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After the end of World War II, under the conditions of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, the Allied forces occupied West Berlin. This occupation lasted throughout the Cold War. The Berlin Brigade were the brigade-sized garrison forces based there by the British and American armies; the French army also had units in Berlin, called Forces Françaises à Berlin.
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United States
The Berlin Brigade of the United States Army was a separate brigade based in Berlin; its shoulder sleeve insignia was the U.S. Army Europe patch with Berlin tab.
During the Berlin Wall Crisis of 1961, the Army reorganized the command structure of the forces in Berlin and created the U.S. Army Berlin and created the Berlin Brigade from the units already in the city. The 6th Infantry Regiment, active in Germany since 1950, was reorganized in mid-1958 according to the "pentomic" structure: Each "battle group" consisted of five line (rifle) companies, a combat support company, and a headquarters & headquarters company. The Berlin Brigade had the 2d and 3d Battle Groups, 6th Infantry until 1963, when Army force structure abandoned battle groups in favor of brigades and subordinate battalions.
The reorganized brigade consisted of the following units:
The 168th and 298th share the distinction of being the longest-serving units in Berlin. They both arrived in the city in a 37-vehicle convoy on 3 July 1945. The commanders of both units were old high school classmates.
The brigade's infantry battalions were reflagged again in 1984 as the 4th, 5th and 6th Battalions, 502d Infantry Regiment, and Battery C, 94th FA was reflagged as Battery E, 320th Field Artillery.
From 1947 to 1987, brigade soldiers were tasked with month-long rotations at Spandau Prison. These rotations, shared with British, French and Soviet soldiers, continued until Spandau's last prisoner, Rudolph Hess, died in 1987.
Until the end of the Cold War, members of the brigade were eligible for the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp. Because of the legal status of West Berlin, it was technically "occupied" territory left over from World War II.
During the early 1980s, the U.S. Army Regimental System initiative renamed a large percentage of infantry, armor and artillery battalions to align overseas commands with units assigned to stateside brigades, reinforcing the Army's regimental designations and unit morale. The original intent was to initiate personnel replacement and rotations within regiments, a "next step" that did not provide sufficient flexibility to Army personnel managers. The impact on Berlin-based infantry battalions was to reflag the 2d, 3d and 4th Battalions, 6th Infantry as the 4th, 5th and 6th Battalions, 502d Infantry, respectively, during the summer of 1984, assigning Berlin infantry units a shared identification with infantry battalions of 2d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the operational structure of the Brigade was as follows:
Members of the brigade deployed to Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990–1991. But the first Berlin Brigade units to take part in an out-of-theater operation were the command-and-staff element of Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), as well as one platoon from Company D, 6th Battalion, 502d Infantry, and the 42d Engineer Company. These units were later joined by the members of the 42d AG Unit (Postal). These units served in Operation Provide Comfort, a relief and protection mission for Iraqi Kurds. They served with a multinational "Allied Ground Combat Force" that also included British, French, Italian, Dutch, and Turkish infantry companies. Based in Silopi, Turkey, near the Iraqi border, from July to October 1991, these ground forces were soon withdrawn to avoid entanglement in the local Turkish-PKK conflict and because it was decided that the US Air Force presence at Incirlik constituted an adequate deterrent to Iraqi attempts at encroaching on the Kurdish autonomous zone. Soldiers of this task force were authorized to wear the Berlin Brigade shoulder sleeve insignia as a combat patch on the right shoulder of their uniform, the first and only time elements of the Berlin Brigade were authorized to do so.
Elements of the Berlin Brigade were the first combat units selected to deploy as a member of the United Nations Protectionary Forces (UNPROFOR) to Macedonia in July 1993; later to be renamed Task Force Able Sentry.
Under the treaties that enabled the reunification of Germany, all non-German military forces were required to leave Berlin. The Berlin Brigade was officially inactivated by President Bill Clinton on 6 July 1994. The last unit to leave Berlin was the 42d AG Unit (Postal). The 42d was a small unit responsible for the mail service for the military assigned to Berlin, the Potsdam unit, and the Helmstedt detachment. It received very little recognition but was vital to the morale of the brigade. Besides postal service, the unit also performed other services, such as courier duty throughout the European theater. The unit was based at Andrews Barracks under Special Troops.
United Kingdom
The Berlin Infantry Brigade of the British Army was formed in October 1953 out of the force called "Area Troops Berlin" and consisted of some 3,100 men in three infantry battalions, an armoured squadron, and a number of support units. Its shoulder sleeve insignia was a red circle over a black background with the word Berlin in red on a black background running around the top. It was not initially part of the British Army of the Rhine despite being based in Germany. However, it is recorded, at the very least, by the mid-1980s, that the brigade was indeed part of BAOR, being its second major component after I (BR) Corps.
The military post code for Berlin was originally BAOR 2, later BFPO 45.
The three infantry battalions and armoured squadron assigned to Berlin were rotated regularly; the single armoured squadron was detached from an armoured regiment assigned to I (BR) Corps. The infantry battalions were rotated every two years. 7 Flight AAC, based at RAF Gatow, provided aviation support. Other units, such as 62 Transport and Movements Squadron RCT, 14 Field Workshop REME, RAOC, 504 CRASC (ODT), 131 DID RASC, Det No 2 Independent Petrol Station Platoon RASC, 31st Quartering and Barracks Office RASC,121 & 122 Barracks Stores, 38 (Berlin) Field Squadron RE, 229 Signals Squadron and 3 Squadron 13 Signals Regiment Royal Signals, 3 Intelligence and Security Coy Int Corps, 247 Provost Coy RMP, 248 German Security Unit and the British Military Hospital (BMH) Berlin were also permanently based in Berlin.
When the Berlin Wall fell, the operational structure of the British Brigade in Berlin was as follows:
In 1992, the brigade was reduced to two battalions, then further reduced in 1993 to a single battalion. The brigade was disbanded in September 1994.