MANNHEIM,GERMANY
The Air Support Operations Center AN/TSQ-209 Communication Central system was designed and deployed by the National Security Division?s Integrated Defense Systems. The Air Support Operations Center or ASOC is an Air Force unit collocated with the Land Component Commander, responsible for managing air assets in support of ground maneuver. By January 2001, the INEEL has fielded six units, two each at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, Fort Hood in Texas and Sullivan Barracks in Viernheim, Germany. Six more were in the works for 604 th ASOS at Camp Red Cloud in Korea, 111 th ASOS at Ft. Lewis, Washington and for the 182 ASOS Unit in Illinois. Each base receives two units for tactical ?leap-frogging?. One AN/TSQ-209 could be deployed and as the troops advance, the second would follow the maneuver units as the corps moves forward and become the primary unit.
ARMY BARRACKS 
My dad was stationed at Mannheim, Sullivan Barracks, from Jan-Dec 1953. He just made 95 y/o & spent an hour talking to me about his time there this AM. One question will get him going for quite awhile 😊. Would love to hear from anyone who may have been there during that time or knows someone who was. Trying to learn all I can while he’s still with us. Wish I had listened more when we were both younger.
I was stationed at Sullivan Barracks from ’62-65 in the 531st Ord Co maintaining tracked and wheeled behicles. Our barracks and shops were at the back gate. Your dad probably had to be in uniform to leave the post. We didn’t have to wear our uniform but were forbidden to wear Levi’s or a zipper jacket. We had two passes: BFV to go to the commissary, theater or American Express and our Class A pass which allowed us to travel within a 50 mile radius. I believe we carried our BFV pass in our wallet but had to check out our class A pass at the orderly room and we had a 10:00 curfew. It was very dicfficult to own a car and motorcycles were out of the question. I stopped there on vacation in ’71 and it was way different. GI’s wore anything they wanted and even camped in tents along the river in Heidelberg. I’d like to know what things were like when your dad was there. Learn all you can.
He’s never mentioned riding in a vehicle while there but mentioned that there was something like a trolley car system that they used. He said they wore fatigues if they left base but wore dress uniforms to church. He has what we call the Rhine River story where he & another PFC were walking back from having a few beers & while crossing the river, he determined he wouldn’t “carry on like that & worry Mama like the older brothers did when they returned from service.” He stayed true to it. I’ve never known him to touch a drop of alcohol my entire life. I would like to visit there one day & walk across that bridge.
The “trolley” is undoubtedly the Oberreinische Electronica Gaselshaft (OEG pronounced O E Gay). We boarded it right outside the gate of Sullivan Barracks and could ride it to Heidelberg or Mannheim. I went to church in Heidelberg and spent a lot of very pleasant Sunday afternoons there. It was a wonderful city then. Heidelberg was never bombed and I think Mannheim took a lot of damage but hardly showed any of it in my time other than some pock marks on aome of the buildings. I suppose it was still being rebuilt in your dad’s time. I have looked at Sullivan Barracks on Google recently and everything is gone except for the chapel and a couple of other buildings. It seems it is being replaced with German civilian housing. Ben Franklin Village is outside the front gate and consists of the theater, gym and American Express. Those buildings are still there.
I was in Mannheim at Furnari Barracks 85-89…in the PSC.
I was assigned to the 531st Ordinance Co, 81st Ord Bn on Sullivan Barracks from 1962-1965. Some names I remember are James Eversole, Richard Chavez, Kenneth Wilson, Percy Taylor, Jerry Verscheur, Green, John Tomalonis, Haagenschmidt, James E White, Doody, Sgt Lowe. Any contact with any of these guys would be greatly appreciated.
anyone from amfl 77-79
I was there with the third medium tank battalion, 35th armor from February, ’60 to
September, ’62. Best time of my life and most memorable….I think of it every day!
Richard, I arrived at the 531st Ord Co just as you left. I probably worked on some of your vehicles. As you drove out the back gate, our barracks were on your left and our shops were on your right.
I was in between Heidelberg and Mannheim. Hammond’s Barracks in Seckenheim. Compared to the other Kasernes in the Mannheim district, Hammond’s was very small. At that time, 69-72 it was Central Army Group, CENTAG.
Duty there was easy as we never went to the field and we observed both American and German holidays. A company of the Bundesfehr was stationed there too. For those lucky German soldiers, it was Disneyland. They were also paid equivalent to the American troops.
Seckenheim had the usual GI bar near the gate and my favorite eatery was the Loewen down a few blocks. Excellent Cordon Bleu. I was TDY to Heidelberg in 2001, I made a trip to the Loewen. It wasn’t on the menu that night, but I explained to the owner I was a regular in my time at Hammonds Barracks and I referred friends going to Heidelberg to visit Loewen. He prepared the wonderful dish for me!
Seckenheim had the Strausse transit out the gate. It was easy to go to either Mannheim or Heidelberg. My German fraulien lived in Mannheim at 16 Stamitz Strausse, just north of the Kurfalz Brucke. Great memories.
HHC 5/68 AR BN from 87 to 90. Spent most of my time at the music center right behind the sandwich shop and Uncle Sam’s club in downtown Mannheim. Also loved going over to Heidelberg and checking out the castle there. Great times.