History of the
Army of Occupation and Navy Occupation Service Medal
From Grunt, the Ultimate Military Site,
1. Description: Army - The bronze medal is 1 ¼ inches in width. On the obverse, the Remagen Bridge abutments below the words "ARMY OF OCCUPATION". On the reverse, Fujiyama with a low hanging cloud over two Japanese junks above a wave scroll and the date "1945". A Bronze clasp 1/8 inch wide and 1 ½ inches in length with the word "GERMANY" or "JAPAN" is worn on the suspension ribbon to indicate service in Europe or the Far East. NAVY: On the obverse is Neptune mounted on a composite creature of a charging horse and a sea serpent with a trident grasped in right hand above wave scrolls. Around the bottom of the medal are the words "OCCUPATION SERVICE". The reverse is the same as the China Service Medal and is an eagle perched on the shank of a horizontal anchor with a branch of laurel entwined around the anchor. On the left is the word "FOR" and to the right is the word "SERVICE" and around the top is the inscription "UNITED STATES NAVY". MARINE CORPS: The medal for the Marine Corps is the same as the Navy, except the inscription around the top of the reverse is "UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS".
2. Ribbon: The ribbon is the same for both medals and is 1 3/8 inches wide and consists of the following stripes: 3/16 inch White 67101; ½ inch Black 67138; ½ inch Scarlet 67111; and 3/16 inch White.
3. Criteria: The medal was awarded for 30 days consecutive service while assigned to:
a. Germany (excluding Berlin) between 9 May 1945 and 5 May 1955. Service between 9 May and 8 November 1945 will count only if the EAME Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 9 May 1945.
b. Austria between 9 May 1945 and 27 July 1955. Service between 9 May and 18 November 1945 will count only if the EAME Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 9 May 1945.
c. Berlin between 9 May 1945 and 2 October 1990. Service between 9 May and 8 November 1945 may be counted only if the EAME Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 9 May 1945.
d. Italy between 9 May 1945 and 15 September 1947 in the compartment of Venezia Giulia E. Zara or Province of Udine, or with a unit in Italy designated in DA General Order 4, 1947. Service between 9 May and 8 November 1945 may be counted only if the EAME Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 9 May 1945.
e. Japan between 3 September 1945 and 27 April 1952 in the four main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu; the surrounding smaller islands of the Japanese homeland; the Ryukyu Islands; and the Bonin-Volcano Islands. Service between 3 September 1945 and 2 March 1946 will be counted only if the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 3 September 1945.
f. Korea between 3 September 1945 and 29 June 1949. Service between 3 September 1945 and 2 March 1946 will be counted only if the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 3 September 1945.
4. Components: The following are authorized components:
a. Army Medal (regular size): MIL-DTL-3943/246. Medal set with full size medal and ribbon bar. NSN 8455-00-269-5763.
b. Army Medal (miniature): MIL-DTL-3943/246. Available commercially.
c. Ribbon: MIL-DTL-11589/112. NSN 8455-00-265-4910. Available commercially.
d. Foreign Service Clasp: MIL-DTL-41819/9: Germany - NSN 8455-00-249-0171; Japan - NSN 8455-00-249-0172.
e. Berlin Airlift Device: MIL-DTL-41819/13. Regular and miniature sizes. NSN 8455-00-261-4504.
5. Background: a. The Army Occupation Medal was established by War Department Circular 102, dated 5 April 1946.
b. The medal was designed by Mr. Thomas Hudson Jones and the first medal was presented to General Eisenhower on 2 April 1947. The ribbon design uses the color black to represent Germany and the color red to represent Japan.
c. On 4 February 1948, the Secretary of the Navy requested the Heraldic Section, Department of the Army, design a suitable Navy Occupation Service Medal. This medal was designed by Mr. Thomas Hudson Jones on 30 March 1948.
d. The service clasp is worn on the suspension ribbon to indicate area of occupation. The Berlin Airlift Device is a miniature of a C-54 type aircraft and is worn on the suspension ribbon and service ribbon to indicate 90 days consecutive service between 26 June 1948 and 30 September 1949.
Crests or patches. Your best source for these is from your local Military Clothing Sales Store. AAFES has a web site where you can purchase these items online. AAFES sells to military members, dependents, and retirees. There are also several commercial retailers that sell military crests and patches to the general public. One such retailer is Ranger Joe's.
54th's You know what! INSCOM FSBUnofficial Crest Official CrestHistory of FS Berlin Crests
On the left and right are the only two designs authorized to be placed on metal shoulder crests to be worn by FSB military personnel. Who knows what the middle one is...?
Some FSBVG and Crest History
On the left above is the insignia of the 54th United States Army Security Agency Company. That company was the predecessor of ASA Field Station Berlin. It was formed into a metal crest, and worn on a uniform-mounted shoulder epaulet crest worn by ASA troopers in Berlin. The insignia and crest were never officially approved or recognized by the Department of the Army or the Army Security Agency. Army units are free to make their own crests to be worn at the duty assignment.
