8/17/2019 The Pershing Cable (Dec 1988)

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Pershing

ble

Arty still King

by Joh n K.

D'Amato

NCOJC, Public Affairs

Fidd Artillery is now, and the future belongs

to

rhc Field Artillery," he proclaimed with

the

zeal

of

an evangelist and a father's pride.

I f artill,ery is the 'IUng of Battle,' rhen here at least

was it's prime minister.

Maj. Gen. Raphael J. Hallada, chief of the field

artillery, addressed an audienet of predominantly

field artillery officers and senior NCOs, during a

recent Officer Development class in Bismarck Ka

serne's Community Club.

His

message was two-fo

ld

: the field artillery is the

b

es

t branch

of

the service, and the future

of

the fie

ld

artillery s dynamic and exciting.

"We should be proud to be in

th

e fire support

business," Hallada said about himself and field artille-

1;·men e,•erywhere. Crediting Pershing officers and

soldiers with the successful fielding of the Pershing II

missile. he told the audience that no one should for

get that it 'as the P

II

that brought the Soviets to

the bargaining table and

got

them to sign the INF

Trea(v."

The signing of the Intermediate N uclear Forces

T

reatv. ~owever,

ushe r  i: in new a new era of

challenges for the field artilltry and

the

United States

Army, according to Hallada.

Remonl

of

the Pershing

II

weapon system from

the United States Army's arsenal means more reliance

upon conventional weapon's systems.

That

reliance

may

forc e the Army 10 ~uicken the process

of up

grading existing field amllery systems and adding

new, tec

hno

logically advanced delivery

and support

equipme

nt

that will take the field artillery through

the vear 2000.

The push for new and better cannon, rocket and

missile S)'Stems, according

to

Hallada, is made more

difficult because the field ar tillery is made up of in

terdependent systems.

The

b~st delivery system in the world won' t oper

ate effectively without something to help it target

effectively , resupply it or help it communicate,"

Hallada s.aid. Improving the delivery

part

of the sys

rem, therefore, accomplishes very little if advance

ments a

rc

not made in targeting, resupply, communi

cations or any of the oth

er

parts of the interdepen

dent system .

Trying to upgrade an existing fire suppo rt system

or design a totally new one is "like trying

to

wrestle

with an octopus, Hallada explained.

Once

you get

four of the arms under cont rol, you find that four

others go out of control.•

Despite the difficu ties, the Chi

ef

of the Field

Artillery Branch assured his audience that tremend

ous strides are being made as the field artillery "plots

an azimu

th

that will take it 15 years into the future .•

Technological advances will enable the field artil

lery to experiment with new munitions

and

rocket

and missile systems with improved accuracy and

range, Hallada said.

Some existing field artillery weapons arc undergo

ing almost total redesigns, according to Hallada.

Most impressive

is

the

wo

rk being done on the field

artillery'. 

workhor

se, the M-109 self-propelled how

itzer. U

nder

the

Arm

y's Howitz~r Improveme

nt

Program (HIP), the turret of the vehicle has been re

placed and o

ther

improvements have been made to

increase survivability and accuracy.

Photo bf YIICldll

Chief

of

field 1rtlllery, M1jor

Gen.

F11phNI

J.

H1ll1d1,

1ddreS1ea a group of field artillery otticere a

nd

Hnior

NCO s during • recent officer development

clns

held

•t Bismarck Keaeme s Community Club.

:Recent advances in the area of combat simulations

have also made it possible

for

field artillery units

to

take

a more active role in force-on-force exercises a1

major training areas, H allada said.

Taking the simulated firing devices and other la

ser-related equipment from a M-60Al tank, M- 109

howitzers are now able 10 engage the enemy directly,

rather than simulating their

support

of anacking or

de:fending units 

At the

Na t

.ional Training Center in California's

Mojave Desert, U.S. Army units continually

match

their

tactical skills against large armored formations

emplo

ying Soviet tactics.

The first time the Opposing Forces (OPFOR) tried

an attack, according

to

Hallad

a,

they felt the full

force

of

field artillery direct fire capabilities.

An amored column ·crossed the front of an Ameri

can battalion,

wh

ere

two

M-109s were located.

The

en·emy

thumbed

their noses at the howitzers, which

ha,d never been able to simulate direct fire.

Armed

with the new simulation devices, said Hallada,

they

killed the first three BMPs (Soviet vehicles)

in col

umn and stopped the war .•

Th

ere is no doubt that Maj. Gen. H allada is high

or, the Fie

ld

Artillery. The excitement he generates

when

ta

lking about the challenges and changes in the

field artillery

over

the coming years is contagious.

Be

fo r

e leaving, he had one more

promi

se

for

the

officers and NCOs in the audience.

The message I bring you

today,

he said, "is that

the

'King

of Battle' is firmly riveted

to

the throne.•

\\:d. ff, No.

3

Update FYI

Veterans

WASHINGTON - "Welcome aboard,"

uid

Pre

sident Reagan

in

a message

to

America's

27

million veten.ns as he signed legislation creating a

new Cabinet-level

Department

of Veterans

Af

fairs.

