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51st Maintenance Battalion

In 2004, the 51st Maintenance Battalion was inactivated as part of the restructuring of US forces in Europe. The 512th Maintenance Company was reassigned directly to the 29th Support Group.

The mission of the 51st Maintenance Battalion was to, on order, rapidly deploy, conduct Reception, Staging, Onward-movement and Integration, and provide combat service support to an assigned area to sustain contingency operations, while maintaining continuous support to the US Army Europe (USAREUR) central region. It would then, rapidly redeploy and reconstitute in order to support future operations.

The Battalion was first constituted on 20 December 1943 as the Headquarters Detachment, 51st Ordnance Group and activated at palm village California on 10 January 1944. The Group provided support to the army during the Normandy invasion until VE Day on 8 May 1945. During the Second World War the unit participated in 5 campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes and Alsace, Rheinland, and Central Europe. It also recieved a meritorious unit citation. The Group was then moved to Zindorf, Germany and was inactivated on 20 January 1947.

On 26 March 1947, it was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 308th ordnance group and reactivated at Richmond, Indiana. With the Ordnance Reserves on 1 August 1949, it was redesignated from a Detachment to a Company. It was inactivated a year later at Indianapolis, Indiana.

In January 1953, the Group was reactivated and sent to Esslingen, Germany, to assume control of all army ordnance activities in the area from 1954 to the spring of 1965. The 51st Ordnance Group provided command and control to 5 ordnance battalions. In June 1954, the Group moved to Coleman barracks, Sandhofen, Germany, and then in 1959 to Funari barracks in Mannheim. Later still, the Group moved to Pioneer Kaserne in Hanau. In August 1965, under the COSTAR concept, the Group was redesignated as the 51st Maintenance Battalion (Direct Support) and relocated to Coleman barracks.

In July 1989, the Battalion was realigned as a subordinate command of the 29th Area Support Group. In June 1995, the 51st Maintenance Battalion moved to Spinelli barracks, Mannheim.

The Battalion was involved with major taskings and support of contingency operations throughout the 1994-1996 fiscal years. It played a critical role in Operation Joint Endeavo in Hungary and Croatia; Dynamic Guard in Turkey; Operation Retrograde Europe in Germersheim, Germany; SIMEX Southern Push at Kaiserslautern, Germany; Prepo Afloat in Belgium/Luxembourg; Provide Promise in Rheinmain, Germany; Vigilant Lion in Italy; Vigilant Lion 96 at Grafenwoeher; Responsive Strike I and II at Kaiserslautern, Germany; Provide Hope IV in Russia; Operation Bail-Out at Germersheim, Germany; Provide Comfort in Frankfurt, Germany; Dynamic Impact in Italy; Prepo-Ashore in Belgium; Support Hope in Africa; Uphold Democracy in Haiti; and other worldwide maintenance and logistics operations.

On 15 June 1995, the 51st Maintenance Battalion received the 1995 Secretary of Defense Maintenance Award. The prestigious 'Phoenix Award' was given annually to one unit chosen from the 4 branches of service. For sustained excellence in maintenance and logistical support, the 51st Maintenance Battalion became only the second army unit ever to receive the award.