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Southern
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| SETAF - 50th Anniversary (Oct 2005) | |||||||||||||
(Source: Email from Felice "Phil" Maselli) |
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| SETAF has grown into the largest (as a matter of fact maybe the only) US Army Command in Europe today. Currently the CG (MG Jason Kamiya) with his staff and the entire 173d Airborne Brigade are in Afghanistan and they are to be back next spring. Right now at Ederle MG David T. Zabecki is “CG USASETAF Rear (ABN) (Provisional), and a full Colonel with his Staff are running the 22nd Area Support Group. MG Zabecki is a history buff and he was very surprised to see that at Ederle there are scanty (if any at all) files of SETAF’s early days. Although I’ve been in retirement since March 1998 I have always kept in very close contact with the SETAF Hqs Staff. MG Zabecki is interested in a short range and long range project. -- First of all we are working on a program to celebrate SETAF’s 50th anniversary on 25 October. It will not be much of a military event, unfortunately, as there are very few Soldiers here for a memorable parade. Nevertheless, we are working on the Community Relations aspect and we’ll invite former Mayors and Italian Army Unit Commanders with whom we worked so closely for training purposes as you remember very well. Part of the 50th anniversary program is to put together some kind of display highlighting important military and Public Relations events which occurred in SETAF’s early years. I have several photos on hand and copies of press releases which I wrote for the Italian media which will be helpful for that purpose. -- For the long range project we are working at setting up a permanent display at Ederle with as much historical documentation as possible, mainly photographic. Besides being able to provide quite a bit of material in possession, I have contacted LTG (retired) Bob Coffin who was in SETAF in the very early years, first as G3 and then as Commander of the 1st Missile Command. He is sending some photos and excerpts from his personal memoirs. Others whom I have contacted are all of the former CG’s whom I workd for and with whom I’ve kept in touch over the years, as well as former Unit Commanders like Col. Bielefeld with his 159th Rocket Bn old timers, and Col. Crenshaw. All are sharing memories and photos with us. I have been unable to contact other old timers like Col. Gude, Col. Land and other Corporal and Sergeant Missile Unit Commanders, for that very same purpose. We need some help in getting in touch with some of those Gentlemen, and also in supporting our project with materials and memorabilia from your personal collections that you would like to share with us. We would be very grateful. Anyone who can provide information, materials, suggestions or has questions about the projects, please contact Phil Maselli directly or the webmaster. |
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| History | |||||||||||||
| 19.. - 19.. | |||||||||||||
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(Source:
Setaf Dispatch, October 25, 1960)
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| Five Years
of Progress... SETAF - The Southern European Task Force, the Army's first overseas missile command, has completed its fifth year as integral link in NATO's European chain of defense in Italy. SETAE was activated in Italy on October 25, 1955 as a prototype combat-ready, atomic-capable support force. A Bi-National Italo-American missile command, SETAF has its headquarters in Verona. From there, the command directs the activities of the 1st US Army Missile Command and III Italian Missile Brigade in Vicenza; the 8th Logistical Command in Leghorn; and the SETAF Special Troops in Boscomantico and Verona. The 1st Msl Comd, under the command of Col Robert E. Coffin, is a streamlined organization with a potent punch. Highly mobile Corporal missile units, which furnish devastating power, are supplemented by engineer, signal, quartermaster, ordnance, medical and transportation elements. |
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In Leghorn is the 8th Log Comd, commanded by Col Robert
E. Holman. The 8th Log Comd has the responsibility of supplying the
other SETAF elements over a line of communications that extends more
than 220 miles from the port of entry to the missile units in Vicenza.
