U.S. Army Berlin (USAB) was a command of the United States Army created in December 1961 at the height of the Berlin Wall crisis. USAB was a combined command with the Headquarters, U.S. Command Berlin (USCOB). This combined organization was sometimes called the "Berlin Command". USCOB/USAB was a separate command from the U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) which had previously been in command of American troops in West Berlin.
The major general who commanded this organization held the title of "Commandant; U.S. Commander Berlin; Commander, U.S. Army Berlin". A brigadier general served as the "Commander, Berlin Brigade (Infantry); Deputy Commander, U.S. Army Berlin and Community Commander".
The shoulder sleeve insignia adopted by USAB was the same as the patch used by the Berlin Brigade – the USAREUR patch with a Berlin tab.
Its headquarters were located at the Clay Headquarters Compound on Clayallee in Berlin's Zehlendorf district.
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Units under the command of USAB included the Berlin Brigade, the Medical and Dental Activities, Tempelhof Central Airport (United States Air Force base), Armed Forces Network (radio and television affiliate AFN Berlin), the U.S. Military Liaison Mission and the United States Army Field Station Berlin.
Troops assigned to USAB were housed at several kasernes in Zehlendorf and Steglitz, including Andrews Barracks, McNair Barracks, and Turner Barracks. Families lived in the housing areas near the Clay Compound, and in the Düppel, Dahlem, and Lichterfelde neighborhoods. Truman Plaza, located across Clayallee from the Clay Headquarters Compound, held the post exchange, commissary, Army post office (APO), American Express bank, Stars & Stripes book store, barber, florist, Deutsche Bundespost, and the Major Arthur D. Nicholson Memorial Library. Schools for the children of service members, Thomas A. Roberts Berlin American Elementary School (TAR) and Berlin-American High School [1] (BAHS), were located close to Truman Plaza.
After the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990, the presence of U.S. military forces in Berlin was no longer necessary, but was retained (along with the British and French forces) until the Russian military withdrew from eastern Germany. USAB was inactivated in July 1994 with President Bill Clinton participating in the casing of the colors ceremony. Since then, USAB housing areas, schools, and the Army Hospital have reverted to civilian use, some for German citizens, and others being taken over by the U.S. Embassy. Truman Plaza was razed in anticipation of new housing for employees of the German federal government relocating from the former capital Bonn, as yet unbuilt. Across the street from Truman Plaza was the Berlin Brigade headquarters, part of which serves as an annex of the Embassy of the United States in Berlin. The nearby library and adjoining Outpost Theater have been converted into the Allied Museum, which documents the American, British and French presence in Berlin during the Cold War.
Command organization in the late 1980s –
Footnote: (1) Have distinction of being the longest continuously assigned units in Berlin. Both units arrived to Berlin in a 37 vehicle convoy on 2 JUL 1945. The commanders of both units were high school buddies. Dr Merle Farris, first Commander of the 168th MED DET (VS), and his wife (Myrna, attended the joint MEDDAC, DENTAC, 168th MED DET(VS) deactivation ceremony on 10 MAY 1994.
(2) The 287th MP Company was reactivated on 17 February 2008 at Fort Riley, Kansas under the 1st Infantry Division.
(3) The 42nd Engineer Company (now known as 42nd Clearance Company) was reactivated on 12 May 2010 at Warner Barracks, Bamberg, Germany under the 18th Engineer Brigade.