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British Army exercises boost UK military presence across Europe .

Around 8,000 British Army troops will conduct a series of planned exercises across Europe this summer in one of the largest deployments since the Cold War, the British Government states. The exercises will see 72 Challenger 2 tanks, 12 AS90 self-propelled howitzers and 120 Warrior armoured fighting vehicles deploy to countries from Finland to North Macedonia, demonstrating the Army’s modernisation into a lethal, agile and global force. Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

Tens of thousands of troops from NATO and Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) allies and partners are involved in the exercises. The high readiness forces from the Lead Armoured Task Force and Air Manoeuvre Task Force will take part.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: ‘’The security of Europe has never been more important. These exercises will see our troops join forces with allies and partners across NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force in a show of solidarity and strength in one of the largest shared deployments since the Cold War. Operating across Europe, the British Army will stand alongside partners, combining our capabilities and shared values, promoting peace and security’’.

The programme follows the Defence Secretary’s ‘Future Soldier’ announcement last November, setting out how the British Army is evolving into a more lethal, agile, and global force in line with the UK Government’s Integrated Review. These exercises showcase the Army’s capabilities and readiness, demonstrating the central role it plays in NATO deterrence.

Troops from B Squadron of the Queen’s Royal Hussars have deployed to Finland this week to take part in Exercise Arrow. They will be embedded into a Finnish Armoured Brigade, with participation from other partners including the US, Latvia and Estonia. The exercise will improve the ability of UK and Finnish troops to work alongside each other as part of the JEF, deterring Russian aggression in Scandinavia and the Baltic states.

In May, Exercise Hedgehog will see the Royal Welsh Battlegroup and the Royal Tank Regiment exercising on the Estonia-Latvia border alongside 18,000 NATO troops, including French and Danish, who are part of the British-led NATO enhanced Forward Presence. Hedgehog is the biggest military exercise in Estonia and takes place every four years.

Commander Field Army Lieutenant General Ralph Wooddisse said: ‘’The UK makes a significant contribution to the defence of Europe and the deterrence of Russian aggression. The British Army’s series of exercises is fundamental to both. We continue to deploy across Europe, from the Baltic to the Aegean, to train and fight alongside our allies and partners, providing powerful, capable and ready forces to support NATO and show the UK’s commitment to peace and security. A wide range of units from the Field Army will be involved, from light and airborne forces to helicopters and armoured forces, supported by artillery, electronic warfare, air defence, surveillance drones, engineers and logisticians. The scale of the deployment, coupled with the professionalism, training and agility of the British Army, will deter aggression at a scale not seen in Europe this century’’.

Alongside Exercise Hedgehog, Exercise Defender in Poland is ongoing until late May, with 1,000 soldiers from the King’s Royal Hussars Battlegroup and C Squadron of the Light Dragoons deployed alongside troops from 11 partner nations including Poland, Denmark and the United States. This exercise involves Challenger 2 tanks and other armoured vehicles deploying from the NATO Forward Holding Base in Sennelager, Germany. The deployment is supported by 104 Theatre Sustainment Brigade operating from the UK and in bases in Europe.

Exercise Swift Response, which also began this week, sees elements of 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team and 1 Aviation Brigade Combat Team operate alongside French, American, Italian, and Albanian counterparts in North Macedonia. There are 4,500 personnel on the exercise including 2,500 British troops. The exercise involves parachute drops, helicopter-borne air assaults and sees a company of French paratroopers integrated into the 2 Parachute Regiment Battlegroup and an Italian battlegroup working to a British chain of command.

These exercises showcase the scale and significance of the British Army’s contribution to the defence of Europe and highlight the continued importance of the leadership role which UK plays as a member of NATO and the JEF.

In addition to the Army’s programme, the UK will deploy a major headquarters to the Baltic region, in support of the JEF. The Standing Joint Force HQ (SJFHQ) will establish three linked nodes - in Latvia, Lithuania and the third at their home base at Northwood HQ in London, the first operational deployment for the headquarters. The UK is the framework nation for the JEF, a coalition of like-minded partners, able to respond rapidly to crises in the High North, North Atlantic, Baltic Sea region and further afield. Over 200 military personnel are involved in the operation, including specialists in cyber, space and information operations.

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UK steps up to take command of NATO task force

UK forces have taken command of NATO’s Response Force and its flagship Very High Readiness Joint Task Force.

Defence Minister Earl Howe witnessed the handover of the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force at an official ceremony at Imjin Barracks, Gloucester. Crown Copyright.

UK forces have taken command of NATO’s Response Force’s Land Component and its flagship Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), committing thousands of troops to be on standby and ready to deploy within days.

Defence Minister Earl Howe witnessed the handover to the UK’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) at an official ceremony at its headquarters at Imjin Barracks, Gloucester. This includes the VJTF, a force that comprises of 3,000 British troops standing ready, supported by NATO allies, to respond to any threat to the alliance.

As the UK takes over from Spain, the 20th Armoured Brigade will lead VJTF with the 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, 26 Regiment Royal Artillery, 35 Engineer Regiment and 1 Logistic Support Regiment also contributing troops.

The US, Denmark, Spain, Norway and Poland will support the UK brigade, adding capabilities such as armoured infantry companies, aviation and mechanised infantry.

Further projecting our global influence, the Royal Air Force has also taken the lead in the air component of the NATO Response Force.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:

With the Alliance’s second biggest and rising Defence budget, Britain is at the heart of NATO. In heading up the VJTF, the UK is taking another leading position in NATO and is sending a clear message that Britain is stepping up to our global defence commitments. The UK’s Armed Forces stand ready, at a moment’s notice, to defend our allies and protect the British national interest.

Leading the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force is the first of a stream of activity which will see the UK stepping up its leading role in NATO.

Attending the official ceremony Defence Minister Earl Howe added:

Witnessing today’s handover, it’s clear to see that our forces are ready to take the lead in the NATO alliance, one of the most important guarantors of British security.

The UK will also deliver one of four battalions to NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence in the Baltic States and Poland, with a battalion being sent to Estonia from early 2017 and a company deployed to Poland.

In October, the Defence Secretary announced that the UK would commit RAF Typhoon aircraft to the NATO Southern Air Policing mission, offering reassurance to the Black Sea allies. Deployed from RAF Coningsby, the Typhoons will be based at Mihail Kogălniceanu Airbase, Romania for three months in summer 2017.

Backed by a £178 billion equipment plan and defence budget rising in real terms for the rest of this parliament, the UK has the second biggest defensive budget in NATO and is one of five countries meeting the NATO 2% spending target.

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British Army to send 8,000 troops on European exercises this summer

Uk defence secretary ben wallace says security in region 'has never been more important'.

Tens of thousands of troops from Nato and Joint Expeditionary Force allies and partners will be involved in the exercises. AFP

Britain is sending 8,000 troops for drills in Eastern Europe in one of its biggest deployments since the end of the Cold War as Nato steps up its deterrence against a newly hostile Russia .

The exercises, stretching from Finland to North Macedonia, will see troops join forces with Nato and other allies backed by military hardware including 72 Challenger 2 tanks, 120 Warrior armoured fighting vehicles and 12 AS90 tracked artillery guns.

Lieutenant General Ralph Wooddisse, a senior army commander, said the exercises planned over the next two months were fundamental to "the defence of Europe and the deterrence of Russian aggression".

It comes with Nato redrawing its defence strategy on its eastern flank and countries such as Poland, Estonia and Latvia increasing military spending after Russia invaded Ukraine , prompting fears of further aggression by the Kremlin.

“The security of Europe has never been more important,” said UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.

“These exercises will see our troops join forces with allies and partners across Nato and the Joint Expeditionary Force in a show of solidarity and strength in one of the largest shared deployments since the Cold War.

“Operating across Europe, the British Army will stand alongside partners, combining our capabilities and shared values, promoting peace and security.”

pic.twitter.com/R5cK0JP64i — Rt. Hon Ben Wallace MP (@BWallaceMP) April 29, 2022

The programme follows the defence secretary’s “Future Soldier” announcement last November, setting out how the British Army is evolving into a more lethal, agile and global force in line with the UK government’s Integrated Review.

The exercises showcase the British Army’s capabilities and readiness, demonstrating the central role it plays in Nato deterrence, it said in a statement.

Troops from the Queen’s Royal Hussars have deployed to Finland this week to take part in Exercise Arrow, which will see them working with a non-Nato force at a time when the country is contemplating a move to join the Western Alliance. Finland's neutral status is a leftover pillar of the Cold War and Moscow has signalled its readiness to escalate its strategic posture in response.

The deployed UK troops will be embedded into a Finnish Armoured Brigade, with participation from other partners including the US, Latvia and Estonia. The exercise will improve the ability of British and Finnish troops to work alongside each other as part of the Joint Expeditionary Force, deterring Russian aggression in Scandinavia and the Baltic states, a Ministry of Defence statement said.

High readiness forces from the Lead Armoured Task Force and Air Manoeuvre Task Force will also take part in the drills.

Next month Exercise Hedgehog will see the Royal Welsh Battlegroup and the Royal Tank Regiment exercising on the Estonia-Latvia border alongside 18,000 Nato troops, including soldiers from France and Denmark, who are part of the British-led Nato enhanced Forward Presence. Hedgehog is the biggest military exercise in Estonia and takes place every four years.

Alongside Exercise Hedgehog, Exercise Defender in Poland will continue until late May, with 1,000 soldiers from the King’s Royal Hussars Battlegroup and C Squadron of the Light Dragoons deployed alongside troops from 11 partner nations including Poland, Denmark and the US.

Exercise Swift Response, which also began this week, includes elements of 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team and 1 Aviation Brigade Combat Team operating alongside their French, American, Italian and Albanian counterparts in North Macedonia.

In addition to the army’s programme, the UK will establish a major headquarters in the Baltic region, in support of the Joint Expeditionary Force.

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A costly failure: patton’s raid to liberate hammelburg.