Improvements Made While commanders have carved one the world's finest modern fighting forces into being, they have not neglected the troops' and dependents' welfare. The commanders have worked tirelessly to improve troop and family living and working areas. The opening of 1st Msl Comd's "Villaggio della Pace" (Village of the Peace) and a new US Army Hospital in Vicenza are two examples. SETAF officers, men and their families have worked hard to improve community relations. Through every day contacts at home and at work, a strong bond of friendship and understanding has grown between the Americans and their Italian hosts. That SETAF has been successful in this respect is evidenced by the numerous articles that appear continually in the Italian press, praising the command. SETAF is starting its sixth year with confidence and a pledge to continually improve its military role in NATO and keep alive the spirit of friendship that exists with its Italian hosts. |
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| 543rd FAM Battalion (Cpl) | |||||||||||||
| 1956 - 19.. | |||||||||||||
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(Source:
Unit History, 543rd Field Artillery Missile Battalion, Vol. I, Sept
1955-Mar 1957)
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NOTE:
The Unit history starts off with the activation of the
543rd Field Artillery Missile Battalion (Cpl) on 1 Sept
1955 at Fort Bliss and continues with the initial training. We pick
it up at the point after the Battalion has been notified that it
will deploy to Italy.) |
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| 1st Missile Command | |||||||||||||
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(Source:
MISSILES AND ROCKETS, 13 July 1959)
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Missile
Troops in Italy
by Charles Newton The following dispatch was sent from Italy by M/R's Executive Editor, now touring Europe. VICENZA - The Western World's first army missile command is stationed here as part of NATO-earmarked forces which are armed with obsolete weapons, recently reduced in strength by half - and still a potent force because of the "mystery of atomic power." The missile unit is part of the Southern European Task Force (SETAF) and operates under the command of Col. Melville B. Coburn. Up until June of this year it had been armed with the Corporal missile and the Honest John rocket, both with nuclear warheads. On June 30 - by coincidence, perhaps, the end of the U.S. fiscal year - the two Honest John battalions were formally turned over to the Italian army, which had been training to use them since Jan. 1. Simultaneously, the command's personnel was cut in half, from 4000 to 2000. "The fact that we have obsolete or at least obsolescent weapons is not important to the people of Italy," Coburn said. "To them SETAF is a manifestation that there is an atomic force in Italy and that it is here to stay. It is a part of the mystery of atomic power." |
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Organized in 1955
In the spring of 1955 it became apparent that the Austria peace negotiations were headed toward success, which meant the withdrawal of Allied troops from Austria. Thus NATO moved to create a new American military command in Italy as a defensive move to fill the void created by the neutralization of Austria, and SETAF came into being on Oct 25, 1955. The Missile Command still operates two battalions of Corporals, sky cavalry which would drop reconnaissance teams behind enemy lines in time of war, an engineer battalion and a signal company. It works with Italian forces to carry out atomic demolition. The area covered by the command is 175 miles broad and 100 miles deep, all of it roughly north of Vicenza. Facing this area are the six passes over the Alps through which enemy invaders traditionally come. They are, from north to south, Resia, Brenner, Dobbiaco, St. Croce, Tarviso and Gorizia. The latter leads from the famed Ljubljana plains of Northern Yugoslavia. In event of war, one of several major jobs facing the missile command would be demolition of these passes by atomic blasts. The Italians have the actual responsibility for destroying the passes, or making them impassable, but the missile command has control of the atomic demolition packages and the job of getting the Italian forces and the nuclear explosives to the scene. To do this, the command has worked out three teams of three helicopters each. The first would carry the atomic store. This, it was revealed, weighs 1500 pounds, the same weight as the warhead of the Corporal and Honest John, regardless of what force the atomic blast may be. The second 'copter carries equipment and the third personnel. The Italians are experts, Col Coburn said, in the art of destroying tunnels, bridges and roads. By boring a "room" some 40 feet into the side of a mountainside at just the right place to strike a "fault," they can, with the force behind an atomic blast, bring down the entire mountainside. Asked if they would close all the passes in the event of war, Coburn said, "Yes, if they ere so directed." Living by mobility The colonel feels that if war comes the primary job of his