Editing Fulda Gap

{{Short description|Cold War strategically important area}}
[[File:Germany topo Fulda Gap.jpg|thumb|300px|Theoretical attack routes through the Fulda Gap. The southern one through [[Fulda]], the northern one through [[Alsfeld]]. The [[Vogelsberg Mountains]] rise between the two routes.]]
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|caption = {{center|1='''Fulda Gap deployments c. 1985'''<br />RHQ – Regt Hq, 1/11 – 1st Squadron / 11th ACR, CAS – aviation, CSS – support<br />Soviet units are [[8th Guards Army (Soviet Union)|8th Guards Army]], US units are [[V Corps (United States)|V Corps]]<br />ACR = armored cavalry regiment (US)&nbsp;&#124;&nbsp;CAS = close air support&nbsp;&#124;&nbsp;CSS = combat service support&nbsp;&#124;&nbsp; D= Division&nbsp;&#124;&nbsp;G = Guards&nbsp;&#124;&nbsp;MR = Motor Rifle&nbsp;&#124;&nbsp;Regt Hq = regiment headquarters&nbsp;&#124;&nbsp;RHQ = regional headquarters&nbsp;&#124;&nbsp;T = Tank}}
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The '''Fulda Gap''' ({{langx|de|Fulda-Lücke}}), an area between the Hesse-Thuringian border, the former [[Inner German border]], and [[Frankfurt am Main]], contains two corridors of lowlands through which [[Armoured forces|tanks]] might have driven in a surprise attack by the [[Soviet Union|Soviets]] and their [[Warsaw Pact]] allies to gain crossings of the [[Rhine River]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Fulda-Gap |title=Fulda Gap |access-date=October 31, 2020 |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |archive-date=November 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128204422/https://www.britannica.com/place/Fulda-Gap |url-status=live }}</ref> Named for the town of [[Fulda]], the Fulda Gap became seen as strategically important during the [[Cold War]] of 1947–1991. The Fulda Gap roughly corresponds to the route along which [[Napoleon]] chose to withdraw his armies after defeat (16–19 October 1813) at the [[Battle of Leipzig]].<ref name=fulda>{{cite web |url=https://www.blackhorse.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/fuldagap.pdf |title=The Fulda Gap |access-date=October 31, 2020 |last=Wilson |first=W. B. |date=June 2015 |publisher=The Blackhorse Association |archive-date=January 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122094038/https://www.blackhorse.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/fuldagap.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Napoleon succeeded in defeating a [[Bavaria]]n-[[Austria]]n army under [[Karl Philipp von Wrede|Wrede]] in the [[Battle of Hanau]] (30–31 October 1813) not far from Frankfurt. From there he escaped back to [[France]].

From 1815, the area appeared of minimal strategic importance, as it lay deep within the borders of the [[German Confederation]] and from 1871 of the [[German Empire]]. German military planning presumed any war would be effectively lost, long before an enemy reached that far into the homeland. The route became important again at the end of [[World War II]] when the [[XII Corps (United States)|U.S. XII Corps]] used it in their advance eastward in late March and early April 1945.<ref name=fulda /> The U.S. advance had little consequence for Germany's strategic position, which was hopeless by that point, but it allowed the Americans to occupy vast swaths of territory which the [[Yalta Conference]] of February 1945 had assigned to the [[Soviet occupation zone]]. This did much to compel the Soviets to honor the [[Yalta Conference]] agreement, meaning that Western [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] got access to [[Berlin]]. In exchange, the U.S. Army withdrew in July 1945 from [[Thuringia]] and [[Saxony]], to the line agreed upon in Yalta.

During the Cold War, the Fulda Gap offered one of the two obvious routes for a hypothetical Soviet tank attack on [[West Germany]] from [[Eastern Europe]], especially from [[East Germany]]. The other route crossed the [[North German Plain]]. A third, less likely, route involved travelling up through the [[Danube River]] valley through neutral [[Austria]]. The concept of a major tank battle along the Fulda Gap became a predominant element of [[NATO]] war planning during the [[Cold War]]. With such an eventuality in mind, weapons were evolved such as nuclear tube and missile artillery, the nuclear recoilless gun/tactical launcher [[Davy Crockett (nuclear device)|Davy Crockett]], [[Special Atomic Demolition Munition]]s, the [[AH-64 Apache]] attack helicopter, and [[Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II|A-10 ground attack aircraft]].

