Courtesy Photo | A contractor tows an Abrams tank from Honor of Arc, an American roll-on and roll-off...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. - For nearly 70 years U.S. Army battle tanks have rested quietly on German soil until March 18, where they embarked for the U.S. The 22 Abrams tanks arrived back to the U.S. aboard American roll-on, roll-off vessel Honor of the Arc, April 10, 2013, at Joint Base Charleston – Weapons Station, S.C.
“We’re conducting business as usual with performing this operation,” said U.S. Army Capt. Joshua Turner, 841st Transportation Battalion operations officer. “It is an honor to be recognizing the closing of a chapter and having the 841st Transportation Battalion as part of it.”
The departure of the last Abrams tanks coincides with the deactivation of two of the Army’s heavy brigades in Germany. The 170th Infantry Brigade in Baumholder disbanded in 2012. On March 18, the remaining tanks were loaded at the 21st Theater Sustainment Command’s railhead in Kaiserslautern, Germany, where they then made the journey to the shipping port in Bremerhaven, Germany.
"After nearly seven decades of being assigned in Europe, it's an honor for the 841st Transportation Battalion to receive and offload the final shipment of Abrams battle tanks at TC Dock Joint Base Charleston and onward moved to their final destination on the West Coast," said Sgt. Maj. Marvin L. Bonner, 841st Transportation Battalion sergeant major. "As the military continues to downsize its forces and restructure, it is definitely the end of an era in Europe Command."
The tanks arrived on the European continent beginning on D-Day in France, June 6, 1944. By September 1944, the first tanks from the 5th Armored Division had pushed forward into Germany. After World War II, the majority of the Sherman tanks used were sent back to the United States.
During the Korean War, a new surge of U.S. tanks arrived in Germany to act as a defense force to protect Western Europe from the Soviet threat. Tanks remained in Germany throughout the years to deploy in support of missions in the Middle East. At its peak, Germany was home to 20 U.S. armored divisions, which amounts to about 6,000 tanks.
| Date Taken: | 04.10.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.17.2013 15:41 |
| Story ID: | 105361 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 166 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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