Talk:U.S. Air Force Security Service

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"Because of their value as targets (in Cold War Berlin, the capture of a USAFSS member was worth several thousand dollars), while stationed overseas their off-base travel was severely restricted."

My father was an airman in the USAFSS 2nd RSM in Darmstadt from May 1952 until the autumn of 1954. During his time there, he travelled extensively on leave, including around West Germany (Frankfurt, Heidelberg, etc), Switzerland (Zurich, Schwyz, Stoos, Zermatt), Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid and Toledo, Spain, Scotland, and even claims in a contemporaneous letter that he was a block inside the Soviet sector of Berlin. Based on that evidence, I gather that at least during that period off-base travel was not so severely restricted. RussellSenior (talk) 11:03, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Travel Restrictions

I was assigned to the 6910th Security Wing in Darmstadt, Germany from 1968 to 1972. The 2nd RSM (Radio Squadron, Mobile) was the forerunner of the 6010th. All personnel who worked at the Operations Site had a Top Secret, Special Background Investigation clearance. Due to the perceived threat of capture, either for intelligence purposes or political propaganda, we were under travel restrictions at all times, even for a period of time after discharge from the service. Such restrictions prohibited USAFSS (pronounced Yoo-Soff-Iss) personnel from traveling to, or through, any Communist Bloc country. In addition, unless official duties required it, American Forces were prohibited from approaching within 3 km of any Communist border. USAFSS personnel, for the reasons cited, were prohibited from approaching within 5 km.

Otherwise, we were permitted to travel anywhere else in free Europe. Since West Berlin was free, travel to West Berlin was permitted also under certain conditions. USAFSS personnel were permitted to fly via commercial airliner to West Berlin at their own expense or they could travel via troop train. Travel by troop train required special orders which were either official or quasi-official in nature. Official travel, for example, might be for a Temporary Duty Assignment (TDY) to a unit in West Berlin. Quasi-official travel, for example, might be for the purpose of attending or participating in a sporting event between military units.

The troop train was a unique facet of the Cold War. The train traveled through West Germany up to the East German border. There it was stopped by East German border guards (often accompanied by Russian troops). The West German locomotive was uncoupled and replaced by an East German locomotive which proceeded to pull the train through East Germany up to the border of West Berlin. There the procedure was repeated in reverse. The East German locomotive was uncoupled and replaced by a West Berlin locomotive which completed the trip by pulling the troop train to the Bahnhof (train station) in West Berlin.

Air travel to West Berlin was similarly restricted. Flights were required to stay within one of three narrow "air corridors". There was one from the northwest, one from the west, and one from the southwest. Any aircraft that strayed outside the corridor was deemed to have violated East German airspace and would be met by hostile MiG fighters. Since the weather over that part of Europe was often rotten (dense fog and cloud cover) aircraft occasionally strayed from the corridor, boosting international tensions as part of the Cold War.

Mrwizard45 (talk) 18:55, 9 May 2011 (UTC)