Allied intelligence believed that most captured American officers were being held at the Hammelburg prisoner of war camp, Oflag XIII-B. This population likely included Patton’s son-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel John Waters, but there was no way to be sure.

On the evening of March 25, 1945, sensitive orders made their way down from Lieutenant General George S. Patton, commander of Third US Army, to the 4th Armored Division. His orders directed a no-notice armored raid to liberate the Americans imprisoned at Oflag XIII-B prisoner-of-war camp near Hammelburg, Germany, where Allied intelligence believed many captured American officers were being held. This population probably included Patton’s son-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel John Waters, but there was no way to be sure. Still, despite the camp’s location more than 50 miles beyond friendly lines, Patton intended to find out. 

This was not the first such liberation raid to take place during World War II. In fact, General Douglas MacArthur’s troops had recently conducted four successful, high-profile raids in the Philippines to free prisoners of war. One of the raids, conducted in northern Luzon on February 1, 1945, by a force of American Rangers and Filipino guerrillas, made the front page of the London edition of Stars and Stripes the next day under the headline, “Rangers Bring ’Em Back to Life.” Historian Martin Blumenson wrote that Patton, upon hearing about these raids, reportedly said he intended to take action that would “make MacArthur look like a piker.”  [1]

Finding A Commander

Patton flew to XII Corps headquarters on March 26 to meet with the corps commander, Major General Manton S. Eddy. According to his diary, Patton ordered Eddy to send an expedition “east about 60 miles for the purpose of recapturing some 900 American prisoners.” [2]  Eddy was shocked, realizing that this would send part of his command east while the rest of the corps was moving north toward the Ruhr pocket.

Eddy asked Patton to reconsider, remarking that the army commander would be the target of severe criticism if the mission failed. Patton, however, had his mind made up. He told Eddy to send the mission to the 4th Armored Division, commanded by Brigadier General William M. Hoge.

When Hoge received the order, he objected to it as well. Hoge was a talented combat engineer officer who had led Combat Command B of the 9th Armored Division during the Ardennes Counteroffensive and, earlier that month, in the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River at Remagen. His concerns about the mission were based on hard-fought experience gained while leading his soldiers in some of the US Army’s most successful operations. [3]

Patton’s order had few details, but it did impose significant constraints on the conduct of the mission. Hoge was to form a small task force, less than battalion-sized, and prepare for it to conduct the raid the next day. The division had just spent 36 hours in continuous combat; it needed rest and replacements. Hoge also worried that such a small task force would lack the combat power needed to complete the mission. When Patton learned of his concerns, he called Hoge directly to tell him that he had already cleared the mission with General Omar Bradley, 12th Army Group commander, and ordered him to get moving.  [4]

To execute the mission, Hoge called on Combat Command B, led by Lieutenant Colonel Creighton Abrams, one of the Army’s youngest and most talented combat commanders. [5]  Abrams had led the 4th Armored Division’s famous mission to relieve Bastogne and link up with the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge. Unsurprisingly, Abrams also questioned the wisdom of sending a battalion-sized task force so far behind enemy lines and proposed sending his entire combat command instead. [6]  Hoge told him he could try to change Patton’s mind, but this was unlikely. In the meantime, Hoge told Abrams to select a commander for the task force and prepare for a visit from Patton the next morning.

Abrams selected Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cohen, commander of the 10th Armored Infantry Battalion, to lead the task force, and told him to begin planning. Cohen could do little without knowing the details of the mission and, like the rest of his men, Cohen was exhausted. He was also suffering from a debilitating case of piles. He decided to get a few hours of sleep, rising early to begin preparations for the mysterious mission.

Patton arrived at Abrams’s command post around 10:00 a.m. on March 26 with his aide, Major Alexander Stiller, and Hoge. After dispensing quickly with Abrams’s objections and refusing his request to take his entire combat command, Patton asked who would lead the task force. Abrams said he planned to send Cohen, but when he mentioned his concerns for Cohen’s health, Patton called for a doctor to join the group before heading to Cohen’s headquarters.

When they arrived, Patton ordered Cohen and the doctor into an adjacent room, where he told Cohen to drop his trousers and grab his ankles, revealing several large hemorrhoids. Apparently satisfied that Cohen wasn’t shirking his duty, Patton told him to name one of his subordinate officers to lead the task force. [7]  Captain Abraham “Abe” Baum, Cohen’s battalion S-3 (operations officer), got the nod. 

With this decided, Patton prepared to leave, but before he did so, he took Baum aside. Baum recalled after the war that Patton promised him a Medal of Honor if the mission was successful, to which Baum replied that he did not need a bribe.  [8] Patton left Stiller behind so he could accompany the task force, reminding the major that Baum would be in charge even though Stiller outranked him. 

Task Force Baum

Stiller briefed Abrams and Baum on the mission, but the added details he provided did not alleviate their concerns. As Patton had insisted, Baum’s task force was quite limited in size and less than a battalion in strength. It consisted of 314 men, 16 tanks, 28 halftracks, and 13 other vehicles. This amounted to a mechanized infantry task force comprising an infantry company in halftracks, a company of Sherman medium tanks, a platoon of light tanks, and a command and support element from Cohen’s 10th Armored Infantry Battalion.

These were seasoned, battle-hardened troops. The tanks were from part of Abrams’s old command, Company C, 37th Tank Battalion, famous for being the first unit to reach Bastogne. In contrast to the professionalism with which Abrams and Baum approached the mission, Stiller said he would be going along just “for the thrills and laughs.” He failed to mention that Patton had asked him to go because he knew Waters and could identify him for the task force. [9]

Stiller overlooked or shrugged aside other key factors. When Cohen pointed out that their vehicles did not carry enough fuel to make the round trip of over 100 miles, Stiller suggested they take extra gas cans and try to capture fuel during the mission. As for how to transport hundreds of American POWs back across enemy lines, Stiller said they could capture enemy vehicles along the way and use them. 

There was even more unwelcome news. Soon after launching the raid, Baum’s forces would be beyond the range of supporting artillery, and the task force would have no dedicated air support. Navigation would also be a challenge: Not only did Stiller have just 17 basic road maps to distribute among the task force, he also did not know the location of the camp in relation to Hammelburg. Stiller suggested that Baum’s troops would have to interrogate German civilians to learn the location of the camp. Such a lack of valuable intelligence was a major problem; risky missions like deep raids depend on careful planning and rehearsal for success and require speed in execution.

The Mission Begins

From the start, the mission was incredibly difficult. Abrams and Cohen ordered Captain Richard Pancake, commander of Company B, 37th Tank Battalion (medium tanks), and Captain Adrian Tessier, commander of Company B, 10th Armored Infantry Battalion (infantry in halftracks), to help Baum’s task force penetrate enemy lines. They would attack the small town of Schweinheim, just south of Aschaffenburg, clearing the way for Task Force Baum to move quickly through the town. Schweinheim was reported to be lightly defended, and once through the town, Baum would be only eight miles from the road to Hammelburg. Still, it was very risky for armored units to move through towns at night, given the constricted roads and plentiful places for the enemy to hide. Even with friendly forces opening the way and securing their flanks, this would be a challenging task. 

The whole plan relied on getting Baum through the town quickly, ideally undetected, so his task force could make the rest of the trip under cover of darkness. This was not to be. Pancake and Tessier moved out at 6:00 p.m. on March 26, but they found Schweinheim much more strongly defended than they were told to expect. Before long, Tessier’s infantry found themselves embroiled in a slow, house-to-house fight. Meanwhile, Pancake’s column of Shermans headed down the town’s half-mile-long central road, but only 200 yards into the town, a German antitank rocket disabled the lead tank, blocking the road. 

While Task Force Baum waited a short distance away, the fight in Schweinheim intensified. Hours went by. Finally, at 11:00 p.m., Stiller casually remarked to Baum that they were behind schedule. Baum, growing increasingly frustrated, finally asked Stiller why Patton was so determined to rescue the prisoners at Oflag XIII-B. Stiller admitted that Patton’s son-in-law was among the prisoners; Baum, furious, considered calling off the raid, but he had orders and knew it was his duty to execute them to the best of his ability. 

At 11:30 p.m., Baum told his men to prepare to move. Meanwhile, he drove his jeep to Schweinheim and found Pancake and Tessier, who told Baum they were still meeting strong resistance and would need at least another hour to clear the town. Baum said he could not wait any longer. He told the two captains to pin down the enemy and try to keep the road open, then returned to his task force and led them into the town. Somehow, the task force made it through the town with no losses, but by the time they reached the highway to Hammelburg, it was already 2:30 a.m.

When the sun began to rise, Task Force Baum was still more than 35 miles from Hammelburg. Soon, the GIs encountered German troops at Gemünden, the site of a large German rail complex. The Americans kept moving, firing on troops and rail cars as they passed. Next, they ran into enemy troops at a bridge and were drawn into an engagement. Baum was shot in the hand while his task force tried to force a crossing. Before long, however, the enemy disabled one of his tanks and then blew the bridge. Baum had to find another route.

German Resistance

The situation was growing increasingly perilous: Baum and several of his men were wounded, and he had lost two tanks, plus two officers and 18 men killed or wounded. Now he had to turn his column around and use back country roads, with German troops moving to interdict his route. Still, Baum continued to push toward Hammelburg, and soon his troops managed to capture German soldiers along the way who told the Americans they knew of an alternate route.

By mid-morning, Task Force Baum was about 10 miles from Hammelburg when a German reconnaissance plane spotted the column. Baum knew that any hope of surprise was lost, and the longer his task force remained behind enemy lines, the more German troops would arrive in the area. Baum ordered his men to keep moving. Relying on hastily gathered intelligence, Baum finally reached the outskirts of Hammelburg. 

