ecbel Platz. (2) Tho tanks that were parked 1n Installation 4154 are n':) 10n3C'r jX.rkC'd oJ!" th::! hardstand inside the in::>tall at:'..on . 02 C:nlr.l.Cnt: It 1s possible thf'.t 10 to 12 tunI.s w'uld b,- p~.~'·:(r0. inside ::::h3ds 1n Insullatlon 415 1~ . Br;1 l.icved, ho~·e"E.r, thE'.t fO.ll tt.rks h'we dep.-,rtcd this installation. Tank unit in Bebel Platz 1s b_'1.i8ved to be Jchc Tt..nk Battalion, 83d Motorized Riflo il0giment fr.i:n Installation 4161 1n Karlshorst. Un! t to have departed IlStnllatl~n 4154 believe d to be a tank battalion of 68th Tnnk Regiment f rom InstallE:.tion 4102 (Berl~n Blesdorf). b . Headquarters, GSfo'G imposed new permanent 1'cstrictions on Wcs.tern Mili t:-", ry Missions effective 12000:1. December 1961. The new restrictcd c.r .m,s are located in Schwerin-~udwiglust, W:Ltt.3nburg and Ko·~igsb ru ,ck areas. The permanent r es tric ted areas of Guestrow; Letzlingcr lI~ide . Altengrabow. Jena-Weissenfe1s, Ohrdrv.f and Juetcl'bog were exten,Ld. This is the second increase in 81ze and number of pornnne n-r~ :'~,str icted areas in 1961 and could indicate a buildup of convcntioTl'l: forces in these nreas. However, a study of their 1oc"Uans in r ~ lD"':'~'J .. to SM1 sites and ;,uspected SSM locations indicates tha~ Soviets rr: :.~~' desire greater security for modem weapons. The new restricted. reas concea.l 6 ndc.itionnl known missile sit.es r1J'lking 3. to+-..l'.J of 11 loc ~-';,- d in restrioted /'I.!'C<l.s . Whethe r the new r~'Strlcti ons are coincidcr:t.... ~ . or planned. combination of old and new r estric ted Ilrens IiI; a.lone., n. naturnl north- south line of defensible terrain 'l~d natural ohst;.:l.C'br: f rom Schwerin through Ludwigsltlst, Wittengcrge , Klietz , Burg, 0: C3cburg, ~ BB a u, Mers~barg, Jena and Weimar to Arnst~dt. DJWN~RAmI> AT 12 YEAR INTERVALS NOT AUTOIU,rWIILLY DECLASSIFIED DOD DIR 5200 .10 Page 1 of 8 pages. Copy 7I. of Z3. copie', SPECIAL HANDLING REXlUIRED . N')T RELEASABLE TO FOREIGN NATIONAIS, EAGEPT UK &0 FR. ff{ AUTHORITY OF : 7! - /~~ ,,/.. ~"',~ ~~if " 1 GEAAIll W. Bl\I1NITZ, MoJ, CS Act1ng ACofS I 0-2 AG Bg4f 904 - 61 CY ~OF 18 CYS , , G2 DIVIS I ON, BERLIN BRIGADE, I SUM #3. Pe riod Endi ng 142400 Dec 61 c . The gcnerol tempo of GSFO training activi t i es decreas ed duri ng past weeks . Although considerabl e porti on of East Germany was cover ed by USAREUR sources this past w e~kl ve ry l ittle activity observed. MaJority of installat ions reported "qui et !; . Training such ns gun dril l and shor t road mn r ches conducted in local areas by 34th Artillery Dlvisi onl communi cati ons eXercise conduct ed by clements of ~he l Oth Ouards Tank Di vi sion , and drive r tra i ning by th ~f: C r,na o 1.,;:o r units i ndioated low l evel r emedi al t rai ning. No rc=,I.J!'~s J:'" ~.ciications of pr eparations for l arge scale exercise. Recer-:"'.:. :r::Jpo ; ~n: of II'J -Wtl.Gons indicate r eceipt of recrui ts I if not an r.ott'al rota,,!",j on progr.:lm . Acti vity t hi s next week may indicate iote ... gr~tion of recrui ts into training program. 2. (e ) EAST GERMfu'l ARMY FORCES : n Report received f r om source gi ven p ... 3 eval uation stated th-.t the EGA Guard Regiment would be t ransferr ed to an EGA Installation in Berlin B1esdorf by 31 December 61. COMMENT : Installation 4101 (Be rlin Biesdorf) is presently occupi ed by a Car Comolli'YI OHQ Car Battali on. The present kaserne of 't·he EGA Guard Regi ment ( Installo.tion 4806) in Str o.ussoerg is shD.red by Hq EOAF and Ai r Defense Command . Sinoe the EGA Guard Regimcnt performs duty .:It many looati ons in East Berlin and since EOhF coUld probably us~ additional space , report of move seems logical. b, M".jor c l ements of 1st Motorized Ri fle D i ~' i sion reme, ~ . ncd a.t home s t.a>; io~s training locally. 