WIESBADEN, Germany -- Engineers stationed in Europe braved snow, rain and gusting winds to volunteer their time and repaint three historical buildings at Point Alpha, near Rasdorf, Germany, March 30-April 2.
The 30 volunteers, from the 15th Engineer Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command; and the U.S. Army Europe Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Engineer (ODCSENG); restored two barracks buildings and the pump house using historically accurate colors in preparation for the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the end of the last U.S. patrol at Point Alpha.
The USAREUR Engineers were the first U.S. troops to stay at Point Alpha since its closure in 1990.
Sgt. Maj. Barry Moose, ODCSENG, led and coordinated the volunteer effort.
U.S. Observation Post (OP) Alpha was preserved as a German national historical site, Point Alpha, so that the history of a region split for forty years following World War II would not be forgotten. From 1946 through March 31, 1990, elements of the 14th, then the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiments rotated patrols to several OPs along the inner-German border.
OP Alpha is located on a hilltop between the towns of Rasdorf, Hessen and Giesa, Thuringen, in a region that was economically and socially united until the end of WWII. OP Alpha overlooked the geostrategic Fulda Gap, which was the shortest and geographically easiest route from the East into the Rhein-Main region and then on to France, whose border is a mere 155 miles from OP Alpha.
The still-standing fence line, which extended more than 1,400 kilometers along the inner-German border, the patrol road through the once-mined area, several fortified foxholes, and the East German observation tower in close proximity to the U.S. tower on Point Alpha serve as stark reminders of a divided nation.
Retired Col. Robert Bruce, a 3rd Armor Division Cavalryman in 1987-88, recalled that while on relief patrol at OP Alpha for 1-11th ACR, he would look through binoculars over to the East German tower, where the soldier on guard was looking straight back at him through binoculars.
More than 20 years later, Bruce revisited the site and took the short walk across the neutral zone to stand at the base of the East German observation tower and look back at the American flag, saying it was "eerie" to see it from the other side. The USAREUR engineers expressed similar feelings.
In between coats of paint and during another round of snow flurries, director of the Point Alpha Foundation Volker Bausch led the engineers on a tour of the site's exhibits and at the Border House, which is several hundred meters down the old wheeled-vehicle patrol road from Point Alpha.
As several of the Soldiers observed, it is one thing to read about the Cold War in a book; it is entirely different to be on ground to see the historical division with your own eyes and talk to people who lived through it.
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U.S. Army Europe Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Engineer
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