37th Armored Infantry Battalion
37th Armored Infantry Battalion
From 1955 through 1957
2nd Armored Rifle Battalion 52nd Inf.
From 1957 till October 1958
This site is dedicated to telling the story of the 37th Armored Infantry Battalion (AIB) from its activation at Ft. Knox, Kentucky in 1955 through its deployment to Germany in 1956 and subsequent re-flagging in 1957 to the 2d Armored Rifle Battalion, 52d Infantry From 1957 to 1958. With time, the scope of this site will expand to also cover 2-52 Infantry.
As background, the 37th AIB came to Germany under the Army’s "Operation Gyroscope" program. Operation Gyroscope was a means by which the Army would deploy an entire division to overseas to maintain unit integrity and continuity. In 1956, the entire 3d Armored Division was "Gyro’d" to Germany. The 37th AIB did this as part of Combat Command C (in today’s terms this would be "3d Brigade"), and was permanently stationed at Ray Barracks in Friedberg, Germany. Friedberg is located approximately 25 kilometers north of Frankfurt, and is today an important garrison town for the U.S. Army’s current 1st Armored Division.