Oflag XIII-B was just two miles south of the town, but it was now the afternoon of the 27th: Baum’s task force was exhausted and low on fuel, and he would soon learn that the enemy was lying in wait. A veteran Panzerjäger unit had set up its eight Elefants —vehicles with an 88mm antitank gun mounted on a panzer chassis—along the highway leading from Hammelburg to the POW camp. The Elefants fired on Baum’s column as it approached the camp. A melee ensued in which the Germans disabled two medium tanks, a light tank, five halftracks, and a jeep before breaking off the engagement and withdrawing.

Baum had finally reached Oflag XIII-B. He quickly saw that the camp housed far more prisoners than he was told to expect. In addition to several thousand Serbian officers, there were over 1,300 American officers imprisoned there. Baum ordered his troops to charge the camp, knocking down the fence and causing some of the guards to flee. Others resisted, and sporadic small arms fire broke out; in the confusion, some of Baum’s troops mistook the Serbian prisoners for German troops. 

The camp commandant tried to broker a ceasefire, sending a small party that included Waters, Patton’s son-in-law, to negotiate. As they walked from the camp toward the task force, a German guard fired his rifle at the group, seriously wounding Waters. As the camp’s defenses finally broke down, some GIs took Waters to the camp hospital, where an imprisoned Serbian military doctor treated his wound.

The Return Trip

Meanwhile, Baum considered his next move. With the few vehicles he had left, Baum estimated that he could transport just 200 men, so he decided they would evacuate only field grade officers (major and above). Many of the prisoners were in poor shape and needed medical attention. Baum’s men tried to load them in the remaining halftracks, but some were so weak from malnourishment that they opted to remain at the camp. Waters’s wound prevented him from walking, so he stayed back as well. 

By 8:00 p.m., Task Force Baum was ready to begin the return trip. The small column of vehicles tried to navigate home in the dark of a moonless night, unaware that they were approaching an ambush. Noncommissioned officers from the German Infantry Combat School in Hammelburg struck the lead Sherman with an antitank rocket. In the confusion, the American crew abandoned their tank but left it running. A Germans soldier climbed in the tank and drove it off the route, using its radio to lure more tanks into the trap. Soon the enemy had destroyed four Shermans, forcing the rest of the task force to retreat toward the camp.

Assessing the situation, Baum realized he was now too low on fuel to make the return trip to friendly lines. He decided to pause until daylight so his troops could find some fuel or, more likely, simply cover as much ground as possible before being forced to abandon their vehicles and move the rest of the way on foot. At this point, most of the wounded officers and men realized they would not be able to make it back and decided to stay at the camp. 

The remnants of Task Force Baum began to move out again early on the morning of March 28. They were soon engaged from all directions by German troops that had surrounded their position in the night. Every remaining vehicle in the task force was lost to German fire. Baum gave the order “every man for himself,” as individuals and small groups tried to escape, but most, including Stiller, were rounded up by German troops. Baum lost 32 men killed in action, and 247 were wounded, reported missing, or taken prisoner. Only 35 of Baum’s troops made it back to friendly lines.

'Every Man for Himself'

Unsurprisingly, the unsupported mission ended in complete failure. Baum managed to escape into the woods, but before long, a German soldier spotted him and shot him in the groin. He was taken to Hammelburg, where he received medical treatment from the same Serbian doctor tending to Waters. Many of the prisoners were evacuated to the east after the raid, but because of his wound, Waters remained at the camp. Baum, Waters, and Stiller were rescued just nine days later, April 6, when troops from the 14th Armored Division liberated the camp. Patton later awarded Baum the Distinguished Service Cross, but Baum remained bitter and took the losses personally.

It was not until after the liberation of Oflag XIII-B by the 14th Armored Division that General Dwight D. Eisenhower learned of the disastrous raid. Predictably, Patton’s latest indiscretion made him furious. Eisenhower reported to General George Marshall on April 15:

“Patton’s latest crackpot actions may possibly get some publicity. One involved the arbitrary relief of a censor (over whom he had no authority whatsoever) for what Patton considered to be an error in judgment.Then again, he sent off a little expedition on a wild goose chase in an effort to liberate some American prisoners. The upshot was that he got 25 prisoners back and lost a full company of medium tanks and a platoon of light tanks. Foolishly, he then imposed censorship on the movement, meaning to lift it later, which he forgot to do. The story has now been released and I hope the newspapers do not make too much of it."  [10]

Patton later insisted that he ordered the Hammelburg raid as a diversion and did not know that Waters was imprisoned at the camp. Some accounts give credence to Patton’s version of events, but his own records speak for themselves. On March 25, Patton wrote to his wife, Beatrice, “We are headed right for John’s place and may get there before he is moved.” He went on, “Hope to send an expedition tomorrow to get John.” [11]

Less than a week later, after learning of the raid’s failure, Patton reflected on the disaster and—at least partially—accepted blame. Patton wrote in his diary on March 31: “So far I have only made one mistake, and that was when I lost two companies of the 4th Armored Division in making the attack on Hammelburg. I made it with only two companies on account of the strenuous objections of General Bradley to making any [effort] at all. Had I sent a combat command as I had first intended to do, this mistake would not have occurred.”   [12]

• [1] Martin Blumenson, The Patton Papers, 1940-1945 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974), 665.
• [2] Blumenson, Patton Papers , 665.
• [3] Hoge had a long and distinguished career, reaching the rank of General and ultimately serving as Commander, US Army Europe.
• [4] After the war, Bradley denied having prior knowledge of the raid, but his own aide’s diary contradicts this. Richard Baron, Major Abe Baum, and Richard Goldhurst, Raid! The Untold Story of Patton’s Secret Mission (New York: Dell, 1981), 6, Kindle; Omar N. Bradley, A Soldier’s Story (1951; repr., New York: Modern Library, 1999), 542.
• [5] Abrams later served as the US Army Chief of Staff, and the Army’s modern-day main battle tank bears his name.
• [6] A combat command was a brigade-sized force of about 4,000 men and 150 tanks, with organic artillery and other supporting units. A force this size would be far more likely to survive a multi-day raid deep behind enemy lines than a small task force organized from one of the battalions in the combat command.
• [7] After the war, Baum, a Jewish officer, said he believed it was Patton’s antisemitic streak that led him to doubt whether Cohen, also a Jew, really had piles. Abe Baum Oral History .
• [8] Patton awarded Baum the Distinguished Service Cross after the raid.
• [9] Blumenson, Patton Papers , 668-69.
• [10] Alfred D. Chandler, Ed., The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower: The War Years , Vol. 4 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1970), 2617. Eisenhower reported the loss of only a company of Sherman tanks and a platoon of light tanks, indicating that Patton downplayed the actual scale of the disaster.
• [11] Blumenson, Patton Papers , 664-65.
• [12] Blumenson, Patton Papers , 668.

Additional Reading:

• Richard Baron, Major Abe Baum, and Richard Goldhurst, Raid! The Untold Story of Patton’s Secret Mission (New York: Dell, 1981).
• Abraham “Abe” Baum Oral History
• “Remembering Bob Zawada , WWII Veteran and Museum Volunteer” [Bob was part of Task Force Baum]
• Lloyd Burns and Samuel Jenkins Oral Histories [prisoners at Hammelburg POW camp]  

Dr. Mark T. Calhoun

Dr. Mark T. Calhoun is the Military Historian at the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy.

Remembering Bob Zawada, WWII veteran and Museum volunteer

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The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 29 April that 8,000 British Army troops will conduct a series of planned exercises across Europe this summer in one of the largest deployments since the Cold War.

In a press release the MoD stated that the exercises will see 72 Challenger 2 tanks, 12 AS90 tracked artillery guns and 120 Warrior armoured fighting vehicles deploy to countries from Finland to North Macedonia, demonstrating the Army’s modernisation into a lethal, agile and global force.

Tens of thousands of troops from NATO and Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) allies and partners are involved in the exercises. The high readiness forces from the Lead Armoured Task Force and Air Manoeuvre Task Force will take part.

Commenting on the deployment UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

“The security of Europe has never been more important. These exercises will see our troops join forces with allies and partners across NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force in a show of solidarity and strength in one of the largest shared deployments since the Cold War.”

“Operating across Europe, the British Army will stand alongside partners, combining our capabilities and shared values, promoting peace and security.”

This week troops from B Squadron of the Queen’s Royal Hussars have deployed to Finland to take part in Exercise Arrow 22 .

They will be embedded into a Finnish Armoured Brigade, with participation from other partners including the US, Latvia and Estonia.

The exercise will improve the ability of UK and Finnish troops to work alongside each other as part of the JEF, deterring Russian aggression in Scandinavia and the Baltic states.

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NATO rapid-response force leadership passes to Germany in wake of armor failures

Soldiers of Germany’s 37th Armored Infantry Brigade will take charge of NATO’s rapid response force starting in 2023. The Germans replace a French unit, which has led the force for the past year. (Maximilian Schulz/German Armed Forces)

STUTTGART, Germany — The German army is about to take the lead of the NATO quick reaction force, shortly after reports of armored vehicle failures that raised concerns about its contributions to the military alliance.

On Sunday, the Germans replace France’s leadership of the force. Earlier this month, Germany announced that its Puma infantry vehicles slated for the NATO mission were unreliable after several were forced out of service during exercises.

Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht called the news a “major setback” in a Dec. 19 statement.

Despite the problems, she sounded a note of reassurance to fellow alliance members.

“NATO, our allies can rely 100% on the commitments made by Germany,” Lambrecht said during a recent visit to Slovakia, as quoted by the AFP news agency.

The spearhead unit, formally known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, was activated for the first time in its history as a result of Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. It was formed in 2014 after Russia’s initial armed land grab in Ukraine.

The task force ultimately falls under the command of U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s supreme allied commander.

