It was activated on 1 January 1965 in Lechfeld with two subordinate units: Missile Group 21 (German: Flugkörpergruppe 21) and Missile Group 22 (German: Flugkörpergruppe 22).

[2] Warheads were controlled by the 85th U.S. Army Field Artillery Detachment (85th USAFAD) from 1969 to 1991.

The Pershing II launcher was designed so that the cradle could be easily repositioned to handle the shorter missile airframe.

The intent was to replace the German Air Force's Pershing 1a systems with Pershing 1b, since SALT II limited the range of German-owned missiles.

Although not covered by the treaty, West Germany agreed unilaterally to the removal of the Pershing 1a missiles from its inventory in 1991, and the missiles were destroyed in the United States.