7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command
7th Army Training Command

Headquartered in Grafenwoehr, Germany, the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command is the largest training command outside the continental United States. With vast ranges, simulation centers, classrooms and facilities, the Command provides realistic and relevant training to US Army, Joint Service, NATO and allied units and leaders. Previously known as the 7th Army Training Command, the Command had the mission of developing US Army Europe's (USAREUR) training strategy, providing single point management for training, and supporting all USAREUR's training activities.

Specifically, the 7th Army Training Command was responsible for single point management of training, including development of concepts, requirements, and evaluation of training readiness. Individual training, both skill producing and career enhancing courses, was also provided. Range upgrades gave USAREUR the finest and most modern firing ranges and maneuver areas in the US Army. More than 15,000 soldiers and civilians and 9,500 family members made up the 7th Army Training Command. They enjoyed morale and recreation facilities ranging from gymnasiums and skiing to libraries and craft shops. The 7th Army Training Command was at the forefront in Europe ensuring that the quality of training and the quality of life for its soldiers, civilians and their families was the best in USAREUR.

On 19 April 1945 advance elements of the US Army's 11th Armored Division reached Grafenwoehr, and the German commander formally surrendered the training area the following day. For several years after the end of the war, the Americans used the Grafenwoehr Training Area as a camp for displaced persons. During this time, very little formal military training took place in Grafenwoehr.

In 1958, the US Army activated the 7th Army Training Center in Vilseck. The primary mission of the Training Center was to prepare American soldiers for the feared imminent attack of Soviet forces from eastern Europe. During the first decades of the Cold War, hundreds of thousands of American soldiers spent time training in the fields around Grafenwoehr.

In 1976, the training center in Vilseck was renamed the Seventh Army Training Command, with the mission of providing and monitoring all training within US Army Europe (USAREUR). It comprised the Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels Training Areas, and later the Combined Arms Training Center located at Vilseck and the Training Support Activity, Europe at Roedelheim. The 7th Army Training Command served as U.S. Army Europe's training staff, responsible for managing USAREUR major training areas, performing as a focal point for all force and training modernization issues.

During the 1980s, the simultaneous thawing of the Cold War and the introduction of new technologies such as the M1 Abrams tank and the Apache attack helicopters increased the importance of contingency training in Grafenwoehr and the surrounding training areas.

In the mid-1980s, 7th Army Training Command was given command and control of the new Combat Maneuver and Training Center in Hohenfels. This allowed the Grafenwoehr Training Area to become the exclusive place for gunnery training in Europe. Additionally, USAREUR began to develop a task force simulator network at Grafenwoehr to train staffs on modern communications, tactics, force structure, and other realistic command post exercises. Both the combat maneuver center and the simulation evolved into were redesignated as the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) and the Joint Multinational Simulation Center (JMSC) respectively. It was also during this period the 7th US Army Noncommisioned Officers' Academy, the oldest such academy in the US Army, made the move to Grafenwoehr and fell under the auspices of the 7th Army Training Command.

In 2005, reflective of the US Army's increased cooperation with its sister services and its European allies, the 7th Army Training Command was renamed the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command (JMTC). The following year, JMTC opened the doors of its new headquarters building at the foot of the old water tower. A spurt of construction on the JMTC's training areas, including a new home for the NCO Academy, a high-tech simulation facility for the JMSC, modern and exportable after-action review capabilities at JMRC,and numerous modernization of Grafenwoehr's range facilities has made JMTC one of the most important commands in USAREUR.