==Strategic location during the Cold War==
The northern route through the Gap passes south of the [[Knüllgebirge]] and continues around the northern flank of the [[Vogelsberg Mountains]]. The narrower southern route passes through the Fliede and Kinzig Valleys, with the Vogelsberg to the north and the [[Rhön Mountains|Rhön mountains]] and [[Spessart]] mountains to the south.<ref name=fulda /> More importantly, on emerging from the western exit of the Gap, encounters flat terrain from there to the river [[Rhine]], which would have counted in favour of Soviet attempts to reach and cross the Rhine before NATO could prevent this. The intervening [[Main (river)|Main River]] would have been less of an obstacle.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The Fulda Gap route was less suitable for mechanized troop movement than the [[North German Plain]], but offered an avenue of advance direct to [[Frankfurt am Main]]. Furthermore, the capital of the Federal Republic in [[Bonn]] was situated only 200 km to the west. A rapidly advancing Soviet or Warsaw Pact attack through the Fulda Gap, along the lines of [[Seven Days to the River Rhine]], could have also potentially cut the territory of West Germany in two parts, making the long-term existence of a West German state untenable.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==Strategic responses to the geographic feature==
[[File:Fulda Gap Terrain Features.png|thumb|300px|The topography around the Fulda Gap.]]

Strategists on both sides of the [[Iron Curtain]] understood the Fulda Gap's importance, and accordingly allocated forces to defend and attack it. The defense of the Fulda Gap was a mission of the U.S. [[US V Corps|V Corps]]. The actual [[Inner German border]] in the Fulda Gap was guarded by reconnaissance forces, the identification and structure of which evolved over the years of the Cold War.

From June 1945 until July 1946, reconnaissance and security along the border between the U.S. and [[Soviet occupation zone in Germany|Soviet zones of occupation in Germany]] in the area north and south of Fulda was the mission of elements of the U.S. [[3rd Infantry Division (United States)|3rd]] and [[1st Infantry Division (United States)|1st Infantry Divisions]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Stacy|first=William E.|url=https://history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/content.htm|chapter-url=https://history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/ch1.htm|title=US Army Border Operations in Europe|chapter=Chapter One: Early Post-War Border Operations – 1945–1946|website=history.army.mil|access-date=30 March 2019|archive-date=26 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326112937/https://history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/content.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> By July 1946, the 1st, 3rd, and 14th [[United States Constabulary|Constabulary]] Regiments, arranged from north to south, had assumed responsibility for inter-zonal border security, in an area that later became famous as the Cold War Fulda Gap.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/photos/map03.jpg|title=Border Ops, Map 3|access-date=30 March 2019|archive-date=9 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709132340/http://www.history.army.mil///documents/BorderOps/photos/map03.jpg|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[United States Constabulary|U.S. Constabulary]] as a headquarters was subsequently drawn down.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stacy|first=William E.|url=https://history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/content.htm|title=US Army Border Operations in Europe|chapter=Chapter Three: Transition Into a Tactical Force – 1950–1952|chapter-url=https://history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/ch3.htm|website=history.army.mil|access-date=30 March 2019|archive-date=26 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326112937/https://history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/content.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Individual constabulary regiments were retitled ''armored cavalry regiments''. This coincided with the 1951 upgrade of the U.S. Army's mostly administrative and occupation responsibilities in Germany to a combat army, via the arrival of four combat divisions from the United States. Thus, from 1951<ref>{{cite book|last=Stacy|first=William E.|url=https://history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/content.htm|title=US Army Border Operations in Europe|chapter=Chapter Three: Transition Into a Tactical Force – 1950–1952|chapter-url=https://history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/ch3.htm|website=history.army.mil|access-date=30 March 2019|archive-date=26 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326112937/https://history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/content.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> until 1972, the [[14th Armored Cavalry Regiment (United States)|14th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR)]] patrolled the Fulda Gap.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.14cav.org/a60a-history.html|title=History of the 14th ACR|access-date=2012-02-19|archive-date=2012-02-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217123835/http://www.14cav.org/a60a-history.html|url-status=live}}</ref> After the return of the [[11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (United States)|11th Armored Cavalry Regiment]] from Vietnam in 1972, the [[11th Armored Cavalry Regiment|11th ACR]] relieved the 14th ACR, and took over the reconnaissance mission in the Fulda Gap until the end of the Cold War.