A German Leopard 2 assigned to the NATO Battlegroup Enhanced Forward Presence drives through a snowy exercise ground in Lithuania in December 2022. The German army on Sunday will take the lead of NATO’s quick reaction force, a unit that earlier this year was activated for the first time in its history in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine. (German Armed Forces)

German soldiers participate in a NATO exercise in Lest, Slovakia, in December. The German army on Sunday will take the lead of NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, which is ultimately under the command of U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, NATOs supreme allied commander. (German Armed Forces)

German soldiers participate in a NATO exercise in Lest, Slovakia, in December. The German army on Sunday will take the lead of NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, a unit that maintains thousands of troops on standby to be ready to deploy within days. (German Armed Forces)

It maintains thousands of troops on standby, with a mission to be ready to deploy within days. But for years, the unit operated without a real-world tasking.

That changed in February, when elements of the task force deployed to Romania on its first collective-defense mission.

“As Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine continues to threaten peace and security in Europe, there must be no doubt about NATO’s resolve to protect and defend every inch of allied territory,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in a statement Wednesday.

In mid-December, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported that 18 Puma armored vehicles intended for NATO’s quick reaction force weren’t operational after problems arose during a firing exercise. The Germans are expected to use older Marder vehicles instead.

NATO is confident that the Germans are prepared for the mission, Lungescu said.

The German-led force will consist of about 11,500 troops, with the German Panzergrenadierbrigade 37 as its core element, NATO said.

Eight other allies — Belgium, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Slovenia — also will contribute troops.

The unit is carved out of NATO’s larger response force of 40,000 troops. NATO also is considering plans to dramatically expand the size of that overarching unit.

During NATO’s June summit in Madrid, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said allies intend to grow the overall reaction force to 300,000 troops. A timeline for putting that plan into action hasn’t been announced.

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German Army Ready for VJTF Very High Readiness Joint Task Force 2023

• National and Collective Defence

Since 2022, 37 Armoured Infantry Brigade "Freistaat Sachsen" has been providing troops for NATO's Response Force ( NRF NATO Response Force ) 2022-2024. This year, the Brigade assumes a responsible special role.

During the 'Wettiner Schwert' exercise in April 2022, some 1,500 servicemen and women trained at the Army Combat Training Centre, here with the LEOPARD main battle tank.

Since 1 January 2023, 37 Armoured Infantry Brigade has been the lead unit for the multinational land component of NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force ( VJTF Very High Readiness Joint Task Force ), the powerful and highly mobile rapid response force of NATO. Let us take a short look back: Conferences, workshops and training areas – for the NRF NATO Response Force , 2022 was all about basic and advanced training. In March, April and May, about 90 percent of the 12,000 soldiers who form the NRF NATO Response Force land component trained together at least once, the command personnel at least twice. These exercises focused on capabilities like water crossing, leapfrogging (a specific type of troop movement), the reception and attack of units, night combat and multinational cooperation at command posts. The NATO Spearhead Force will continue to prepare for all these tasks in 2023.

The final certification of the brigade headquarters during the 'Cougar Sword' exercise last November provided all units and their capabilities with the NATO status combat-ready. "All nations have become well attuned to each other and form a good team. It has proven useful to integrate multinational representatives into our brigade headquarters at an early stage, including the relocation to Saxony," concludes Brigadier General Alexander Krone, Commander 37 Armoured Infantry Brigade and Commander NRF NATO Response Force (L) 2022-24/ VJTF Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (L) 2023.

Looking Ahead

This spring, the NRF NATO Response Force will exercise almost simultaneously in three different locations – in Italy, Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony.

This year's role as rapid response force will reduce the response time of the force to a maximum of one week. The short notice to move requires almost all vehicles and weapons to be at the ready in the field units. "We have tested the alert chains several times and integrated them into the different exercises," Krone continues. In spring, NATO alert exercise ‘Noble Jump’ is on the agenda. The aim will be to test increased readiness. A particular focus will be on the timely response to alert notifications, planning and the subsequent deployment of NRF NATO Response Force elements.

Irrespective of this, elements of 37 Armoured Infantry Brigade will exercise at the Army Combat Training Centre this spring. Here is a rough outline: The force will move with vehicles to the Klietz training area, subsequently cross the Elbe River and then start an exercise at the Army Combat Training Centre – under the lead of 371 Armoured Infantry Battalion. They will be joined by a Czech company, German engineers, medics and many more, bringing the number of military personnel involved up to a total of 1,500. At the same time, the 'Wettiner Heide' exercise will start at the training area in Bergen. "This will be an opportunity for all those not involved in 'Noble Jump' or the Army Combat Training Centre exercise to sharpen their marksmanship skills. 2023 will also see a trilogy of exercises, but instead of successively they will take place almost simultaneously," Krone explains the complexity of the planned projects.

Where Does the Shoe Pinch?

During the 'Stolzer Wettiner 22' exercise, the strategic objectives were the smooth interaction of the brigade headquarters with the subordinate units and the enhancement of the digital command and control capability.

"Our equipment is quite good now. We have almost everything in terms of materiel," Krone says. He still sees room for improvement and gives the command and control capability as an example. Some units, e. g. the Army ISR Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Corps, already have modern radio equipment. It is compatible with the systems of multinational partners. This improves radio communication significantly. From battalion level downwards, the use of modern battle management systems, that is command and control information systems, is intended to bring about a major breakthrough. The systems have already been purchased but will not unfold their full potential until all old radio sets have finally been replaced with state-of-the-art digital radio equipment across the board. Krone welcomes the possibility to integrate the armoured infantry companies equipped with MARDER infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) into the information and communication network of the LEOPARD main battle tanks. "Work in this field will probably never end, however, because there will always be new software or hardware. It is a continuous process – both at the national and international level. We have made considerable progress, but there is still room for improvement," Krone concludes.

Germany's contribution to the NATO VJTF Very High Readiness Joint Task Force Spearhead Force will rely on MARDER IFVs. Two armoured infantry companies with a total of 28 IFVs form part of the German battle group.

Army forces with advanced basic capabilities for special operations

In 2023, 37 Armoured Infantry Brigade is part of NATO's rapid response force known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force ( VJTF Very High Readiness Joint Task Force ).

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Blood for Time: 9th Armored at Bastogne and the Battle of the Bulge

Combat Command RCCR of the U.S. 9th Armored Division sacrificed heroically to win precious time at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.

This article appears in: March 2009

By Charles Gutierrez

In December 1944, the Ardennes front or “ghost front” was an area where either veteran Allied units rotated in to rest and recover from terrible combat losses or where new, untested units arrived to gather some combat experience from the minor skirmishes that would occasionally flare up. Maj. Gen. Troy H. Middleton’s U.S. Army VIII Corps was such a unit.

Three infantry divisions, the 28th, 4th, and 106th, comprised VIII Corps. The 28th and the 4th had been severely mauled in the bloody battles of the Hürtgen Forest. The 106th Infantry Division was newly arrived at the front, replacing the 2nd Infantry Division, and had yet to see combat. The three VIII Corps infantry divisions were responsible for an approximate 88-mile front that was just about three times that normally assigned an equivalent defending force. Although the Germans were on the ropes and expected to capitulate soon, General Middleton still worried about the thin spread of his on such a wide front.

“Don’t Worry Troy, They Won’t Come Through Here”

When General Omar Bradley, 12th Army Group commander, visited Middleton at his headquarters in Bastogne, Middleton expressed concern about the overall defensive situation, only to be told, “Don’t worry Troy, they won’t come through here.” Middleton replied, “Maybe not, Brad, but they’ve come through this area several times before.” To help assuage his fears, General Bradley provided VIII Corps with the newly arrived 9th Armored Division.

Major General John W. Leonard’s 9th Armored Division was, like most armored divisions of the period, divided into three separate combat commands (CC): A, B, and R (Reserve). Each combat command was a combined arms military organization of comparable size to a brigade or regiment and loosely patterned after the German combined arms approach to mechanized warfare. Each combat command usually consisted of one armored battalion and one armored infantry battalion. In addition, smaller units of tank destroyers, engineers, and mechanized cavalry were assigned as needed to accomplish any given mission.

In mid-December 1944, the three combat commands of the 9th Armored Division were scattered throughout the Ardennes front. CCA was placed just south of the confluence of the Our and Sure Rivers wedged between the 109th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division to its north and the 12th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division to its south. CCB found itself near the village of Faymonville and recently attached to V Corps to support the U.S. Army’s effort to capture or destroy the Roer River dams. CCR, under the command of Colonel Joseph H. Gilbreth, was stationed at Trois Vierges, roughly 20 miles northeast of the crossroads town of Bastogne, Belgium, in support of VIII Corps’ left and center.

Operation Watch on the Rhine

Unknown to the Americans, the Germans were planning a major offensive code-named Operation Watch on the Rhine. According to the German plan, the offensive would cut across the Ardennes front, capturing Bastogne, one of three critical communication/road network centers in Field Marshal Hasso von Manteuffel’s Fifth Army sector. The other two were St. Vith to the northeast and Marche-en-Famenne to the northwest. Thus, Bastogne, like St. Vith and Marche-en-Famenne, needed to be dealt with quickly to achieve Hitler’s goal of capturing the Belgian port city of Antwerp and splitting the Allies—both politically and geographically.

Bastogne lay in the sector of advance that Manteuffel assigned to XLVII Panzer Corps and its commander, General Heinrich von Luttwitz. General Luttwitz’s corps consisted of the 2nd Panzer Division, the Panzer Lehr Division, and the 26th Volksgrenadier Division (VGD) with the added strength of the 15th Volks Werfer (rocket launcher) Brigade, the 766th Volks Artillery Corps, the 600th Army Engineer Battalion, and the 182nd Flak Regiment.

Manteuffel’s instructions to Luttwitz were direct: “Panzer Lehr Division holds itself ready to advance by order of the corps following behind the 26th VGD by way of Gemund-Drauffeld toward Bastogne and the Meuse in the sector of Namur-Dinant. It is essential for the division to take up positions … close to the 2nd Panzer Division advancing over Noville. In the case of strong enemy resistance, Bastogne is to be outflanked, its capture is then up to the 26th VGD….”