3. (e) Q~ISON SEX:URITY FORCES : a . Secur ity Ale~t Police (SAP ) defector stated that as a result of new COr.:3trucUon of tank obstacles along the sector/sc{:1 -)r oorder, the rU'nor arose ~hat the seven Z'cmainlng crossing poi:1ts t 'r:,jld be closed. A Serg~ant told the EM of the SAP unit that the F~t German government has no intention of ever cl osing these crossinG points. (F-3 ) COMMENT : Permanent cl osi ng of all sec tor crossing poi~ts mort impr obabl e. However, East Oennan govemment mi ght attempt to ),"!'10SC f urther restricti ons by demanding passports and visas, whilE (an~lnu1ng to att~mpt to conclude a. peace treaty. b . De',"';jctors report Sonnenallee c r ossing point nnd f'.dja,-'.21t arcn on Be r lin El -;ctor bord~r controlled by speci 'll comp:'..ny ~ubordirete Bc~lin Ci vil Poli~G Hend~ua rters . Probable all 7 crossing points on Bc!"l! n sector border controlled by s uoh un1 ts co.l led Control Point, Compani es. Since units arc basi cally civil police I th..-J y wEl not be:! o.dded to USAREUR Order of B..1.ttlc holdings, "Int.':!'!1.at Zwui!ll lx) !..~de:'" Gu..'lrd Battc.lion carried Il"".stallatlon 11222 , Ber:'j"-/Koepentcli. l.S dropped from Order of Battle hol di ngs . Page 2.. of ~ pages . 02 DIVISION, BERLIN BRIGADE, !SUM #3 , Period Ending 142400 Dec 61 c. Numerous defector reports indicate that all members of the Berlin Border Command will be issued the ESP uniform for duty wear. 02 COMr-1ENT : This is supported by the fact that personnel in ESP uniforms have been observed along all parts of the sector/ seotor and sector/zonal border. I,. (C) ACCESS SITUATION: a. Ft.'\llways : (1) At 2140 hours. 7 Dec 61. the US M1l1t11ry Berlin Frankfurt Duty Train, enroute to Helmstedt, was boarded illegally at Gerwish Station, in the Soviet Zone of Germany . by two East German mat~s. Access was gnined by shaking the outer door handle cnuslp.g th~ ring locking device to slip off the inner door handle whicr. pc:-:nh.. ted opening of the door from the ou~ide . The East Gennr:.'~ so"l,ld they hnd been told by a friend that the US train had been s lo...... :!.ng C:own in Gcrwish every night for the past two weeks because of work being done on a bridge. The East German conductor of the train was apparently unaware of the situation, as all proce,Ssing was normal and the train completed its run without incident. • (2) Since the closing of the ~~st Berlin sector/sector borders on ~; August 1961. ~peration of the Ud Military Duty Trains has been advc~sely affacted. This has resulted from changes in East German Reic l~'bahn operating procedures wr.ich include cp.<'1.ng1ng of 10oomot1v,-'''' "nd crews ilt Potsdam and Maricnborn, lack of sufficient Rcichsbah~ nor50nncl and the overall ~Jor condition of the Re1cnsbahn. b. Air Corridors : During this period there were no incidents involving Allied access ·to the air corridors leading to West Berlin. c. Au:tc~1.hn: D'..lr".ng this period the only major inoident on the Au"'o!>-"'.l'L. involved th('; det.::ntlon of a oonvoy or Co A, 1st Battle Group, 19tr. Infantry. The convoy arrived at the Soviet Checkpoint at Holmstect. cnroute to Berlin, at 1425 hours, 10 Deoember. At this time the US troops dismounted from their vehicles, on the right Side, for proce'lsing. 1: '~i.l1g processing, a Sovtet officer arrived and requested th'3 troop3 ·0 nove to the left sia0 of their vehicles, which was comnJ i 3d Wit3 . I:1 tn~ proc<:!3s of moving tho convoy NCO escort brushed .1.g-::.:t:-.st an !,:,"l.nt ~rmo.n officer who was 1.I'\lk .rg toward the head of the c.)~.·t~'t:. Proc·:F:..sil"g continued. and nt 1545 hour-oS a Soviet officer and the E~3t (Kerman offict.r left the Checkpoint and asked for the convoy NCO escort Tu~ Soviet officer ot:lted th::t.t the convoy could not prol!f:!eti to Be:-:in u.'1t!l tnt') N~C ~polof!:izcc. to the East Genn1n officer. '.tile S07:"st CfJ.':·c,;.r \"(:13 ,-. ... o:'''Dd by 't::~ ConvJY Commcndor that the Foot GarDloD C;'ficer wo ...·..!.J. t;.o·,1.: ~o file n complaint through normal cr.3nrels T!:. Scvie"; I)_'fi··:.>r ":;he!'l informed the Convoy Commander that the convo) was officially d~~ained Pnge l of ...a.. pnge5 . • 02 DIVISION, BERLIN BRIOAD.I!, !SUM #3, P<r1od Ending 142~OO Dec 6J.