The motto, which is none too clear on the scan, is SEMPER VIGILIS, always vigilant. That was the official ASA motto. The crest, which is unofficial, not an officially approved Army insignia, is listed by military collectors as one for the 54th ASA Company. However, a search of public records by ASA Vets USA, did not reveal a 54th ASA Company, just a 54th USASA Special operations Command. Army record keeping was never that good.
Entire unit histories have been known to be lost in shipment to museums, or never accurately recorded at all.
Prior to 1957, Berlin was home to a wide variety of ASA detachments, some tactical, some from ASA Field Station Herzogenaurach, and some from ASA Europe, each of which
had its own administrative and operational lines of command back to parent units located elsewhere.
In Oct 1957, many of the detachments from units in West Germany proper were withdrawn. Those that remained, including Detachment B, USASA Europe, were grouped together into the 280th ASA Company, in an effort to centralize the ASA presence in the city under a single command chain.
The 280th served until replaced by the 78th Special Operations Unit (SOU) in 1961. Then, that too was replaced by the 54th USASA Special Operations Command in Berlin in 1966. The 54th was redesignated US ASA FS Berlin in the following year, 1967.
Working with fragmented information makes it difficult to bring clarity to some of the history of these stations/units. If anyone can clear up the apparent conflicts in unit nomenclature, we would appreciate getting a note.
This insignia is the only unofficial one we know of for ASA in Berlin.
On the right above is the official crest of FSB INSCOM.
This is the insignia of the US Intelligence and Security Command (abbreviated as INSCOM) Field Station Berlin. That command was born in 1977. It was the final successor to all previous unit designations at Field Station Berlin. The insignia was formed into a metal crest, and worn on a uniform-mounted shoulder epaulet crest worn by ASA troopers in Berlin.
Like the other crest, it displays the Berlin Bear. It displays a lightning bolt crashing through the planet earth, which is divided between freedom and slavery (my interpretation) as viewed peering sneakily through a keyhole. Those are INSCOM trademarks in the new era of universal espionage. It is a warning to be careful about what you say and write. US communication security's long time unofficial motto is, "In God we trust. All others we monitor."
The insignia and crest were the only ones known to be officially approved and recognized by the Department of the Army and INSCOM. Previous insignia and crests were permitted at unit commanders discretion. Army units are free to make their own crests to be worn at the duty assignment.
The motto, "ON WATCH," Latin being passe in the recent US era of educational underachievement. In German, it is spoken as "Auf Wache," a usual command for attention to alertness by trainers to guard dogs.
Working with fragmented information makes it difficult to bring clarity to some of the history of these stations/units. If anyone can clear up the apparent conflicts in unit nomenclature, we would appreciate getting a note.
This insignia is the only official one we know of for ASA in Berlin.
This information is courtesy of Mark at ASA Vets USA, August, 1999.
Origin of Teufelsberg
From: Stache.M@t-online.de (Martin Stache)
[Martin Stache is in the German Air Force, stationed at what was the RAF base at Gatow.
This message from Martin, mostly as he sent it, explains the pre-history of the Teufelsberg location.]
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 21:01:44 +0200
Before WW2 had started, there was the Wehrtechnische Institut [where the hill called Teufelsberg is now], and Albert Speer had planned to build a university [at that site]. Would you like to know what the Wehrtechnische Institut did? Well, in 1935 Albert Speer got the order to build the Wehrtechnische Institut and a new university. His plans included a great university complex between the Olympia Stadion and the Grunewald (the forest near Teufelsberg). The Institut should be a part of the university. The purpose of the Institut was research into new weapons. It was structually complete when WW2 had started, and Speer couldn´t finish his plan. The construction of the university had never started [but the Institut construction was well along]. During the war the Institut was used by the Wehrmacht to store ammunition and explosives. In 1945, it fell victim to allied bombers and was totally destroyed. After WW2, the Wehrtechnische Institut was demolished, and a part of the rubble of destroyed Berlin was deposited there.
Thus was constructed our Rubble Pile, The Hill, Mont Klamott, Devil's Mountain: all names for Teufelsberg. It was, I heard once, mostly German women who dragged the rubble and piled it up..
[Note: See Martin's Teufelsberg pictures in the Photo album.]
Don Cooper <cooper@herefordbrand.com> wrote on August 22,2000, to let us know that Teufelsberg has been declared a national historic site for Germany. This means that the main remaining feature, the towers, may not be removed. While they still stand, all around them is rising a giant resort condo delopment project. You can even go live there now. What a trip down memory lane that would be. Also, tours are still being conducted of the towers and Field Station Berlin remnants.