Since the primary mission of the Fifth Panzer Army was to reach and cross the Meuse River by day three of the offensive in flank support of Sixth SS Panzer Army’s drive to capture Antwerp, the 2nd Panzer and the Panzer Lehr Divisions were to rapidly move beyond Bastogne regardless of who held it.

The area of the Ardennes designated for the XLVII Panzer Corps’ breakthrough was held by the 28th Infantry Division’s 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 110th Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Hurley F. Fuller. Fuller’s regimental front stretched approximately 10 miles, and anything even remotely resembling a continuous line of defense was far beyond the manpower capabilities of the 1st and 3rd Battalions. The best that could be done was a system of village strongpoints, each defended by troops in the approximate strength of a rifle company. The 26th VGD commander, General Heinz Kokott, was given the mission of forcing crossings at the Our and Clerf Rivers on the left of the Panzer Corps, holding them open for the armor of the 2nd Panzer Division, then following it to Bastogne. Panzer Lehr would follow directly behind the 26th VGD. Once Bastogne was secured, the 26th VGD would be responsible for covering the left flank of the Panzer Corps, allowing the two armored divisions to cross the Meuse unmolested.

To Slow the German Advance

In the early morning hours of December 16, 1944, all along the Ardennes front from Monchau in the north to Echternach in the south, American forces awoke to the sound of German artillery. In the 9th Armored Division’s CCR sector, the 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion seemed to be the primary target of the shelling. Lt. Col. Robert M. Booth, commander of the 52nd AIB, was informed at a midday briefing that there was nothing to worry about. The entire front was being subjected to similar bombardment, and the Germans were probably just putting on an artillery show or involved in some spoiling operation.

With reports of German assaults and penetrations coming in throughout the day from his entire VIII Corps sector, General Middleton realized that what was occurring was no simple spoiling attack but a major German offensive. Middleton understood that with the number of enemy units involved and with the speed at which they were attempting to move they would need more road available. Middleton therefore planned to hold his original VIII Corps positions as long as possible while building strong defenses in front of the road network hubs of St.Vith, Houffalize, and Bastogne. It was Middleton’s reasoning that a strong American concentration within these transportation centers would force the Germans to come to him and, in any case, American forces would be in strength on the enemy’s flank and rear. On December 16, however, the forces available to Middleton to implement this plan were not nearly enough.

Middleton conferred with his immediate boss, Lt. Gen. Courtney Hodges, commander of First U.S. Army. Hodges agreed with Middleton’s assessment, and on the morning of December 17, Hodges was trying to reach General Bradley to have the only two SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) reserve divisions left on the European continent, the 101st and the 82nd Airborne divisions, released to VIII Corps for the immediate defense of Bastogne. Almost immediately after speaking to General Hodges, General Bradley put in a call to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander, requesting the release of the two reserve airborne divisions. It was not until 7 pm on December 17 that Eisenhower, reluctant to part with his last reserve divisions, gave permission.

Middleton, believing that he would eventually be granted the two reserve divisions, still had one major problem: how to slow down the German advance long enough to allow for the arrival and deployment of the paratroopers. Aside from a couple of engineer units, Middleton had only one combat unit in reserve and that was the newly arrived and untested 9th Armored Division. Moreover, because of the breadth of the German assault he could not even use the entire division in the Bastogne sector. CCB of the 9th Armored was immediately needed in St. Vith to shore up the 106th Infantry Division, while CCA was badly needed in the Wallendorf-Echternach area to support the 4th Infantry Division. Essentially, the only uncommitted combat unit he had left was CCR of the 9th Armored Division.

Bastogne: Key to the Southern Ardennes

By midday on December 17, Luttwitz’s 2nd Panzer Division, after crushing American resistance in Marnach, was pushing west toward Clervaux and its bridges across the Clerf River. The Clerf crossings lay only about 17 road miles from Bastogne. The German advance toward Bastogne took on an added urgency when, during late evening of the 17th, Fifth Panzer Army headquarters intercepted an Allied command message ordering the two American airborne divisions to Bastogne.

General Manteuffel had planned that Bastogne would be taken on the first day of the offensive. Although unexpected stiff pockets of American resistance had delayed Bastogne’s capture by at least a full day, all was far from lost. Manteuffel and Luttwitz believed that the two airborne divisions would reach Bastogne either during the night of December 18 or early on the 19th. Once Luttwitz’s XLVII Panzer Corps crossed the Clerf, Bastogne could be reached no later than midday of the 18th, thus allowing German command and control the use of its vital road network.

Control of Bastogne would not only ensure an easier and swifter advance toward the River Meuse but would also ensure firmer control of the entire southern Ardennes region. Although the plan called on German armor to bypass Bastogne should immediate capture prove unfeasible, investment would still tie down German forces needed elsewhere. In addition, an American occupation of Bastogne would provide Allied forces with a base from which to hamper the German flanks and rear as well as cause major resupply problems for Luttwitz’s fuel-hungry tanks. The Germans did not expect this to happen.

At about 9:40 am on the 17th, approximately 10 minutes after word came that the Germans had captured Clervaux and crossed the Clerf River, General Middleton ordered Colonel Gilbreth to establish two roadblocks between Clervaux and Bastogne in an effort to delay the Germans. Colonel Gilbreth’s Combat Command R consisted of the 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion, the 2nd Tank Battalion, the 73rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion, the 811th Tank Destroyer Battalion, and other conventional task force attachments. However, prior to Middleton’s roadblock order, desperate fighting on the morning of the 16th by elements of the 28th Infantry Division had already drawn off portions of Colonel Gilbreth’s command. The 112th Infantry Regiment drew off a platoon of tank destroyers, and the 110th Infantry Regiment was sent a platoon of tank destroyers as well as a company of tanks.

Combat Command R, unlike its two sister combat commands within the 9th Armored Division, would not be given a chance to prove itself as an independent unit in combat. The decisions about where to place CCR’s individual components were to be made elsewhere— some by Maj. Gen. Norman Cota, commanding the 28th Infantry Division, some by his regimental or battalion commanders, and some even by the corps commander himself. Colonel Gilbreth would have very little independent command and control over his unit. CCR would be treated as a true reserve force from which units and men could be drawn as needed, a holding unit for a heterogeneous collection of troops and equipment. Colonel Gilbreth’s as yet untested command, within this framework of parceling, separation, and external control, was expected to stop the advance of a formidable Wehrmacht armored division.

“The Battle Must be Fought With Brutality”

Luttwitz’s 2nd Panzer Division was formed in 1935. Its first commander was General Heinz Guderian, the father of the Blitzkrieg tactic. Prior to its participation in the Ardennes offensive, the division participated in the invasions of Poland, France, the Balkans, and Russia. It was the first German division to reach the Atlantic and the first to reach the Swiss frontier. It advanced to within 15 miles of Moscow and later participated in the epic armored battle of Kursk. Prior to its commitment to the Ardennes offensive, 2nd Panzer was supplied with the newer model Panther medium tanks equipped for night fighting with the new infrared sighting apparatus and high-velocity 75mm cannon. Its two tank battalions were about at full strength with 27 Mark IVs, 58 Panthers, and 48 armored assault guns.

Also, within hours of the division’s commitment to battle, it was appointed a new commander, Colonel Meinrad von Lauchert. The German high command felt that its former commander, General Henning Schonfeld, lacked the aggressive spirit required for the forthcoming offensive. A half hour prior to the launching of the Ardennes offensive, Colonel Lauchert received a personal phone call from Hitler instructing him that in directing his forces, “The battle must be fought with brutality and all resistance shall be broken in a wave of terror.”

In compliance with Middleton’s order, Colonel Gilbreth established two roadblocks. The first and northernmost was at the intersection near the village of Lullange where the road from Clervaux entered Highway N-12. Clervaux was only a scant five miles from this junction and only about 13 road miles from Bastogne. The second roadblock was at a junction where a secondary road from the valley of the Clerve at Drauffelt joined Highway N-12 near the village of Allerborn. This second roadblock was only about eight miles from Bastogne. Middleton ordered that these two roadblocks be held “at all costs.”

Task Force Rose, Task Force Harper, and Team Booth

CCR, 9th Armored was now split into two task forces. The northernmost roadblock near Lullange, under the command of Captain L.K. Rose (Task Force Rose), consisted of a company of Sherman tanks (A Company, 2d Tank Battalion), one armored infantry company (C Company, 52nd AIB), and a platoon of armored engineers. The second roadblock near Allerborn, under the command of Lt. Col. Ralph S. Harper (Task Force Harper), consisted of a company and a half of Sherman tanks (C and D Companies, 2nd Tank Battalion), one company of armored infantry (B Company, 52nd AIB), and a platoon of armored engineers. What was left of CCR was placed under the command of Lt. Col. Robert M. Booth (Team Booth) and occupied the high ground immediately north of Allerborn. It consisted of a company of armored infantry (minus one platoon), one platoon of tank destroyers, and one platoon of light tanks and had the mission of protecting the left flank and rear of Task Force Harper. CCR’s 73rd Armored Field Artillery provided artillery support from a small village called Buret just northwest of Task Forces Rose and Harper.

Captain Rose placed a platoon of infantry facing north of the junction and another platoon facing east on the road coming from Clervaux. All three platoons of his tank company (15 Sherman tanks) were positioned about 300 yards to the rear of the infantry. At approximately 8:30 am on December 18, the infantrymen of Task Force Rose facing Clervaux reported that three enemy tanks accompanied by infantry were approaching. Approximately a half hour later the tankers saw the three German tanks emerge from the cover of the woods. These enemy tanks and infantrymen belonged to the reconnaissance battalion of Colonel von Lauchert’s 2nd Panzer Division whose infantry elements were eliminating the last of the American defenders in Clervaux. The Sherman tanks of A Company opened fire and counted hits on all three German tanks. Due to German superiority in armor, however, only one enemy tank was disabled while the other two turned back for cover.

