Category: The “News”

Submitted by Bill Schneider (October 6, 2020) I am submitting photos of a training “Pit Fire” staged for Sembach locals (circa 1963), where we doused an airframe carcass with jet fuel, set it alight and moved in our crash rescue trucks to demonstrate our firefighting skills. When crash truck #1555 …

From: James DutcherSubject: Were you married while stationed at Sembach AB?Date: October 3, 2020To: Sembach Missileers Not sure if the following news is appropriate for our site, but wanted to pass it along: Throughout the Matador and Mace days at Sembach, the Sembach Bürgermeister, Herr Anspach, presided over several hundred marriages involving US Air …

When the Cold War was a bit warmer… ©By Fred Horky Is it one of ours …. ….or one of theirs? This anecdote recalls a not-really-very-significant memory that somehow just resurfaced.  It involves the 1961 Berlin Wall Crisis. For most people today, “The Wall” is either forgotten, or was never-known.  But it …

Moving a Mace missile by the BACK roads to Grünstadt ©By Fred Horky In 1959, “C” Flight was the 3rd and last element of the first TM-76A “Mace” squadron to deploy the new missile from its training base at Orlando, Florida to its first operational base at Sembach Air Base, …

The “Missile on a Stick” © – Fred Horky, Sembach 1959-1962 – In my never-ending reverie of all the great times from long ago and far away, all around the world; I’ve about decided that Sembach was THE best time of my life.  (After all, it’s where I met, courted, …

The Missileer story below is only slightly related to our old “Site 3” (Grunstadt).  It developed as a result of surfing which had found the forgotten story of an RAF bomber that had crashed nearby seventy-seven years ago.  I don’t think any of us knew about the event sixty years ago …

From: Fred HorkySubject: A question for Grunstadt missileers…Date: July 27, 2020To: Russ Reston Russ, A question posed for your Sembach Missileers website, to those who served at Site 3 (Grunstadt):  I was wondering how many had even just once visited the Schloss Neuleiningen…”our” castle, just down the hill and across the autobahn! (“Neuleiningen” of course …

Missileer – 38th TAC Missile Wing’s Magazine (May 1959) [gview file=”https://www.sembachmissileers.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Nangle.pdf”] Courtesy of Edward Nangle – 822nd TMS

Extract from Holloman AFB News – February 1959 [gview file=”https://www.sembachmissileers.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/operational.pdf”] Courtesy of Edward Nangle – 822nd TMS

July 25, 2017 Over the last week I’ve been updating the Sembach Missileers website to improve its responsiveness across the myriad of display screen resolutions and devices (e.g., computers, tablets, phones, etc.) that can be used for internet access. If you encounter any problems with the updates, please let me …

(video copyright owner Louis Wheeler & Muskogee Indian Territory Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution)   Note: Sadly, Louis Wheeler passed away on November 16, 2018 due to complications of pneumonia. He is survived by his wife, Ann Wheeler, of Muskogee, OK.

Brenda Falconer Harris, the daughter of Capt. James E. Falconer is trying to identify / locate people shown in a 1960 photo of what appears to be the 587th Missile Maintenance Squadron. If you can help, please contact her.  Thanks! March 2016 My father, James E. Falconer, was at Sembach …

USAF PHOTOS AND CLIPPINGS OF THE SEMBACH PISTOL, RIFLE AND JUDO TEAMS (1960-1962) Dedicated to the memory of CMSGT James E. Cazel, Sr.(1929-1998) photos scanned and submitted by Jim Cazel, Jr. Thank you Russ for this opportunity and forum to share and pass on some great memories of Sembach and to …

All videos on the website have recently been updated so that they can be viewed on IOS and Android devices, as well as PCs. If you encounter any problems viewing the videos, send me an email. Thanks, Russ  

Local German Sembach residents were given the opportunity last year to take a guided bus tour of Sembach Kaserne (aka Heuberg). As part of the tour, they they were given this informational document. [gview file=”https://www.sembachmissileers.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Heuberg001.pdf” height=”850px” width=”650px” save=”1″]