command is to stay alive by mobility. He said his force has shown that it can move the huge carriers of the Corporal and Honest John around the mountain roads of the extremely rough terrain of the area. In combat, the units would fire from one pre-located position and race to another, never firing twice from the same place. Coburn said that each of the battalions turned over to the Italians was equipped with 254 Honest John rockets, but did not say whether all were nuclear-armed. The solid-fueled rocket weighs 5900 pounds; in a demonstration, an Italian Army team trucked one up, transferred it to the firing platform and theoretically fired it in about 10 minutes. It is fairly accurate at it 15.8-mile range. The Corporal, two battalions of which the missile command retains, is fueled with nitric acid, aniline and compressed air. It is guided to the target by radar and has a range of 80 miles. "The Corporal," said Col Coburn, "is either extremely accurate or horrible. And we're never quite sure which it will be." Col Coburn would like to have the Sergeant, a follow-on to the Corporal which is solid-fueled and much less complicated in its guidance system. In the event of war each of his battalions would get off four Corporals on the first day, if all went well, but only on each 12 hours thereafter, largely due to the preparation-for-firing complications. Waiting for Pershing In addition to the Sergeant, which the colonel wasn't counting on getting any time soon, he also had a great yearning for an 800-mile missile - typified perhaps by the Pershing, now under development by the Army, although its range will probably be more in the neighborhood of 500 miles at first. |
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| 5th MSL Bn, 30th Artillery | |||||||||||||
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5th Bn, 30th FA DUI |
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(Source:
DANIEL GILLOTTI)
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The
5th Battalion, 30th Field Artillery
was activated at Ft Sill, OK, on 27 February 1963 as a Sergeant
Missile Battalion.
The Battalion was deployed to Europe in December 1963, arriving in Vicenza, Italy, on 29 December 1963. 5th Bn, 30th FA was assigned to the 1st Missile Command. The 5th Bn, 30th FA remained in Italy until it was inactivated in September 1972. |
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(Source:
DANIEL GILLOTTI)
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The
2nd Battalion, 30th Field
Artillery
was reactivated in Vicenza, Italy in 1972.
On 18 September 1972, the 5th Battalion (Sergeant Missile), 30th Field Artillery was inactivated in Italy and the 2nd Battalion, 30th Field Artillery was reactivated concurrently. All personnel and equipment were transferred in place to the 2nd Bn. On 20 October 1972, LTC Ronald L. Little assumed command of the 2nd Bn. On 15 Dec 1975, 2nd Battalion, 30th Field Artillery was inactivated in Vicenza, Italy. |
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Additional
5/30th FA Photos (a very nice sequence of photos displaying
activities at a Sergeant firing battery leading up to the launch)
- Hard Chargers web site
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| 8th Logistical Command | |||||||||||||
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(Source:
ARMY INFORMATION DIGEST, July 1958 )
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| On watch in
the Appenines SETAF PILOT ORGANIZATION FOR THE FUTURE Major General H.H. Fischer "The Army is planning six Atomic Support Forces similar to the one now located in Italy" This statement, appearing frequently in the news in connection with the defense budget, exemplifies the general trend of military thinking and planning since Korea - a reorganization of forces together with an undiminished maintenance of the Army's world-wide commitments. References to the force in Italy focus attention on an organization that is unique in concept, makeup, and mission - the United States Army Southern European Task Force, known as SETAF. What is SETAF? Primarily, it is a combat-ready atomic-capable support force deployed as part of the NATO defensive elements stationed in Northern Italy. However, due to this unique employment as the first atomic-capable support force operating alone in a foreign country, it has been cast in a much larger mold. In addition to maintaining a constant combat capability, SETAF is charged with the following additional and equally important missions:  Developing the organization,
tactics, and techniques of a U.S. Army missile command. Performing the numerous
housekeeping, administrative, and logistical functions normally associated
with a Theater Army Command. Creating and preserving
a feeling of fellowship and mutual respect with its partners in NATO,