Shortly after this initial engagement, four enemy tanks supported by infantry emerged from the woods just northeast of the American forward positions. A few minutes later an entire German tank column barreled down on Task Force Rose from the north. The enemy tanks first turned their guns on Task Force Rose’s armored infantry posts, forcing the infantrymen to withdraw to the Shermans. As the lead panzer came into view, it was turned back by fire from the American tanks.

Advancing Through Smoke

To assist with the destruction of enemy armor, Captain Rose called for artillery support on the Germans’ suspected assembly area. While the 73rd Armored Field Artillery (AFA) was busy shelling suspected enemy assembly points, the Germans were busy bringing up their own artillery. After a brief shelling of Task Force Rose positions, the German guns placed a smoke screen in front of the American task force. After about 15 minutes the smoke cleared with no immediate action on the part of the Germans. The German reconnaissance battalion was still carefully feeling out this rather unexpected mix of enemy armor and infantry and had decided to wait for the arrival of the main body. At about 11 am, the first Mark IVs of the 2nd Battalion, 3d Panzer Regiment appeared.

Within minutes after the arrival of the its 2nd Battalion, 2nd Panzer artillery shelling started to pick up once again and another smoke screen was laid down in front of the Americans. This time it took nearly 90 minutes for the smoke to lift, and when it did the GIs of Task Force Rose discovered that the German panzers had moved to within 800 yards of their position and the Shermans were taking direct fire from approximately 16 German tanks. In addition to the direct fire coming from the German panzers, the infantry and Shermans of Task Force Rose were also coming under indirect fire from 88mm antiaircraft guns estimated to be about 2,500 yards to the east. The time was about 1 pm on December 18. According to Lauchert’s timetable, his reconnaissance battalion should have been in Bastogne well over an hour earlier.

In the exchange of fire, A Company knocked out three Mark IVs with one Sherman destroyed, the main gun of a second was disabled, and a third Sherman threw a track, forcing its crew to destroy it. While Task Force Rose’s complement of Shermans was slowly dwindling, 2nd Panzer Division tanks kept multiplying as more of the division rolled up from Clervaux. The sounds of enemy tanks could be heard to Task Force Rose’s right, and since the armored infantry’s antitank platoon could not cover the task force’s right flank, a platoon of Shermans was dispatched. The Shermans came upon three enemy tanks, one of which was quickly destroyed with the other two withdrawing into defilade. One Sherman became bogged down in the mud and had to be evacuated.

Since the bulk of 2nd Panzer was coming up from the east along Highway N-12, the bulk of Task Force Rose was facing east. This left only one tank platoon to defend to the north. Realizing this, the German commander shifted his force to allow a stronger attack to the north and northwest of the Americans. Task Force Rose’s commander, seeing that his command was quickly dissolving against the overwhelming strength of the enemy, dispatched two Shermans along Highway N-12 to the Allerborn roadblock along with a plea for immediate assistance. The two Task Force Rose Shermans would be able to lead reinforcements back and guide them into position.

The Collapse of Task Force Harper

At the Allerborn roadblock Task Force Harper was then in command of Major Dalton, the executive officer of the 2nd Tank Battalion. The sound of battle had not been lost on the Allerborn defenders, and when the tanks of Task Force Rose showed up with the disturbing news of the desperate fight just up the road, Major Dalton immediately dispatched an assault gun platoon and a platoon of Shermans under the command of Captain Baird, the Battalion’s S-3. However, no sooner had Captain Baird’s force started to move out when Lt. Col. Harper appeared and canceled the mission. As much as Harper wanted to assist Task Force Rose, Middleton was not allowing him independent control of Task Force Harper, and Middleton would not allow any part of Task Force Harper to assist Task Force Rose. The two Shermans sent by Task Force Rose to lead the relief force had to return alone to the battle.

At approximately 2 pm, Task Force Rose’s supporting artillery at Buret came under fire from German tanks emerging from the northeast. These enemy forces were the lead elements of the 116th Panzer Division, which were on their way to Houffalize after taking Trois Vierges. The 73rd AFA batteries were immediately pulled back to Longvilly.

Also at about 2 pm, Colonel Gilbreth called General Middleton to request permission to withdraw Task Force Rose from the Lullange roadblock and move it back to the Allerborn roadblock. Middleton not only refused to assist Task Force Rose, but he further refused to let it retreat south. The do-or-die circumstance meted out to Task Force Rose at Lullange exemplifies the desperate situation facing VIII Corps command during the first days of the offensive. With only a few troops, tanks, and tank destroyers available to VIII Corps to stem the German onslaught, Middleton believed that only through total commitment and sacrifice would his scant forces be able to hold off the far superior Germans until such time that SHAEF could muster enough strength to permanently repel the invaders. At approximately 3 pm on December 18, CCR headquarters at Longvilly received the final message from the northern roadblock that the defenders had been overrun.

Next, the Germans turned their attention to Task Force Harper near Allerborn. Although the advance elements of the German assault reached the southern roadblock in late afternoon it was not until after dark that the Germans launched their first major attack. In the opening onslaught, the Germans swept the first line of defense with machine-gun fire to clear out any infantry that might be protecting the tanks. After this, the Mark IVs and Panthers destroyed two tank platoons of Company C, 2nd Tank Battalion as well as a number of infantrymen being silhouetted by the burning vehicles. The German tanks were effectively aided by their infrared night-sighting devices with an effective range of 400 meters. By 9 pm, Task Force Harper ceased to exist as a unified, cohesive fighting unit. Lt. Col. Harper ordered the survivors to fight their way to Longvilly.

Reorganizing the Defensive Line

Harper, finding his way to Longvilly blocked, headed cross country with an assault gun platoon in the direction of Houffalize where, along the way, he met up with a retreating body of Task Force Rose tanks and soldiers directed by a Lieutenant DeRoche. Harper ordered five of DeRoche’s Shermans to remain with him and sent DeRoche with what was left to St. Hubert for fuel and ammunition. Harper next tried to set up a defensive line at Houffalize to stop the Germans and during the night engaged the forward elements of the 116th Panzer Division. In the ensuing battle, Harper was killed and his scratch force of armor and infantry cut to pieces.

The 116th Panzer Division logs for this date report a number of skirmishes with American armor. Just after midnight, in a message to its corps headquarters, 116th Panzer reported heavy resistance and the taking of prisoners from the American 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion. Although the 116th Panzer Division was making progress against stiff and unexpected opposition, its corps headquarters was unhappy with its slow progress and the commanding general of the 116th Panzer was instructed to assume personal leadership of his advance elements. The corps commander informed his division commander that the order came down from the highest level of command.

In Longvilly, Colonel Gilbreth and the remnants of Task Forces Rose and Harper waited for the expected arrival of the enemy force that had annihilated his two roadblocks; however, it was nearing midnight on December 18 and still there had been no direct assault upon their position. The reason for the reprieve was that the 2nd Panzer Division, in keeping with the XLVII Panzer Corps operational plan, turned off the main road, bypassing Bastogne to the north and heading for the Meuse River. Shortly after midnight, Gilbreth ordered his forces to prepare to withdraw to Bastogne. At about the time Colonel Gilbreth was readying his force to withdraw, the first units of the 101st Airborne Division began arriving in the assembly area near Bastogne and, before night fell again on the 18th, the 101st Airborne would have all four regiments unloaded from their trucks and deployed in and around Bastogne.

The Retreat to Bastogne

With its primary mission now canceled with the destruction of Task Force Harper, Team Booth weighed its options of either defending in place or heading for Bastogne. Lt. Col. Booth’s outposts had reported the presence of enemy armor on the Bourcy-Noville road and a platoon of the 52nd AIB discovered enemy units to the west, northwest, and south. Based upon all available information, Booth estimated that his team was up against at least one armored division. On the morning of December 19, Booth decided to move what was left of his team plus about 100 stragglers, even a few from the 106th Infantry Division, to Bastogne.

Lieutenant DeRoche, after turning five of his Shermans over to Lt. Col. Harper, led his small force toward St. Hubert where they found supplies of fuel and ammunition. After stocking up, the DeRoche force proceeded to Neufchateau where General Middleton had relocated his command post. Once in Neufchateau, DeRoche located Captain Walter M. Meier, who was busy gathering and regrouping retreating CCR men and armor. After acquiring DeRoche’s small force and a few others, Captain Meier called 9th Armored Division headquarters in Mersch and received permission to take his force into Bastogne.

Captain Meier’s force, like most of CCR, 9th Armored and 28th Infantry Division soldiers and tankers retreating from the roadblock battles, eventually made it to Bastogne. However, many other retreating soldiers never made it, having fallen to the gauntlet of sporadic enemy artillery fire, snipers, and engagements with concealed enemy infantry and tanks. Men and armor retreating into Bastogne from the battles that preceded the arrival of the 101st Airborne Division continued to stream in throughout the day with valuable information concerning German deployment and strengths.

These retreating soldiers and tankers were not, despite some postwar accounts, a bunch of dispirited, demoralized, and undisciplined panic mongers. The great majority of these men had given it their all. They came through the 101st defensive lines having had very little sleep or food for three days and in almost constant battle with an enemy that not only had the full advantage of surprise but was also far superior in numbers, the quantity and quality of its armor, and in its battle experience. The personnel of CCR, 9th Armored Division who managed to make it to Bastogne and regroup were able to assist the 101st Airborne Division by acting as either mobile emergency relief strike forces, armored support for the lightly armed paratroopers, or direct infantry augmentation to the defense line.

After the war, General Manteuffel wrote: “On the whole the delaying action of the withdrawing American Army was a success. It slowed down the German advance, though it could not prevent the pursuing German spearheads from coming within 4 km from the Meuse near Dinant without any major engagements. But the resistance by delaying actions gained the time needed to bring up their tactical reserves at the correct moment.”

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Join The Conversation

4 thoughts on “ blood for time: 9th armored at bastogne and the battle of the bulge ”.

