On the move: Rhine River Detachment

Translog: Journal of Military Transportation Management, Summer, 2006 by Bram de Jong

A Dec. 14 ribbon cutting ceremony by Capt. Milton A. Montenegro, commander 838th U.S. Army Transportation Battalion's Rhine River Detachment sealed the move of personnel and offices of the Rhine River Detachment to Coleman Barracks, Germany.

The move came as a result of the restructuring of U.S. Forces, requiring military and civilian employees of the RRD to move from downtown Mannheim.

The move meets security requirements for U.S. forces in Europe.

Detachment personnel support deploying and redeploying U.S. military equipment by arranging transportation through the German barge system. The unit's central location, near U.S. Forces and the River Rhine, makes barge movement an efficient mode of transportation between Mannheim and the seaports of Antwerp, Belgium, and Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

"The move of personnel and offices at this time of the year was especially challenging due to special network requirements and because of ongoing operations to support the war fighters within the Mannheim community," Montenegro said.

The detachment was activated in 1957 under the Bremerhaven Transportation Battalion to support U.S. Forces in the central European theater of operations. On July 1, 1976, the Detachment was transferred to the Military Traffic Management Command, which changed its name to Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command on Jan. 1, 2004.

Coleman Barracks, formerly Fliegerhorst (flyer's nest) Kaserne, was built in 1938 as an airfield for the German air force operating fighters and bombers. At the beginning of the war, the (Luftwaffe) fighter squadron "Pike-As," commanded by General Hans Moelder, was stationed here. Moelder was one of Germany's top air aces who shot down more than 300 planes, mostly Russian.

The naming of Coleman Barracks is exceptional because it is the only Barracks in the Heidelberg area other than Patton to be named after an officer. Its name commemorates Lieutenant Colonel Wilson D. Coleman, who was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for single-handedly halting an enemy column.

Bram de Jong

SDDC 598th Transportation Group