the Italian people. SETAF is a young and vigorous command, unhampered by traditional methods and outmoded ideas. Organized in October 1955 from elements made excess by the phase-out in Austria, it immediately undertook an entirely different role. No longer was it a portion of a large command dealing with a well-established occupation mission. It now was confronted with an artillery support role to include an atomic capability. Transformation of this relatively unorganized force into an effective atomic backup element required the best efforts of all concerned. Addition of an atomic capability to the vital Italian defenses in the Alps was urgently needed. Organizationally, SETAF has always consisted of three essential elements - a combat force, a logistical support echelon, and an overall command headquarters. Initially, the combat element consisted of a reduced Infantry regiment supported by an Honest John battery and an Engineer company. This organization was essentially a modernized version of the Regimental Combat Team that had rendered such outstanding service in World War II and Korea. In preparation for warfare in the atomic age, complete revamping was necessary. Likewise, the Infantry-heavy posture had to give way to greater emphasis on the missile and rocket units. The area of employment is wide and in order to provide adequate support for the entire Italian front, every man must contribute directly toward placing the rockets and missiles on the enemy position. Accordingly Honest John and Engineer element were expanded, Corporal units were added, and the Infantry strength was reduced. Each step was carefully tested and studied for strengths and weaknesses in order to define properly the next step. Repeated field exercises in various terrain, weather, and tactical situations dictated the necessary organizational changes. Despite the difficulties of deployment, training, organizing, and reorganizing, SETAF maintained its combat readiness throughout all this developmental period. TACTICAL FEATURES In the process of revising the organization, SETAF learned many tactical leassons. In a missile support force, there must be a fusion of tactical and logistical elements unheard of in former days. Ordnance support is required to be in the "hip pocket" of missile units. Signal communications in the many functions of target acquisition, command, and control must be coordinated exactly. Wheras in SETAF Infantry mass is a luxury that cannot be afforded, the missile artillery in the wide open warfare of tomorrow's "no front line" battlefield must have close-in Infantry protection responsive to its mobility and multifarious employment or it will be destroyed. Many other equally important tactical principles are constantly being brought to light. Throughout its existence, SETAF has stringently resisted all temptations to become large, cumbersome, or immobile. To create each new organization a fixed overall manning level has been maintained. Spaces have been taken away from marginally productive areas in order to create vitally needed elements. Each change has been dictated by the necessity for tailoring the unit to perform the task of providing missile support, with an atomic capability, while operating alone in a foreign country. In keeping with these objectives, the normal Missile Artillery Rocket Group Headquarters was eliminated and its function added to those of the Missile Command Headquarters. The three Infantry companies provided as security elements for the fire units have been made an integral part of the artillery battalions they protect. Likewise, the Italian Army has assisted materially in the efforts to eliminate nonessential tasks in order to enhance SETAF's capability as an artillery command. Italian Army units cooperate with SETAF in many ways, such as providing additional security for isolated elements and protection for the line of communications. The spaces saved by these measures have made possible the organization of a Sky Cavalry Battalion which has been assigned the vital target acquisition mission. DEPLOYMENT SETAF's line of communications starts in Livorno, extends northward over the Apennine Mountains and across the Po Valley 220 miles to the Headquarters at Verona. From there it extends forward an additional 32 miles to Vicenza where the majority of the units that make up SETAF's combat power are located. Practicalities of distance, available communications, and facilities have dictated in some degree the location of the various units. The port of entry is at Livorno; the Headquarters of the NATO Commander who exercises operational command over SETAF is in Verona; and the combat deployment areas are north and east of Verona where the gaps and passes in the Alps have formed the historic invasion routes into Italy. As a result of the evolution and experimentation SETAF today consists of a Logistical Command (Missile) located at Livorno, with forward supply responsibilities in the Verona and Vicenza areas; SETAF Headquarters located at Verona; and the First U.S. Army Missile Command located at Vicenza. This deployment affords SETAF a framework from which to employ its devastating power in any future war. Likewise, lessons learned in its day-to-day operation as an atomic-capable support force should contribute materially toward the further development of Army doctrine for atomic age warfare. As stated previously, SETAF assumed expanded proportions due to functioning in large measure as a miniature Theater Army Command. As the sole United States land force in Italy, it has only itself to