"Battalion Move out Standard (US/NATO) 1970's-80's?" Topic

Just wondering if anyone who was there recalls the planned standard for the Combat Arms (Battalion) size units to be assembled and "On the Road" out of the Kasernes in Germany in the late cold war.

Please, no "Speculative" answers. My only firm data point is that my HQ unit was supposed to roll out in two hours, obviously we only did this when there was a scripted, pre planned exercise with prearranged movement clearance.

I was in a US mech battalion in Germany in the late seventies. Two hours was the standard to be ready to move when an alert was called.

Two hours from alert to dispersion in the local training area was the standard of the heavy artillery battalion I was assigned to '84-'86. We did it every month, and I don't recall it ever being a problem even if we didn't know it was coming. It was a point of pride. Not knowing it was coming usually led to some individual embarrassment (i.e. "Sergeant, can you drive, I'm still drunk,"), but the battalion could make it out the back gate in time. I was assigned to the Bn S2 shop for about a year, and we were supposed to be out the back gate in an hour and have TOC running by the second hour to C2 the battalion's deployment. Getting out the gate within an hour was tough. Suffice to say I had to cut a few corners to make that happen.

pjm

My Air Cav Troop in Germany could easily get all the troops and vehicles out the door of the Kaserne in two hours. Problem was, all our aircraft were at a private German airfield on the other side of the Weser river. It was a 45 minute drive, including a ferry boat ride to get there!

We had long and contentious debates about whether it was better for the aircrew and crew chiefs to drive our POVs straight to the airfield and prep the aircraft and have the troops billeted in the barracks draw our weapons and other gear marry up with them at the assembly area, or muster at the Kaserne and go to the airfield in military vehicles. For alert purposes we only practiced the latter scenario.

More than one Brigade Commander found it ludicrous that his Air Cav troop had to take a ferry boat to go to war.