The mission of the armored cavalry (heavy, mechanized [[reconnaissance]] units equipped with [[tank]]s and other armored vehicles) in peacetime was to watch the East-West border for signs of pre-attack Soviet army movement. The [[armored cavalry]]'s mission in a 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.

[[File:Fulda countryside.jpg|thumb|Terrain near the central German town of [[Fulda]].]]
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{{multiple image|total_width = 300
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| alt1 = Soldier of the U.S. [[11th Armored Cavalry Regiment]] on duty in the Fulda Gap during the Cold War.
| caption1 = A soldier of the U.S. [[11th Armored Cavalry Regiment]] on duty in the Fulda Gap during the Cold War.
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| alt2 = [[11th ACR]] memorial at the former Downs Barracks, Fulda, Germany.
| caption2 = [[11th ACR]] memorial at the former Downs Barracks, Fulda, Germany.
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The [[Armoured cavalry|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, and forcing advancing Warsaw Pact forces to deploy while the cavalry fought delaying actions. In order to defend the Fulda Gap and stop a Warsaw Pact advance, as opposed to conducting screening and delaying actions, U.S. [[V Corps (United States)|V Corps]] planned to move two divisions, one armored and one mechanized, forward from bases in the [[Frankfurt am Main|Frankfurt]] and [[Bad Kreuznach]] areas.<ref>TRADOC conducted a hypothetical wargame based on the defense of the city of Fulda which involved both US officers and retired Wehrmacht Generals. The simulation was designed to compare World War Two concepts formed in Russia against current American doctrine, [https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA097704.pdf BMD Corporation, "General Balck and von Mellenthin on Tactics: Implications for NATO Doctrine," December 19, 1980.], accessed February 2023</ref>

From 1947 until 1951, the [[1st Infantry Division (United States)|1st Infantry Division]] was the sole U.S. division in Germany, although the various Constabulary units taken together were equivalent in size to another division. U.S. Army forces in Germany were increased in 1951 as a result of [[Harry S. Truman|President Truman's]] 10 December 1950 declaration of a national emergency as a result of the [[Korean War]], with four divisions arriving from [[CONUS]]. This included the [[4th Infantry Division (United States)|4th Infantry Division]], which was stationed in the Frankfurt area, and the [[2nd Armored Division (United States)|2nd Armored Division]], which was located with its headquarters at [[Bad Kreuznach]] to the west of the Rhine River. Both of those were the divisions assigned to the newly activated [[V Corps (United States)|V Corps]]. In May/June 1956, the [[3rd Armored Division (United States)|3rd Armored Division]] (3rd AD) arrived, and was stationed around Frankfurt. In December 1957, the [[8th Infantry Division (United States)|8th Infantry Division (Mechanized)]] (8th ID) arrived, and was stationed in the Bad Kreuznach area. The two replaced divisions returned to the United States.

The following is a summary of US Cold War history in Germany from the 1950s. US Forces were headquartered at Frankfurt and therefore had an orientation that included the Fulda Gap.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/ArmoredCav/USAREUR_19th%20Armor%20Gp.htm |title=USAREUR Units - 19th Armor Gp |access-date=2013-01-16 |archive-date=2012-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013161557/http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/ArmoredCav/USAREUR_19th%20Armor%20Gp.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The 19th Armored Cav Group activated at Frankfurt on 2 January 1953. On 1 October 1953, the 19th Armd Cav Gp was redesignated as the 19th Armor Group. On 1 July 1955, the 19th Armor Group was replaced by the 4th Armor Group. 