Cell is the name of the village where the Germans stopped and walked back to Germany. My mom worked for American Red Cross, were she met my father an American Engineer. I was born in Dinant, Belgium.

My grandfather Eugene Orlowski was in the 9th armored div. Waiting for his service records. Great information here.

My father was in Team Harper, I do not know exactly what happened after Allerborn, though he survived and came home,

My dad was in A company 2nd tank battalion he had great respect for lieutenant DeRouche

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• British Army Exercises Boost Presence Across Europe British Army Exercises Boost ...

This news is classified in: Defense Combat Vehicles / Artillery Simulation / Training

May 2, 2022

British Army Exercises Boost Presence Across Europe

Around 8,000 british army troops will conduct a series of planned exercises across europe this summer in one of the largest deployments since the cold war.

The exercises will see 72 Challenger 2 tanks, 12 AS90 tracked artillery guns and 120 Warrior armoured fighting vehicles deploy to countries from Finland to North Macedonia, demonstrating the Army’s modernisation into a lethal, agile and global force.

Tens of thousands of troops from NATO and Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) allies and partners are involved in the exercises. The high readiness forces from the Lead Armoured Task Force and Air Manoeuvre Task Force will take part.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: "The security of Europe has never been more important. These exercises will see our troops join forces with allies and partners across NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force in a show of solidarity and strength in one of the largest shared deployments since the Cold War."

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Published: April 2024 - Pages: 180 pages

"Operating across Europe, the British Army will stand alongside partners, combining our capabilities and shared values, promoting peace and security."

The programme follows the Defence Secretary’s ‘Future Soldier’ announcement last November, setting out how the British Army is evolving into a more lethal, agile, and global force in line with the UK Government’s Integrated Review. These exercises showcase the Army’s capabilities and readiness, demonstrating the central role it plays in NATO deterrence.

Troops from B Squadron of the Queen’s Royal Hussars have deployed to Finland this week to take part in Exercise Arrow. They will be embedded into a Finnish Armoured Brigade, with participation from other partners including the US, Latvia and Estonia. The exercise will improve the ability of UK and Finnish troops to work alongside each other as part of the JEF, deterring Russian aggression in Scandinavia and the Baltic states.

In May, Exercise Hedgehog will see the Royal Welsh Battlegroup and the Royal Tank Regiment exercising on the Estonia-Latvia border alongside 18,000 NATO troops, including French and Danish, who are part of the British-led NATO enhanced Forward Presence. Hedgehog is the biggest military exercise in Estonia and takes place every four years.

Commander Field Army Lieutenant General Ralph Wooddisse said: "The UK makes a significant contribution to the defence of Europe and the deterrence of Russian aggression. The British Army’s series of exercises is fundamental to both. We continue to deploy across Europe, from the Baltic to the Aegean, to train and fight alongside our allies and partners, providing powerful, capable and ready forces to support NATO and show the UK’s commitment to peace and security."

"A wide range of units from the Field Army will be involved, from light and airborne forces, to helicopters and armoured forces, supported by artillery, electronic warfare, air defence, surveillance drones, engineers and logisticians. The scale of the deployment, coupled with the professionalism, training and agility of the British Army, will deter aggression at a scale not seen in Europe this century."

Alongside Exercise Hedgehog, Exercise Defender in Poland is ongoing until late May, with 1,000 soldiers from the King’s Royal Hussars Battlegroup and C Squadron of the Light Dragoons deployed alongside troops from 11 partner nations including Poland, Denmark and the United States. This exercise involves Challenger 2 tanks and other armoured vehicles deploying from the NATO Forward Holding Base in Sennelager, Germany. The deployment is supported by 104 Theatre Sustainment Brigade operating from the UK and in bases in Europe.

Exercise Swift Response, which also began this week, sees elements of 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team and 1 Aviation Brigade Combat Team operate alongside French, American, Italian, and Albanian counterparts in North Macedonia. There are 4,500 personnel on the exercise including 2,500 British troops. The exercise involves parachute drops, helicopter-borne air assaults and sees a company of French paratroopers integrated into the 2 Parachute Regiment Battlegroup and an Italian battlegroup working to a British chain of command.

These exercises showcase the scale and significance of the British Army’s contribution to the defence of Europe and highlight the continued importance of the leadership role which UK plays as a member of NATO and the JEF.

In addition to the Army’s programme, the UK will deploy a major headquarters to the Baltic region, in support of the JEF. The Standing Joint Force HQ (SJFHQ) will establish three linked nodes - in Latvia, Lithuania and the third at their home base at Northwood HQ in London, the first operational deployment for the headquarters. The UK is the framework nation for the JEF, a coalition of like-minded partners, able to respond rapidly to crises in the High North, North Atlantic, Baltic Sea region and further afield. Over 200 military personnel are involved in the operation, including specialists in cyber, space and information operations.

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UK OpFor ~ Blue Disruptive Pattern Material

Around 2015 the British Army unit operating in OpFor roles for large units on exercise on Salisbury Plain started wearing Blue Disruptive Pattern Material, writes Bob Morrison .

Some forty years ago the US Army introduced dedicated OpFor, or Opposing Forces, units who wore different uniforms and used different tactics from those troops in formations undertaking set-piece training programmes at the then new National Training Center at Fort Irwin in California, and later in the 1980s this concept was adopted to some extent by the British Army, first on Salisbury Plain and then at BATUS (British Army Training Unit Suffield) in Canada.

The uniforms the American OpFor wore at NTC when portraying conventional troops were predominantly black coveralls, similar in some ways to those worn by Warsaw Pact armoured forces, and indeed the USAREUR OpFor conventional troops role-players at JMRC (Joint Multinational Training Center) Hohenfels in Germany wear similar black uniforms today. British OpFor troops on large field training exercises, on the other hand, started wearing surplus Desert DPM (Disruptive Pattern Material) not long after the 1991 Gulf War, a conflict which that particular derivative was introduced for, and they continued to do so well into the last decade.

In 2014, during the Airborne phase of Ex JOINT WARRIOR 14-1 in Scotland, I photographed OpFor troops clad in Desert DPM, but I thought it noticeable that their uniforms did not contrast particularly well when after the action was over they were alongside the main force clad in MTP; this is understandable as to some extent the two camouflage patterns have some colours and shapes in common. The above poor quality photo, taken at very long range with a 300mm lens and then cropped, shows a British OpFor soldier during JW14-1 wearing Desert DPM uniform and MTP helmet cover with olive green SAWES (Small Arms Weapons Effect Simulator) receptors over his combat jacket.

By March 2015, with MTP (Multi-Terrain Pattern) uniforms now having totally replaced Temperate DPM and Desert DPM uniforms no longer in production, the Demonstration Battalion of infantry based on Salisbury Plain who regularly provided OpFor personnel for large exercises appeared wearing blue uniforms instead. Throughout the three days of Combined Arms Demonstrations (CAD) run at the conclusion of Exercise TRACTABLE 15, a platoon of soldiers from 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment clad in blue 4-colour DPM (Disruptive Pattern Material) combat uniforms defended objectives during the blank firing phases as the Lead Armoured Task Force attacked. The uniforms these troops wore were not surplus garments, as seen on previous exercises, but new ones tailored in PCS-CU style.

In 2011, when Multi-Terrain Pattern (MTP) camouflage fabric was introduced by UK MoD a new design of combat clothing known as Personal Combat System – Combat Uniform (PCS-CU) was also introduced to replace the CS95 (Combat Soldier 1995) designs. Inspection of the cut of cloth and the pocket placement revealed that the blue combat smock and trousers worn by OpFor troops on the 2015 CAD were based on PCS-CU rather than CS95 or earlier British DPM uniform styles.

The predominantly blue/grey shades of the new OpFor uniform offered a complete contrast to the earthy and slightly verdant colours of MTP, so they were a logical choice to dress ‘enemy’ in for for rural settings. However even though these ‘Men In Blue’ usually stood out against green or dried foliage like the proverbial turd on a billiard table, in a gloomy urban setting their camouflage could work in their favour. Indeed this blue version of DPM, though originally produced as a naval camo, has been quite widely adopted internationally as a police and gendarmerie camouflage pattern for urban use.

On simple logistics grounds UK OpFor troops on exercises were frequently armed with SA80 assault rifles plus GPMG and Minimi machine guns, but to mimic the real-life opposition they were issued with laser simulation RPGs. Prior to 2016 the odd AK-47 assault rifle could also be found in the mix, but at the CAMD (Combined Arms Manoeuvre Day) on Salisbury Plain in the October of that year it was noticeable that AK-74 family weapons were being carried by both ‘Men In Blue’ representing conventional OpFor and ‘Little Green Men’ unconventional troops of the type first seen deployed during the 2014 Russian Federation incursions into Ukraine.

[images © Bob Morrison unless noted]

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DTI task force seizes ₱3-M uncertified auto parts

• Andrea E. San Juan
• July 1, 2024
• 2 minute read

THE Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Task Force Kalasag seized over P3 million worth of uncertified automotive products in North Cotabato.

The Trade department said the task force confiscated uncertified lead-acid storage batteries and motor vehicle brake fluid worth P3.1 million.

In a heightened enforcement operation conducted from June 17 to 20, DTI said its task force seized 992 units of uncertified products across the region.

The largest crackdown involved 754 uncertified units amounting to P2.8 million, discovered in an automotive shop located in Poblacion, Kidapawan City.

The agency noted that the seized products did not bear the required Philippine Standard (PS) markings and Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) stickers, violating Republic Act 4109 or the Product Standards Law.

Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual underscored the importance of going after “unsafe” products in the Philippine market, saying by removing these goods from the market, “we ensure a safer environment for Filipino consumers and promote fair competition among responsible businesses that prioritize consumer safety.”

“Task Force Kalasag’s recent seizure of uncertified lead-acid batteries and brake fluids is a critical step towards protecting consumers from potential safety hazards. These uncertified automotive products risk fires, explosions, and road accidents,” added Pascual.