rely upon for all the activities and support normally provided by the theater command, such as ports, depots, posts, hospitals, dependent schools, and numerous other logistical and administrative functions. These activities, though individually small, correspond numerically and in variety with the functions of any major theater of operations. In accomplishing these administrative tasks, SETAF has lived within an austere manpower ceiling. This has complicated the task to a degree. However, by combining functions and minimizing the effect of distance through the employment of rapid means of transportation, efficiency has been achieved. At the same time, capability has been retained for rapid expansion, in the event of sudden war, to a theater of operations of any sze that may be required. TRAINING METHODS An additional problem of great concern to SETAF has been the complete absence of adequate training areas for the accomplishment of an effective training program. Italy is a country of great population density and an extreme shortage of arable terrain. A training installation of the Fort Benning, Sill, or Bliss variety is unobtainable. Troops are billeted in small compact "casermas" located in the outskirts of sizable towns. These installations barely provide the essentials for housing and living. Any training, even small unit problems, conditioning marches, and small arms firing, is accomplished with great difficulty. Despite all obstacles, SETAF has always retained a high degree of immediate combat readiness. This has been done by adopting the methods used by the Italian Army. Suitable terrain is legally borrowed from its private owners for a training exercise or maneuver. Safety zones and other precautions are established according to normal U.S. Army practice. As necessary, and assisted by the Italian Army, the local inhabitants are removed from their homes and farms for the duration of the exercise. After completion of the maneuver, a joint Italian-United States claim team moves in to settle immediately for any damage inflicted. This method has made possible successful range practice and firing exercises for all weapons up to and including the Honest John rockets. The Italian setting has been responsible for another serious training challenge. Cities and roads stemming from the ancient civilization and culture of Italy are not designed for modern, high speed, mechanized traffic. The quaint, narrow streets, the steep mountain defiles, and numerous scooters, bicycles and carts make a hazardous setting for the oversized military vehicles of today and tomorrow. By careful driver selection and training, and constant command emphasis on safe road practices, the SETAF accident rate has been kept very low. COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES SETAF is not an occupational force. It entered Italy long after the peace treaty ending World War II was signed. The Italian nation is a sovereign and co-equal nation with the United States and the other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. SETAF came to Italy as an invited foreign force. Italian officials readily admitted that the re-entry of the Americans was cause for some concern on the part of civic leaders. All foreign armies traditionally are unpopular. The hope was that the Americans would not become unwelcome guests. As the embodiment of the United States to the people of Italy, SETAF has a great responsibility to put the nation's best foot forward. In everything that was done - on duty, in garrison, in the field, or during periods of recreation - the soldiers were the object of great interest on the part of the host nation. However, two factors assisted materially in turning this fact from a liability into an asset. First is the professional attitude of the SETAF troops and their Italian counterparts. The American soldiers are justly proud of their advanced and unique armament, their combat readiness and high state of training. They are glad to demonstrate their skills to the appreciative and interested Italian Army. The Italians, on their part, have had many a SETAF soldier as a guest at installations of the famed Bersaglieri or Alpini. SETAF troops attend courses of instruction in the Italian Alpina warfare school at Aosta where they learn skiing and mountain warfare at an institution that has no peer. In fact, several Americans have been successful in earning the coveted Alpini hats. Italian Military Police, the famed Carabinieri, have a unit on duty as an integral part of the SETAF organizations. They greatly assist the Americans by guarding installations, escorting motor columns, and sharing in the conduct of honor guards and other ceremonies. American Military Police and Italian Carabinieri share in the control of United States and civilian personnel in their off-duty contacts. The end-product of this close cooperation is a completely professional attitude and sense of harmony between SETAF and the Italian Army units that it supports. A second and equally important factor is the feeling of good will which exists between the Italian populace and SETAF personnel. This is no mere arrangement on a command or diplomatic level. It has its beginning and