The Seventh Army troop list of 30 June 1956 <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/7th%20Army/USAREUR_7th%20Army%20B.htm |title=USAREUR Units - 7th SUPCOM |access-date=2015-09-14 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063743/http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/7th%20Army/USAREUR_7th%20Army%20B.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> shows 4th Armor Group attached to [[V Corps (United States)|V Corps]], along with the U.S. divisions, 2d Armored Div, 3d Armored Div, and 10th Infantry Div. [[United States Army Europe and Africa|USAREUR]] Troop Lists dated 30 June 1958<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/7th%20Army/USAREUR_7th%20Army%20C.htm |title=USAREUR Units - 7th SUPCOM |access-date=2013-01-16 |archive-date=2012-10-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008222034/http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/7th%20Army/USAREUR_7th%20Army%20C.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> show V Corps as containing 3rd Armored Div.(HQ Frankfurt), 8th Infantry Div. (HQ Bad Kreuznach), 4th Armor Group (HQ Frankfurt), and 3rd Infantry Div., which was headquartered at [[Würzburg]]. 

After the 1963 ROAD reorganization, the 4th Armor Group was inactivated, and the 3rd Infantry Division headquartered at [[Würzburg]] was reassigned to VII Corps. The deployment of the 3rd Armored Division and the 8th Infantry Division to [[V Corps (United States)|V Corps]] remained stable until the end of the [[Cold War]]. In practice, it was unknown how effective [[V Corps (United States)|V Corps]] would have been in the event of war, due to the vast numbers of tanks and infantry that the Soviets were able to field. In response to the quantitative superiority of the Soviet forces, the U.S. deployed [[Atomic Demolition Munitions|Atomic Demolition Mines]] for many years in the Fulda Gap.<ref>"The History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: The Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Policy, Volume VI, 1955–56", by Kenneth W. Condit, (Washington: GPO, 1992)</ref> 

In the early '60s, the Fulda Gap was also protected by [[V Corps Artillery (United States)|V Corps Artillery]] units equipped with the medium-range [[MGM-5 Corporal]] guided missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. In 1962, the more reliable solid fuel [[MGM-29 Sergeant]] missile was deployed and remained in use until 1973 when it was replaced by the [[MGM-52 Lance]] missile.<ref>"Personal knowledge"</ref>

For many years, V Corps' principal adversary was the [[8th Guards Army (Soviet Union)|Soviet 8th Guards Army]], which was to be followed by additional armies, including the four armored divisions and one [[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.

Beginning in 1975, the Soviet Union's strategy for attacking Western Europe involved the use of [[operational manoeuvre group]]s to outflank NATO defensive positions such as the Fulda Gap.<ref>[http://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=30402 pp. 104–105 of the Jan–Feb 2010 issue] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111103646/http://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=30402 |date=2014-01-11 }} of Military Review, the journal of the U.S. Army's Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth KS.</ref>

From 1976 to 1984, the 4th Brigade of the [[4th Infantry Division (United States)|4th Infantry Division]] was garrisoned in [[Wiesbaden]] and also subordinated to U.S. V Corps.

From 1979 onwards, the first V Corps unit detailed to reinforce the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in the Fulda Gap in the event of hostilities was the 8th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, [[68th Armored Regiment (United States)|68th Armored Regiment (1-68 Armor)]], stationed at [[Wildflecken]] to the 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 other V Corps units could advance and defend. Also located in Wildflecken was the 108th Military Intelligence (MI) Btn, to which Delta Company Rangers was assigned. The Rangers' mission was to strike at the supply lines and command structures of any invading Soviet forces. 