"I like

to

think this bill gives C abinet rank no t

to just an agency of goverment but

to

every single

veteran," Reagan said

in

a signing

ceremony Oct.

25 at the National Defense University, Fort

McNair

.

Reagan's signature

c:2ps

a year-long effort

on

Capito

l

Hill

to convert the Veterans Admini

stration, the largest independent government agen

cy, into the 14th executive-level Cabinet depart

ment.

Both houses of Congress passed the measure by

large margins, following an endorsement by Rea

gan late last year and intense political pressure

from veteran's groups.

The new Veterans

Department

will officially be

gin operation March 15, although the next presi

de

nt

can appoint his new Cabinet secretary as

early as Jan. 21.

Rebates

U.S. servicemembers

and

Department of the

Army civilians

in

the Federal Republic of

Germany who insured a privately owned vehicle

(POV) may be authorized a rebate. Ten companics

have been identified that will pay rebates on 1987

liability premiums.

There

are six NATO tariff insurance com panies

paying rebates. They are Albingia,

De

utscher

Lloyd, Fortune,

Nationa

l

Union, Neckura

and

Zurich.

There are four

Ge

rman tariff companies that in

sure a substantial

number

of U.S. Fo rces POVs

that are paying rebates. They are Agrippina,

Co

Ionia, DeutScher

Herold

and Haftpflichtverband

Der Deutschen Industries.

Many rebates arc paid automatically but to be

sure policyholders of companies paying rebates

should contact their agents or local Army Co m

munity Service Consumer Affairs/ Financial As

sistance Program

for further

information.

OHA Advance

Soldiers authorized Overseas Housing

Allow

ance (OHA) may be entitled t receive an Ad

vanced Station

Housing

Allowance Payme

nt

(ASHA) when moving into off-post quarters.

The purpose

of

the advance s

to

pay advance

rent

, security deposits

or

initial expenses to

occupy economy housing.

The

amount

of the advance cannot exceed the

total of one housing allowance expected

to

be ac

crued by the soldier

at

that duty station.

The a

dv

ance will be collected up to a 24 month

period if desired by the soldier. Collection

will

be

gin the month following the month of p•yment.

The soldier's commander must approve all re

quem for ASHA. A DA Form 4 87 must be

com

pleted with a statement from the unit Commander

and must be forwarded through the servicing

Per

sonnel Administration

Cente

r. The soldier will be

notified when

to

report to the Finance Office for

p

ay

ments.

8/17/2019 The Pershing Cable (Dec 1988)

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P91 shlng Csbi

December 88

Players team-up to finis

...

The I

  t

of nine

first stage• Is

lowered Into

It• packing

contlllner,

11

2-9'8 011ta

B1ttery mlslle c:rewmembers

demit,, peck Ind

ship

ml•·

slle1 and missile components ttils month. Treaty Items,

such

H

the

missiles

and

erector launchers, were

only part

of the equipment

turntd In by

Oelt1,

In

order

to

meet

lt

e retrogr1d1 requl ements.

by Troy

Darr

Pershing Cable Staff Writer

When the klaxon sounds, Pershing

soldiers assigned

to

missile units arc

used to scrambling to their equipment.

The sense of urgency is real.

They are pan of a larger team, and

know that team

is

depending

on

how

well and how quickly they can

accomplish their mission.

This

Fall, some Pershing units were

called upon

to

accomplish missions that

they

were unfamiliar with.

They

had

10

maintain

th

eir combat-ready pos

tu

re

10

the last possible moment

and

then in

spect, tear down

or

clean every piece

of

equipment

and

turn it in.

Bravo Battery, 4- 9 accomplished its

retrograde mission and cased its colors

in September and Delta Battery, 2-9 is

und

ergoing that same process this

month.

They

are scrambling, though no kla

xons sound. The sense of urgency is just

as real.

1

111

order to comply with

a

schedule

desjgned

to

meet specifications of the

Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces

Treaty, signed by President Ronald

Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail

Gorbachev on December

R 1987

and

ratified

on

June l, all of

Delta

Battery's

equipment

mus, be turned

in and the

battery inactivated.

According to Lt. Col. Douglas

Wcm,

Assistant

Chief of

Staff for

Lo

gistics (G-4

),

the time-frames

of

retro

grading a unit could not be met without

a team effort involving nearly a dozen

agencies.

The

overall turn-in has been

ou t

standing, ~aid Werts,

but it

could

not

be done without the help of 21st

Support

Comm

and, 200th Theatre

Army Material Management Center

(200 TAMMC), Missile Command (MJ

COM),

and

other suppon groups.

According

10

Wem, all

th

e suppon

groups did a fantastic job. Each of the

ployers put their best foot forward. All

the groups made it (a successful turn-in)

happen, he said.

The

G-4

became involved in detailed,

in-depth planning, early in the retro

grade process, working with all of the

support

i;ro

up

s

to

establish procedures

for ,urning in treaty items, Pershing

II

-p

eculiar and Army common equip

ment.

