Welcome to the Bavarian Millitary Community

7 Welcome to the U.S.Army Garrison Grafenwoehr. Walther von Reichenau, Majors Heinz Guderian and Erich von Manstein, Lieutenant Colonel Franz Halder and Colonel Gerd von Rundstedt, amongst others – all of whom would invent, or go on to perfect, the strategies and tactics of Blitzkrieg, in great part on the ranges of the GTA. In 1927 Lieutenant Claus von Stauffen- berg, a key leader of the German resistance to Hitler, is training on the ranges of Grafenwoehr. 1928 In the parliamentary elections of 1928 less than three-percent of Ger- mans vote for the National Socialist “Nazi” Party. U.S. War Department officials request Congress fund a Regular Army with an enlisted strength of 150,000 Soldiers. 1929 January - The world economic crisis at the end of the decade critically destabilizes the government of the Weimar Republic. Various extreme political parties emerge from the civil unrest. A world- wide Great Depression begins which will last more than a decade. 1930/31 The U.S. Armed Forces was limited in the 1920s and 1930s, following the Great Depression. By 1939, in response to the rise of Nazism and Japanese expansion, the U.S. Army grew consid- erably, but was not well-equipped or trained for war. The U.S. Army Air Corps was reorga- nized in June 1941, as the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF), but remained subordinate to ground command- ers. By June 1941, shortly before the United States was drawn into WWII, the Army had grown to nearly 1.5 million. 1932 January - The German government announces it will no longer adhere to the limitations set forth by the Versailles Treaty. In the summer of 1932, General Heinz Gude- rian tests his theories of mobility and maneuverability, and the possibilities of coordinated tank maneuvers with infantry and air power. 1933 January - Hitler is elected Chancellor. The German National Socialist Party is on the rise. 1934 August - German President Hindenberg dies. Hitler, as Reich Chancellor, transfers the president’s powers to himself and appro- priates authority of the German states. Bavaria, and all of its military posts, including the Grafenwoehr Train- ing Area, are now directly under his authority. 1935 February - Heavy Artillery firing at the Training Area commences. March - Hitler reintroduces mandatory military service in the German Reich and the army is increased from 100,000 to 550,00 troops, and its name is changed from “Reichswehr” to “Wehr- macht”. The scope and tempo of train- ing at the GTA grows exponentially. History of the Grafenwoehr Training Area