RIGGERS OF THE 50’S
OPERATION GYROSCOPE
The Start
NO COMPANY TO REPLACE
LAST DAY AT FORT CAMPBELL
Shipment of Parachutes
Welcome to Germany
ARRIVAL AT GABLINGEN KASERNE
OPERATION GYROSCOPE
Author’s
Note
I did find a couple of articles
on the 11th Airborne Parachute, Supply and
Maintenance Company part in Operation Gyroscope. I’ll
let you decide what is fact and what is flavored by almost
50 years of memory (or imagination).
THE START
The first element of the
11th Airborne Division left Fort Campbell, KY on
January 14, 1956 reroute to Augsburg, Germany as part of
Operation Gyroscope. The 11th Airborne Division
had arrived at Fort Campbell from Japan about 7 years
earlier. If memory serves me the timing of Operation
Gyroscope came as one of the conditions of the treaty that
ended World War II expired. That condition was that the US
would not station shock troops in Europe for 10 years. 1956
(start of our move) minus 1945(end of WWII) equals about 10
years.
Operation Gyroscope would occur
from January through March 1956 or 3 months. 3 months, that
has a familiar ring to it. Ah! Jump status, but more
importantly jump pay, requires a jump of at least once
every 3 months. For some reason the brass were concerned
about this, and their solution was for the 11th
Airborne Parachute, Supply and Maintenance Company
(PS&M or PM) would support jumping on both sides of the
Atlantic.
Airborne Regimental Combat Team departed from Fort Campbell for
Germany so did 30 Riggers. The Riggers would fly to Germany
with sufficient equipment to support the
503rd and other units of the
11th Airborne Division as they arrived in
Germany with many troopers needing a
“pay” jump. This advanced Rigger team would set
up shop at Gablingen Kaserne, Germany. PS&M Company was
responsible for keeping the 11th Airborne
Division jumping both in Europe and Fort Campbell
until the entire division was in Europe. With 30 Riggers in
Germany, and the extra work load of packing all the
equipment for shipment to Germany, PS&M Company had to
work two shifts (5:30 AM to 9:30 PM) to keep up. However,
there was no let down in our responsibility as
Riggers.
NO COMPANY TO REPLACE
Unlike most Companies there was
no similar company in the 8th Infantry Division
to exchange equipment with. We could not just arrive with
the “shirt on our backs” and replace the other
guys who had left with only “the shirt on their
backs.” We were also being replaced by the
101st PS&M Company at Fort Campbell and they
would need the equipment we were currently using.
Therefore, PS&M Company had to acquire new equipment
and take it all to Germany - personal gear and field
equipment, parachutes, packing equipment, kitchen
equipment, vehicles and motor pool equipment and the list
goes on. No Sweat! AIRBORNE ALL THE
WAY!
No sweat, but only for those who
did not have to do it! All the equipment except the
personal issued clothing, had to be requisitioned, and you
remember the amount of paper work the Army required. We got
new vehicles which included semi-trucks, fork lifts capable
of lifting a rigged 2 ½ ton truck, trucks, jeeps,
etc. We had to obtain new parachutes, packing equipment
including pack tables. Parachute Maintenance needed sewing
machines, thread, fabric, webbing and other equipment
necessary for maintaining and repairing parachutes. Motor
pool need the tools and equipment required to maintain the
large fleet of vehicles required to move parachute and
personnel to the aircraft loading point and drop zones. All
this equipment had to be inspected, prepared for a trip to
New York and the trip across the ocean. Most equipment and
supplies were packed into Conex Containers and loaded onto
railroad flat cars for the trips to and from the sea ports.
There seemed to be an endless string of flat cars leaving
Fort Campbell with PS&M Company’s
equipment.
LAST DAY AT FORT CAMPBELL
The day began for PS&M Co as
usual. There was a scheduled jump that day so along with
their regular duties their Operations had to coordinate
with the various Regiments, Battalions, and Companies that
had scheduled jumps that day. Business as usual. As Issue
Point crew was sent to the Fort Campbell Air Port, along
with sufficient main and reserve parachutes, for that
day’s jumps. This crew of Riggers would issue
parachutes, and perform a Rigger Check on each trooper
before he entered the aircraft. There was also a crew from
PS&M Co at the drop zone, Yamoto that day, to load the
used parachutes and transport them to the drying/shakeout
towers located in the PS&M Co area. They supervised the
shakeout and drying of the used parachutes. The parachutes
would then be taken to the pack sheds for inspection and
repacking. At the end of the day Riggers of the Parachute
Packing, Maintenance and Heavy Drop Sect ions left the
sheds to return to their barracks. Same as most normal
days, except that day was February 8, 1956 and it was the
last day Riggers of PS&M Co packed parachutes at Fort
Campbell, KY. Most of the 210 remaining Riggers would began
their trip to Gablingen, Germany where the advanced crew of
Riggers already had the 11th Airborne PS&M
Co were in operation.
Shipment of Parachutes
PS&M Co shipped over 30,000
parachutes to Germany. Each parachute was inspected and
placed, unpacked, in a box designed for over seas shipment.
This was accomplished with “Operation box up”,
which consisted of a assembly line of 54 men standing along
side roller-conveys. As the parachutes start down the
assembly line they are first enclosed in a waterproof
paper, then placed in a water-proof bag. The bag was placed
in a cardboard box and all the box flaps glued. Then the
flaps were sealed with tape. Upon arrival at Gablingen
Kaserne each of the boxes taken from the cargo container
and unboxed. Each parachute had to be shaken out, inspected
and packed. All 30,000 of them.
The main element of PS&M
Company went by train to New York, NY.
We boarded the United States
Naval Ship, General Alexander M. Patch (T-AP 122) for the
trip across the Atlantic.
We arrived at the port of
Bremerhaven, Germany.
Welcome to Germany
Finally the main element of
PS&M Company arrived at their new home in Gablingen
Kaserne on March 10th. Time to start unpacking
all the equipment that had already arrived in the
“land of thepaper nickle and strange road signs.
The Paper Nickel”
Strange Road
Signs
Remember the Royal Order of
Atlantic Voyageurs?
ARRIVAL AT GABLINGEN KASERNE
The 11th Airborne
PS&M Company was stationed at the Gablingen Kaserne not
at Augsburg Kaserne where most of the 11th
Airborne Division was stationed.
The Germans used the Gablingen
Kaserne as a small fighter base during WW II. We used their
aircraft hangers as pack sheds and storage of parachutes
and supplies. The hangers also had “barracks”
space for most of PS&M Company. The fighter airbase had
a dirt runway that we used as the Drop Zone.
The advanced group of Riggers,
in addition to supporting some jumping, had started the
setup of PS&M Company’s new home. A picture was
shown previously of some of the 30,000 boxes of all type of
parachutes that were waiting our arrival. There was a lot
of other boxes, crates, and equipment that had to be
unpacked and prepared for use. Some of the supplies and
equipment were shipped in wooden crates, as shown at the
right.
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