Fulda Gap

The Fulda Gap is a region of lower elevation between the former East German border and Frankfurt, (West) Germany. Named for the town of Fulda, the Fulda Gap was strategically important during the Cold War. "Gap" refers to a corridor of lowlands (between the Hohe Rhön and Knüllgebirge mountains, and between the Spessart and the Vogelsberg mountains), which is suitable for operations by large-scale armored forces. The Fulda Gap was one of two obvious routes for a hypothetical Soviet tank attack upon West Germany from Eastern Europe, especially East Germany; the second route was the North German Plain, and the third, less likely, route was up through the Danube River valley in Austria.

trategic location

Close to the Fulda Gap, the loss of Frankfurt, West Germany's industrial and financial heart, would have been a serious German and NATO loss as it was also home to two large airfields that were designated to receive U.S. reinforcements had war broken out.

The high ground between the two routes are the Vogelsberg Mountains. Perhaps more important, the land between the Fulda Gap and the river Rhine was less rugged, offering favourable terrain for Soviet forces to reach and cross the Rhine before NATO could prevent it. The Fulda Gap route was less suitable for mechanized troop movement than was the North German Plain, but offered an avenue of advance direct to the heart of the U.S. military in West Germany.

It is roughly the same route Napoleon chose to withdraw his armies after defeat at Leipzig. Napoleon succeeded in defeating a Bavarian-Austrian army under Wrede in the Battle of Hanau not far from Frankfurt; he safely escaped home to France. The route was also used by the U.S. XII Corps during World War II to advance eastward in late March and early April, 1945.

The Fulda Gap in the Cold War

Regiment and the 1st Constabulary Brigade.

The armored cavalry's (heavy, mechanized reconnaissance units equipped with tanks and other armored vehicles) mission in peace was watching the East-West border for signs of pre-attack Soviet army movement. The armored cavalry's mission in war was to delay a Soviet attack until other units of the U.S. V Corps could be mobilized and deployed to defend the Fulda Gap. The armored cavalry would have also served as a screening force in continuous visual contact with the Warsaw Pact forces, reporting on their composition and activities. The divisions assigned to defend the Fulda Gap were the 3rd Armored Division [3rd AD] , and the 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized) [8th ID] .

The V Corps' principal adversary was the Soviet 8th Guards Army, which was to be followed by additional armies (including the 4 armored divisions and 1 mechanized infantry division of the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army), making the Fulda Gap a key entry route for the Soviet Bloc to western Europe in any hypothetical battle in Cold War Europe; both armies were well-equipped and held high-priority for receiving new equipment.

As stated, defending the Fulda Gap from a Warsaw Pact invasion would have been the 3rd Armored Division and the 8th Infantry Division of the US V Corps. As the principal defense force, their mission, along with the 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division (1976–1984), would have been to fight and stop invading forces, not delay them. From 1979 onwards, the first V Corps unit detailed to move to the Fulda Gap in the event of war was the 8th ID's 1st Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment (1-68 Armor), stationed at Wildflecken, south of the Gap. The mission of 1-68 Armor was to establish a defensive line across part of the Gap, providing a shield behind which the 3rd AD and the 4th Brigade, 4th ID, and other 8th ID units could advance and defend.

With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the reunification of Germany in 1990, and the subsequent withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Fulda Gap lost its former strategic importance, but it remains a powerful symbol of the Cold War.

ee also

- a Cold War observation post that overlooked the Fulda Gap, now the site of a Cold War memorial.

Further reading

* Faringdon, Hugh. "Strategic Geography: NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and the Superpowers". Routledge (1989). ISBN 0-415-00980-4.
* "Fulda G
James F. Dunnigan , Simulations Publications, Inc., 1977. [http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/4235 Board Game]

External links

* [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/documents/BorderOps/content.htm US Army Border Operations 1948-83]
* [http://www.14cav.org/ 14th Cavalry Association]
* [http://www.14cav.org/a5.html Squadrons, 14th CAV]
* [http://www.history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/ch6.htm#m11 11th CAV AOs]
* [http://www.usarmygermany.com/ US Army Germany (History).com]
* [http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/ArmoredCav/USAREUR_14thACR.htm 14th Cav at US Army Germany (History) site]
* [http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/ArmoredCav/USAREUR_11thACR.htm 11th Cav at US Army Germany (History) site]
* [http://www.1-33rdar.org/fulagap2.htm From Fulda Gap button, one of 4 Fulda Gap pages at 1st Battalion 33rd Armor.org]
* [http://www.rhoener-reservisten.de/wta/us-army/units/1-68.html 1st Bn 68th Armor at Wildflecken was a Fulda Gap screening force]
* [http://www.wildfleckenveterans.com/ Wildflecken Veterans.com]
* [http://wi.informatik.unibw-muenchen.de/_portal/_content/professorships/systemScience/armedForces/Balck_Mellenthin.pdf German & US generals discuss Fulda Gap defense]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/oplan-4102.htm OPLAN 4102]