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The 15th Trailer Transfer Detachment, 39th Transportation Battalion, 16th Sustainment Brigade, officially inactivated during a ceremony Oct. 15 at Kleber Kaserne in Kaiserslautern. It was the last U.S. Army detachment of its kind in Europe.
The few remaining Soldiers of the 15th TTD stood in the inactivation ceremony attended by former unit members and Soldiers of the 39th Trans. Bn. Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Lee English and Detachment Commander Capt. Joe Hall
provided remarks focusing on the unit’s rich history of service to the Army in
Europe and the hard work performed by the Soldiers to ensure the unit inactivated on time.
The detachment’s history dates back to 1955 when it was stood up and given the mission to assist with the clearing of the Port of Bordeaux, France, after World War II. Three years later it was moved to La Rochelle, France, where it again assisted in the clearing of the port.
In 1963, the 15th TTD was moved to Bremerhaven, Germany, where it remained until moving to Rüsselsheim, Germany, in 1970, where it performed its trailer transfer mission in support of line haul transportation operations in central Germany.
With the advent of an air line of communication channels from the U.S., the detachment was again relocated. In 1977 it stood up operations at Rhein Main Air Base in Frankfurt where it cleared cargo from the air terminal, linking the Arial Port of Debarkation with truck line haul operations for the next 16 years.
In 1993, the 15th TTD made what would be its final move to Kleber Kaserne in Kaiserslautern. Throughout its tenure, the detachment played a critical role in the movement and transload of cargo and the maintenance of thousands of U.S. military line haul trailers, at one time a common site on the German autobahns.
The Soldiers were sad to leave such a close knit unit but proud of what they had accomplished.
All the Soldiers will remain in the 39th Trans. Bn. with the exception of the detachment first sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Cluke-Mitchell, who will be relocating soon.