Pershing

II

equipment covered by the

INF

Treaty

is

transported by the 59th

Ordnance Brigade to proper destruction

site

s, with one

exception. Er

ector

Laun-

chers are transponed to Equipment

Maintenance Center Hausen by the

retrograding battalion

and

there the

erector launchers are cut up and

destroyed.

The removal of missiles and erector

launchers is

only

pan

of

the retrograde

rum-in process, however. A new sys

tem had

to be

designed to allow the u

nits to sp

eedily

tum

in all

of

their

oth

er

equipment as well. What the G-4 de

signed was simple but efficient.

It

was a new

and

unique tum in

method - like one

stop

shopping, said

Wens.

To the

best

of my

knowledge, this is

the

first time

that we've

done a retro

grade

of

this magnitude with an on-site

marshalling area, said

Wens,

referring

to

the large holding areas set up for ve

hicles and equipment.

• All

of

the

key

players in Europe

came down to

our

area to inventory and

Tl

(technical inspection),

he

said.

They

also gave classes on preparation

of

re·

quired documentation for turn-in of the

equipment.

The biggest problem

we

had was

getting the vehicles ready, said Maj.

Hubert Wooten,

Delta

Battery

com·

mander.

The

(29th Area Support Group)

Mobile Training Team came out and

identified some

of the

problems we had

with

our

vehicles, he said. The ve

hicles had

to

be in perfect condition. All

the small leaks

and body

work

had to

be repaired before they could be tu rned

' in.

After the initial inventory, everything

the battery was sbon of, like fire ex

tinguishers for vehicles, had

to

be or·

de ed.

Wooten said,

We had to

requisition

a

lot

of items that we thought were in

good condition.

For

example, camou·

fiage poles

had 10 be

able

to

fit together

on

both

ends

or

they were

not

accepta·

ble. 

Every single piece of equipment had

to have a technical inspection.

Wooten

said, It's amazing how ma.ny pieces of

equipment the battery has.

The Modified Table of Organizati

on

Equipment

(MTOE)

alone accounts for

more than 2 pieces of equipment in

each battery.

MTOE,

according

to

Capt. Patrick

Hannon,

56th Field

Artillery Command G-4 plans officer,

is anything the unit has

that

a soldier

uses during a war, such as tactical ve

hicles, weapons and NBC (Nuclear,

Biological

and

Chemical operations)

gear.

MTOE

is divided into two sub

groups; Pershing II peculiar equipment

not covered in the INF treaty and

equipment common

throughout

·

Arm)

inventory.

Another group of

items

to e turned

in

is

the Table of Distribution Allo

wances (TOA). TDA includes desks

chairs and all other furnishings.

The

batteries arc also required

10

turn

in their basic

and

mission loads

of

al

authorized Stock, indudin·g unit facili

tie

s.

There's

more to

rurning in the

equipment t

han

just pulling

it through

the gate and having somebody sign for

it, said

Hannon.

In order to tum

all the

equipment

in

it has to be accounted for. Serviceabilitv

(combat readiness capability) has

to

be

checked and ascertained.

Then

a condi

tion code will be provided. The code

will tell receiving personnel whether the

equipment can be reissued, said

Hannon.

The goal

with

all items of equipmen

and property is they be operationall

safe

and

ready according

1

preventative

maintenance checks

and

service

(PMCS), said

Hannon.

Technical ma

nual scandards will be adhered

10

and

any exceptions will be handled

on

a cas

by case bas s.

In

order

to

facilitate

th

e inactivation a

120 day program has been set up. The

first month of the 120

da y

s is for in

ventory, according

to

Hannon.

We

started preparing for

the

inac

tivation with a 100 percent inventory in

the middle of August, said Wooten.

•

The

second and third

months

are

fo

- -

eapons In

spection

s are a critical part

of

the retrogrlde proceas. Cpl.

Kevin

Auatero, Delta Battery's a

rmo

rer,

In·

spects I

rllle for cleanllneas

and

func

tioning.

maintenance and inspections, according

to

Hannon.

In conjunction with

the

inac,ivation

the battery had a Command Materi

Readiness Inspection (CMRI).

helped us to focus

on

vehicles, trailer

communication equipment, arms an

NBC

gear, said Wooten.

According to

Hannon

the fourt

month is reserved for turn-in.

Now

Delta Battery

is

doing th

scrambling, and if

procedur

es keep go

ing as expected, soon there will be an

other unit casing its colors.

8/17/2019 The Pershing Cable (Dec 1988)

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Pershing

eble

ecember

9

h final Pershing

• •

m ss on

tlotob) OMr

Every piece

of

equipment

had

to have technical lnspec·

lion, Inclu

ding

this

fi r

e extinguisher that

s

getting a

thorough exam from Sgt Harold Ashby.

hoto

by o.

Surrounded

by

equipment

at

Delta's marshalling area, soldiers prepare to ala

ck

more camoull1ge

poles on

the ever growing pile.

Photo by V.cktt,I

Delta Battery's nine erector launchers roll out the gate of Mutlangen Mlaslle Storage Area. The launchers will

e

taken

to

the Equipment Maintenance Center In Hausen for

destruc:

on.