its authenticity in the grassroots. Being small, SETAF has no large executive-type community relations organization. Instead, it encourages an interchange of acquaintances and goodwill which, in two years has generated a healthy climate of mutual respect. SETAF has no "American Village" housing inclosures. American families live among the citizens of Livorno, Vicenza, and Verona, and the soldiers find their off-duty recreation in the local Italian community; often they visit with Italian families in their homes. The ever-generous nature of the American soldier has also contributed materially. Practically every battalion and separate company has, on its own, assumed sponsorship of orphanages or hospitals. This inborn friendliness that characterizes American soldiers everywhere has turned previous misgivings into an unqualified welcome and has served to disarm the skeptics among the local population. Disciplinary problems have been carefully controlled. By prompt official action and complete cooperation with the Italian authorities, the effect of infrequent incidents has been minimized. The Status of Forces Agreement between the United States and Italy has served as the basis for legal contact between the two nationalities. Its sensible and sympathetic application by both countries has assisted greatly in smoothing the rough spots that occasionally arise in any command. American personnel have actively participated in the everyday community activities. A Sergeant First Class in Verona is the coach of Verona's own Italian baseball team. Last year, SETAF's baseball team played against the Italian team of Florence in Italy's first night game. Joining in the local scheme of things athletically, SETAF soldiers have enthusiastically adopted soccer. This game, which enjoys an enormous following in Italy, is unfamiliar to most Americans, but SETAF troops learn it and play it. Needless to say, the American teams are usually soundly defeated by the more experienced and adept Italian team. Nevertheless, the seeds of friendship are sown. Games may be lost but friends are made. SETAF constantly extends every effort to cooperate with its Italian ally in every possible field - military, cultural, social, and economic. The daily life of the SETAF soldier is based upon attitudes and actions designed to accomplish this objective. The citizens of the Veneto district are thus becoming acquainted witha third generation of Americans whose parents and grandparents they knew in the two World Wars. ALLIED COOPERATION The essence of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is the voluntary mutual assistance of the signatory powers to build up strength collectively - a task which would be beyond the power of any one, singly, to achieve. The voluntary mode of this exchange reflects the great difference between the Free World and the Communist way of doing things. Anyone who would understand what SETAF is must understand the community relations phase of its existence, for this is what gives substance to the NATO idea. SETAF feels that the power of human understanding is greater than any atomic force. As a result of the emphasis on community relations, SETAF, while furnishing atomic-capable fire support to the Allied Land Forces of Southern Europe, is at the same time writing a new chapter in the historic friendship between Italy and the United States. The Army of tomorrow will be required to deal in the economy of small, compact forces, the common sense of measured, precise firepower, and the strategic and tactical adaptability of mobile, independent task forces. Such forces may have to be stationed in extremes of climate and terrain, far from the shores of the United States and far removed from the highly organized theaters of operations as they have previously been known. Through two years of valuable experience, SETAF has learned that the U.S. Army is quite capable of adapting itself to meet the challenge of the future. This experience has shown that small independent atomic forces can be employed and sustained for indefinite periods in foreign lands working in close support of indigenous forces. The American soldier quickly responds to training in the armament of the atomic age. Likewise, when well informed, he readily subscribes to and takes cognizance of customs and standards of conduct that make possible his living in harmony with those who will be his allies during war. Today SETAF's life in Italy is one of constant change. Its troops are engaging in alerts, field problems, and NATO combined exercises, returning to critique, revise, and retrain where deficiencies are indicated or where experience has shown that the mission can be accomplished in an improved manner. In this process, SETAF is confident that, as a small pilot unit, it is making important strides toward a tomorrow that is here today. |
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| Related
Links Southern European Task Force - Official web site Hard Chargers - Official web site of the 30th FA Regiment Association, including 2nd Bn and 5th Bn, 30th FA (Sergeant) that served in SETAF in the late 1960s-early 70s. |
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June
1956
