Home » Archives » "Transformation swelling ranks at Grafenwöhr, Vilseck"

Transformation swelling ranks at Grafenwöhr, Vilseck

Jul- 9-2006 » Filed Under: 2nd SCR

Link to Full Article
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — The influx of 3,500 2nd Cavalry (Stryker) Regiment soldiers to Vilseck is having a flow-on effect on nearby Grafenwöhr, where officials expect the population to soon be more than double what it was last year.

In an interview Thursday, a year to the day after he took command at U.S Army Garrison Grafenwöhr, Col. Brian T. Boyle said he expected 1,000 additional soldiers to be at Grafenwöhr by the end of summer.

The base is expanding from a 1,000-soldier garrison with 2,000 military family members — according to April 2005 figures — to a brigade-size facility with 4,500 active-duty soldiers and 7,000 family members by 2008. The Army is spending $600 million upgrading the base to accommodate the new arrivals, garrison officials said.

Boyle said several units had arrived or were arriving at Grafenwöhr this year. The 12th Chemical Company recently moved here with 150 soldiers from Harvey Barracks in Kitzingen, he said.

Later this summer, the 69th Signal Battalion will shift from Würzburg to Grafenwöhr. The unit has only 50 soldiers, but includes a large number of civilians, Boyle said.

Grafenwöhr has also seen an influx of units moving from Vilseck to make way for the Strykers. So far this summer, 200 soldiers from the 41st Transportation Company, 120 from the 529th Ordnance Company and 25 personnel from the 561st Medical Detachment have moved from Vilseck to Grafenwöhr, Boyle said.

“By the end of this year, the total increase at Grafenwöhr will be about 1,000 soldiers. A thousand more soldiers will arrive next year and another 1,000 in 2008,” he said.

Meanwhile, at Vilseck, 1,500 2nd Cav soldiers are on the ground with more arriving every day, Boyle said.


Advertisements