144th Ordnance Company was in charge of much of the ammunition slated for the 8th Infantry Division and the 3rd Armor Division, as well as operating ASP #3 in Wildflecken. 144th Ord. was also responsible for chemical and nuclear ammunition for the Fulda Gap sector, operating ASP #3 and multiple Forward Storage and Transportation Sites. The [[54th Engineer Battalion (United States)]], also garrisoned at Wildflecken, was tasked with destroying critical bridges, roads, and other channels to impede any Soviet advance through the Fulda Gap, as well as provide critical engineering services to enable 1-68th Armor to ease the engagement of Soviet forces.

In September 1980, the 533rd Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion was reactivated in Frankfurt and assigned to the 3rd Armored Division.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasaa-home.org/history/lineage/533.htm|title=533rd MI Bn|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721232731/http://www.nasaa-home.org/history/lineage/533.htm|archive-date=2009-07-21}}</ref> The 533rd MI Battalion deployed assets in the Fulda Gap to provide [[electronic warfare]] capability for the 3rd AD Commander. The missions of the MI battalion were to identify and target invading forces for artillery and [[air strike]]s, and to intrude on enemy radio networks using [[radio jamming]] and deceptive communications by [[Defense Language Institute]] trained Russian and German linguists. The 3rd Armored Division was reinforced with an organic [[attack helicopter]] wing, and was the first military unit to deploy the attack helicopter [[Boeing AH-64 Apache|McDonnell Douglas, later Boeing, AH-64 Apache]] in 1987.

==See also==
*[[Observation Post Alpha]] – Cold War observation post that overlooked a part of the Fulda Gap, now the site of a Cold War memorial
*[[Seven Days to the River Rhine]]
*[[Focșani Gate]]
*[[GIUK gap]]
*[[Suwałki Gap]]
*[[Belfort Gap]]
*[[Fulda_Gap_(game)|Fulda Gap (board game)]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*Faringdon, Hugh. ''Strategic Geography: NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and the Superpowers''. [[Routledge]] (1989). {{ISBN|0-415-00980-4}}.
*Harper, John L. ''American Visions of Europe''. [[Cambridge University Press]] (1994). {{ISBN|0-521-45483-2}}.
*Vol.1, ''Encyclopedia of World Geography'', R.W. McColl, Ed., 2005, Subj: "Fulda Gap" (by Ivan B. Welch). {{ISBN|978-0-8160-5786-3}}.
*{{cite book |last= Tucker-Jones  |first= Anthony  |title= The German Battle of the Bulge |accessdate=  |edition=  |orig-date=  |year=  2022 |publisher= Osprey  |location= Oxford, England |isbn=978-1-4728-4739-3|oclc= |pages= 10–12 }}

==External links==
*[http://www.history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/content.htm US Army Border Operations 1948–83] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101106031401/http://www.history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/content.htm |date=2010-11-06 }} reproduced by the [[United States Army Center of Military History]]
*[http://www.14cav.org/ 14th Cavalry Association]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060204005525/http://www.14cav.org/a5.html Squadrons, 14th CAV]
*[http://www.history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/ch6.htm#m11 11th CAV AOs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608053209/http://www.history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/ch6.htm#m11 |date=2010-06-08 }}
*[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]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090903/http://www.1-33rdar.org/fulagap2.htm From Fulda Gap button, one of 5 limited Fulda Gap pages at 1st Battalion 33rd Armor site]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20161013194415/http://1-33rdar.org/Fuldagupbp.htm Fulda Gap Big Picture from Decker's 1st Bn, 33rd Armor site]
*[http://www.rhoener-reservisten.de/wta/us-army/units/1-68.html 1st Bn 68th Armor at Wildflecken was a Fulda Gap screening force] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303193928/http://www.rhoener-reservisten.de/wta/us-army/units/1-68.html |date=2016-03-03 }}
*[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/oplan-4102.htm OPLAN 4102]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234102/http://www.1-33rdar.org/gapattack.htm Fulda Gap Concerns in 1985]

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[[Category:Cold War military history of Germany]]
[[Category:Fulda (district)|Gap]]
[[Category:Landforms of Hesse]]
[[Category:Plains of Germany]]
[[Category:Military operations involving the Warsaw Pact]]
[[Category:NATO]]
[[Category:Soviet Army]]