Editing 1st Armored Division (United States) (section)

=== West Germany ===
{{See also|CENTAG wartime structure in 1989#1st Armored Division}}
[[File:1st US Armored Division 1989.png|thumb|right|1st Armored Division structure 1989 (click to enlarge)]]

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In the early 1970s, American forces withdrew from Vietnam and the Army was heavily restructured. the 1st Armored Division was rumored to be on the list of units to be deactivated. Veterans of the division organized a letter-writing campaign to "save" the 1st Armored Division.

As part of the Army's post-Vietnam reorganization, the 1st Armored Division was moved to [[West Germany]] in 1971 and replaced the [[4th Armored Division (United States)|4th Armored Division]] in the Bavarian city of [[Ansbach]]. The Division headquarters remained in Ansbach, with brigade units in the neighboring towns of [[Bamberg]], [[Illesheim]], [[Fürth]] ([[Nuremberg]]), [[Schwabach]], [[Katterbach Kaserne|Katterbach]], [[Crailsheim]], [[Erlangen]] and [[Zirndorf]] for the next twenty years, as part of [[VII Corps (United States)|VII Corps]], itself part of [[NATO]]'s [[Allied Force Command Heidelberg|Central Army Group]].

1st Battalion, [[51st Infantry Regiment (United States)|51st Infantry]] (Mech), at Crailsheim, part of the 1st Brigade, was deactivated on 16 June 1984 as a result of the division's conversion to the Division 86 force structure. Under the Division 86 structure, each heavy division decreased by one infantry battalion, while remaining infantry battalions gained one additional rifle company.

On 16 April 1986, the Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored Division, was activated in Germany.

In April 1987, 6th Battalion, [[43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment|43rd Air Defense Artillery]] (Patriot) moved to a newly built Urlas Kaserne (located near Bismarck & Katterbach Kaserne) assigned to the 1st Armored Division.

On 16 November 1987, the 501st Combat Aviation Battalion was deactivated and re-flagged as 2nd Battalion, [[1st Aviation Regiment (United States)|1st Aviation Regiment]] at [[Katterbach Kaserne]], Federal Republic of Germany, under the 1st Armored Division.