Horst Himbacher, a history buff and a member of the special interest group IG Area One eV lives in Mehlingen and enjoys cycling. During a recent outing he took some photos of what formerly was the Sembach Air Base Flightline and has kindly shared his photos.  Thanks, Horst! Note:   …

March 25,2014 There are two pieces of Matador memorabilia currently for sale on eBay.  If you are interested, you need to act quickly. From: Robert Bolton Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 To: Russ Reston Subject: New eBay items that match: matador missile Good Morning Russ, I was alerted to these item …

SEMBACH, Germany – The very streets of Sembach Kaserne now bear the names of fallen heroes from the 18th Military Police Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command. The new road signs of Sembach now tell stories of patriotism, bravery and sacrifice. One of these stories recounts the sacrifice of soldiers who …

From Hot Rod Magazine – March 1960 (courtesy of Nick Nicholson) Note the pictured missile – a Mace A Bird Click on image to enlarge.

In December 2012, the Navy’s Warrior Transition Program (WTP) was moved from Kuwait to Sembach, to better serve Sailors completing their IA assignments in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq. The Navy developed the Warrior Transition Program in an effort to facilitate Individual Augmentee (IA) Sailors’ return and ease the reintegration process …

January 21, 2013 We’ve received a query about some 38th TMW Photographic Laboratory photos taken circa 1963.  Please contact Russ Reston if you provide any information about the occasion or people in the photos.  Thanks!  Russ From: Robert Küther Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2013 To: SembachMissileers.org Subject: Sembach Missileers Contact …

December 30, 2012 Just received an update regarding an anecdote that was posted on the website back in February, 2008 that described a lightning strike at Site #2 back in the mid 1960s…  (see below) Russ February, 2008 From an email received from Lt. Nix Adams (823rd TMS, Crew 2-15) …

Navy program arrives at Sembach Kaserne December 14, 2012 By Rick Scavetta, U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern http://www.army.mil/article/93018/Navy_program_arrives_at_Sembach_Kaserne/ SEMBACH, Germany – The U.S. Navy has opened a Warrior Transition Program at U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern, a step that leaders say will continue to support Sailors returning to naval duties after serving …

U.S. Army NATO Brigade Story by Sgt. 1st Class John Wollaston September 7, 2012 SEMBACH, Germany – The U.S. Army NATO Brigade has completed its move to Sembach Kaserne as part of the realignment of U.S. forces in Europe. Five weeks ago, the Brigade cased its colors in Schwetzingen their …

August 16, 2012 By Capt. Daniëlle Hamer, 30th MEDCOM Public Affairs http://www.army.mil/article/85642/Sembach_Soldiers__Kick_Back__at_New_Warrior_Zone/ Sembach, Germany — The smell of new leather embraces Soldiers who walk into the renovated Warrior Zone in the bowling alley on Sembach Kaserne. Soldiers entering the Warrior Zone are welcomed by tall coffee-shop style tables, magazines to …

July 5, 2012 By: Mr. Mark Heeter (IMCOM) KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Throughout the remainder of this fiscal year, Sembach Kaserne will become the new workplace for hundreds of Soldiers and civilians, including the headquarters of the Installation Management Command-Europe, the U.S. Army Europe Band, and the 30th Medical Command, among …

May 9, 2012 Submitted by Jim Gale Sembach AB – June 1956 through June 1959 11th TMS – 587th Support Squadron (armament section) When I went to Sembach in June of 1956 I was an A/2C. I was making 97 dollars a month whether I needed it or not. 🙂 We …

May 2012 Sembach Air Base’s former Mace Missile Site II in Enkenbach will soon become a solar energy ‘farm’. The land is currently being cleared, after many years of over-growth and neglect. A private investor, with public funding assistance, plans to build a photovoltaic power station (also known as a …