Katterbach Kaserne
| Katterbach/Bismarck Kaserne Ansbach Airfield (R-45) |
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|---|---|
Entrance gate at Katterbach Kaserne
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| Coordinates | 49°18′33″N 010°38′13″E / 49.30917°N 10.63694°E |
| Type | Military Garrison |
| Site information | |
| Owner |
 United States with authority from  Germany
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| Controlled by |
 United States Army
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| Site history | |
| Built | 1935 |
| Built by |
 Luftwaffe
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| In use | 1935-1945 (Luftwaffe) Apr-1945-May 1947 (USAAF) May 1947-Current (United States Army) |
Katterbach Kaserne is a United States Army facility in Germany, located in the village of Katterbach, about 3 miles east-northeast of Ansbach (Bavaria); about 250 miles south-southwest of Berlin.
Katterbach is part of the United States Army Garrison (USAG) Ansbach, being home to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, V Corps consisting of an attack helicopter battalion with several aviation and maintenance support units, and a United States Air Force liaison squadron (Det. 4, 7th Weather Squadron).
It also has family housing; two schools, the Ansbach Elementary School and the Ansbach Middle High School; two banking facilities; AAFES facilities; the commissary and other essential services such as SATO travel and Army Community Services.
Bismarck Kaserne is located directly across German Federal Highway 14. It has several key services, the AAFES Post Exchange, Car Care Center and gas station. It also has family and guest housing.
Construction began in 1935 as a Luftwaffe airfield named Fliegerhorst Ansbach and was completed in 1938. The airfield was primarily a bomber airfield, with the first unit, Kampfgeschwader 155 (KG 155) being assigned to the new base in April 1936, equipped with an early model of the Heinkel He 111, the He 111B. Other prewar bomber units assigned were KG 355 (July 1938, Dornier Do 17Z); KG 53 (May 1939, He 111). These bomber units were used in the German invasion of Poland in September 1939.
During World War II, Ansbach was initially used to form and equip bomber units until mid 1943. KG 2, KG 77, KG 6 and KG 76 all were assigned to the base with a variety of bombers (Do 17, Ju 88s) which flew missions from Ansbach to France, England, and Russia.
It was only in the late summer of 1943, with the increasing number of Allied bomber attacks on Germany, that Ansbach was assigned to the "Defense of the Reich", campaign, and day interceptor fighters were assigned to the airfield to attack the American Eighth Air Force heavy bomber formations. Numerous Luftwaffe fighter units were assigned to Ansbach during 1943-late 1944, when as a result of Allied attacks, the airfield became unusable. Known units assigned were ZG 76 (1943–1944, Bf 110), JG 3 (1944, Bf 109G), JG 4, JG 300 (Fw 190A). The last operational unit assigned, KG 101, equipped with Ju 88As, moved out in August 1944, after which Ansbach was the home of various Luftwaffe ground units (Flughafen-Bereichs-Kommando), the last of which moved out in April 1945 (FBK 14/VII), blowing up the runway, aircraft hangars and other technical buildings.
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