With this, DTI is encouraging the consuming public to be vigilant and choose certified automotive products from “reputable” sources.

The agency said the establishment involved in the sale of uncertified products was issued a Preliminary Preventive Order.

“This restricts the unauthorized removal, tampering, and transfer of the seized products without a written order from a duly authorized officer from the DTI’s Fair Trade Group-Fair Trade and Enforcement Bureau [FTG- FTEB],” DTI said in a statement it issued over the weekend.

In addition, it noted that the shop faces a Notice of Violation requiring a written explanation within 48 hours, adding that failure to comply will result in the filing of a formal charge with a corresponding penalty.

DTI established Task Force Kalasag in April 2024 to “strengthen” consumer welfare and ensure a fair trade environment.

With action teams manned by the FTG-FTEB enforcement unit, the task force conducts nationwide monitoring, surveillance, enforcement, prosecution, and adjudication. Further, DTI said the team provides “quick” response actions during periods of calamities, disasters, and public emergencies.

Since its launch, Task Force Kalasag has already confiscated 1,282 units of uncertified lead-acid batteries and 226 motor vehicle brake fluids worth almost P4 million.

According to DTI,these enforcement efforts have spanned across Region 4A (Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Rizal), Metro Manila (Parañaque City), Region 3 (Pampanga), Region 8 (Tacloban and Eastern Samar), and Region 9 (General Santos, Koronadal, Kidapawan and Tacurong City).

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The Official Careers Website of the City of New York

UH/DAD (Procurement Lead Specialist) - Management & Operations

• Agency: OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT & BUDGET
• Job type: Full-time
• Title Classification: No exam required

Budget Directors Office (MGRL)

Job Description

TASK FORCE: Management & Operations JOB TITLE: One (1) Unit Head/Deputy Assistant Director | Procurement Lead Specialist CONTROL CODE: MOT-24-02 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Summary: The Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the City government's chief financial agency. OMB's staff of analysts and experts assembles and oversees the mayor’s expense and capital budgets, which fund the services and activities of approximately 90 City agencies and entities. The OMB Management and Operations Unit examines operations at OMB and city agencies with the goal of gaining more efficient, cost-effective services and improved outcomes. Our team proactively assesses all areas of Citywide management including agency performance, financial management, information technology, and procurement. Job Description: The Procurement Lead Specialist will play a vital role in managing and coordinating procurement activities to support efficient functioning of various city departments such as the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services. Your primary responsibilities will be to lead procurement transformation by leveraging expertise, negotiation skills, with market research to procure cost-effective and favorable contracts as well as negotiating all enterprise contracts. Responsibilities: - Managing Procurement Processes: Overseeing and managing the procurement process, including identifying sourcing needs, selecting suppliers, negotiating contracts, and ensuring timely delivery of goods or services. - Vendor Management: Developing and maintaining relationships with suppliers, evaluating their performance, conducting supplier audits, and resolving any issues or disputes that arise. - Strategic Sourcing: Developing and implementing sourcing strategies to optimize costs, improve quality, and mitigate risks. This may involve identifying alternative suppliers, evaluating market trends, and conducting supplier evaluations. - Contract Negotiation: Negotiating and finalizing contracts with suppliers, ensuring favorable terms and conditions, pricing, and delivery schedules. This includes reviewing legal aspects and collaborating with legal teams when necessary. - Budgeting and Cost Control: Monitoring procurement budgets, tracking expenses, and identifying cost-saving opportunities. This involves conducting cost analysis, benchmarking, and implementing cost control measures. - Inventory Management: Collaborating with inventory teams to maintain optimal stock levels, minimize excess or obsolete inventory, and ensure efficient supply chain operations. - Compliance and Risk Management: Ensuring procurement activities comply with relevant laws, regulations, and company policies. Managing risks related to supply chain disruptions, supplier reliability, and quality control. - Process Improvement: Continuously evaluating and improving procurement processes, systems, and workflows to enhance efficiency, reduce lead times, and streamline operations. - Data Analysis and Reporting: Analyzing procurement data, generating reports, and presenting key metrics and insights to management. This includes tracking supplier performance, cost savings, and other relevant KPIs. Qualifications: - Proven experience in procurement or purchasing, preferably in a leadership role within a public sector or government environment. - Strong knowledge of procurement principles, practices, and regulations. - Experience in negotiating and managing complex contracts. - Excellent analytical, problem solving, and decision-making abilities - Strong communication and interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders. - Proficiency in procurement software and tools, as well as Microsoft Office Suite. Applicants should also have expertise in at least one of the following areas below: - Procurement and Contract Management: Strong knowledge and experience in procurement processes, contract negotiation, and contract management. This includes understanding sourcing strategies, supplier evaluation, and contract administration. - Financial Analysis and Budgeting: Proficiency in financial analysis, cost analysis, and budgeting. The ability to track expenses, identify cost-saving opportunities, and manage procurement budgets effectively is essential. - Market Research and Supplier Evaluation: Expertise in conducting market research to identify potential suppliers, evaluate their capabilities, and make informed sourcing decisions. This involves assessing supplier reliability, quality, and cost-effectiveness. - Legal and Compliance Knowledge: Understanding of relevant laws, regulations, and compliance requirements related to procurement activities. This includes knowledge of procurement regulations, contract law, and government procurement policies. - Supply Chain Management: Knowledge of supply chain management principles and practices. This includes inventory management, logistics, and optimizing supply chain operations for efficiency and effectiveness. - Technology and Software Skills: Proficiency in using procurement software tools to streamline procurement processes, track purchasing activates, and manage supplier relationships. Familiarly with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and procurement-specific software is beneficial. Studies have shown that women, people of color, and other under-represented groups are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they are able to perform every task in the job description. We are interested in finding the best candidate for the job and will consider any equivalent combination of knowledge, skills, education and experience to meet qualifications. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to think broadly about your background and skill set for the role. Requirements: Unit Head ($117,935+): Bachelor's degree and a minimum of four years of experience in budgetary planning/management, financial analysis, public policy analysis or a related field; or an awarded Master's degree in Public Finance, Public Administration, Policy Analysis, Business, Economics or a related field and two years of experience. Deputy Assistant Director ($141,217): Bachelor's degree and a minimum of five years of full-time experience in financial planning, management, and analysis; public policy analysis; City agency operational, budgetary, or savings analysis; or a related field. Alternately, an awarded Master's degree in Public Administration, Economics, Finance, Business or related field and a minimum of three years of relevant experience. All applicants must also possess at least two prior years of prior supervisory and independent decision-making capacity.

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.

Civil service title

BUDGET ANALYST (OMB)-MANAGERIA

Title classification

Pending Classification-2

Business title

• Experience level: Manager

Number of positions

Work location

255 Greenwich Street

• Category: Finance, Accounting, & Procurement

UC Davis Leadership

Summary of student success and start task force work this academic year.

• by Mary Croughan
• June 27, 2024
• Planning for graduate enrollment, building on the enrollment management tool rolled out in December 2023
• Realizing a student-employee marketplace that will facilitate better hiring and coordination of academic student employees and graduate student researchers across programs
• Considering the idea of increasing enrollment in existing master’s degree programs and increasing the number of self-supporting master’s degree programs (in-person and online), where it would benefit the graduate program/group and their prospective students
• Improving doctoral retention and expansion of discipline-specific professional development and career preparation for graduate students
• Exploring ways of funding graduate education, including support for programs and groups, fellowship allocation, and a graduate course buyout to facilitate teaching of core courses in graduate groups
• Evaluating course units to ensure that they appropriately capture contact hours and faculty and student workload (carried over from SSEO)
• Examining metrics and other new tools (such as continuous improvement cycles already used by some units in Engineering and the College of Biological Sciences) that could be incorporated into the undergraduate program review process, and how recommendations could be more holistically integrated into campus budget and planning processes to make the reviews more impactful 
• Identifying barriers in change-of-major and other administrative processes to aid retention
• Increasing access to summer and online courses
• Revising advising and placement processes for preparatory courses to help support student success and reduce time-to-degree
• Modernizing infrastructure and surveys for evaluations of teaching and student experience informed by the recommendations of the UC Davis Report of the Special Committee on Evaluation of Teaching and the UC Systemwide Academic Council Teaching Evaluation Task Force report
• Assuring access to state-of-the-art research computing resources including High Performance Computing, with appropriate coordination and access
• Expanding research opportunities by increasing awareness and recognition of UC Davis capabilities and signature areas of excellence
• Assuring planned campus support and oversight for critical research core facilities and research centers/institutes
• Streamlining research administration (pre- and post-award) and support staffing with necessary expertise and experience to reduce the burden on Principal Investigators
• Reimagining facilities and administrative cost allocation to support cross-campus collaboration and ensure costs of doing research are supported by sponsors to the greatest extent possible
• Prioritizing issues, starting with a survey sent in the spring to department chairs and chief administrative officers to rank a comprehensive list of challenges faculty face across the campus
• Exploring standardizing or integrating a calendaring system to save time on meeting scheduling
• Evaluating suggestions related to workload data improvement, handling student disability accommodation requests, and student requests for letters of recommendation
• Improving research administration support, including financial accounting and pre- and post-award management (working in partnership with the START Increasing Our Research Excellence Committee)
• Implementing transparent and equitable policies and expectations for teaching loads and service  
• Capital project development and funding – providing greater transparency about project priorities and the process for requesting and implementing capital projects
• Space allocation and utilization – exploring ways for campus constituents to more easily understand where and how space resources are allocated and have greater insight into actual utilization
• Space and project policies and procedures – evaluating existing policies and procedures around space and building projects, considering ways to provide more clear criteria and share that information broadly across campus
• Classroom and class lab scheduling – looking at ways to provide additional educational space by incentivizing space use changes and greater sharing
• Safety and security – evaluating different security and safety needs based on space types (i.e., classrooms, labs and offices)

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