8/17/2019 The Pershing Cable (Jun 1989)

1/2

  ershing

ir

safety

wins

one

by Troy Darr

In

our busineu we have to safety conscious.

Safcry first, always, with no exceptions.

I f we don't, pilots w

on't

want to fly ou r aircraft,

troops won't want

10

fl

y

in our

aircraft and we can't

complete

our

mission, said Capt.

Pac

Plourd, 193rd

Aviarion Company's commanding officer.

All U.S. Army UH-I .Huey helicopters were re•

ccntly $rounded for inspection and rep

la

cement of

the m:un rotor

bolu.

The Army-wide groundmg

order, issued on April 21, was prompted

by

an mci

dent in which rwo main rotor bolu broke on a UH- I

heli

copter

belonging

to

another command.

To

the credit of the Aviati

on

Safety program, the

discovery of the faulty bolts was made before any

accident or loss

of

life occurred.

All of the 193rd Aviation Company, 56th Field

Arrillery Command's UH -

tH

mnspon helicopters

were affected by the grounding order.

'The

most recently issued safety of flight message

typifies the Arm

y's

approach to aviation safety, said

Plourd.

·There is

nothing more imporrant than safety

in

our

business. Aircraft can be replaced but people

can't. ·

The 56th Command has reali~ed the necessity and

imponance of adhering exactly to safety flight mes

sages. Our biggest blessing is the supporr of the

Command, from the highest ranking officer

to

die

lowest ranking enlisted, Plourd said.

Spec. Michael Criswell, 193rd Crew Chief, said,

Bolts were corroding and cracking after

so

many

hours of

fligh1

that's

why

we had

co

pull them ou1

and inspect them. According to the inspection crite·

ria, if the bolts had any odd wear patterns or rust

they had

to

be replaced

.•

Sgt. Stanley Murron, power u in mechanic, in

spected the

rotor

bolu for a corrosion preventative

compound on 1hc bolts. There was none, which was

cause for rejection. They all had to be replaced, he

said.

According

10

CW02 Douglas Marbes, 193rd pilot,

grounding over 3,000 helicopters Army-wide was

necessary because the main

rotor

bolts are very im

ponanc.•

Update FYI

Moving violations

New Headquarters Department of the Army

joint travel regulation guidelines state the govern

ment w;Jl

no1

pay for movement from one local

economy address to another local economy address

without valid orders.

Government paid movement from one local eco

nomy address

10

another local economy address is

extremely rare, according

to

HQDA's guidclin es.

The Comptroller

Ge

neral has ruled, that such mo

vcmcnu must for the convenience of the govern

ment, not the soldier.

Listed below arc some examples of cases which

arc considered personal in nature:

A. Landlord's refusal 10 renew a lease.

B. Extreme hardship.

C. Inadequate heat or water in economy quarters,

causing sickness of family members.

D. Eviction notice.

Anny Avletton s fety

ICOl'9d•

victory

when checks

lndlcet9d • problem

with

m11ln

rol r bolts.

Hellcop-

t . s .

rounded

end the

problems flxlld before

•ny

eccldente

occurNCI

.

•If anything goes wrong wit h the main rotor,

most

likely the resulu would disastrous.

An

airplane

can glide in

to

a safe land n~,• Marbcs said, but if

anything happens to the main

rotor

of a helicopter,

you have no more lift.

It

will dr

op

like a rock.•

The main

rotor

bolts snapping during flight is 'one

of the few things that can happen where there is no

set procedure

to

handle the crises, Marbes added.

Safery

is

continually emphas~ed at the 193rd.

Crew

chiefs (helicopter mechanics)

dp

daily prcven•

tative maintenance checks and services (PMCS) be

fore and after each flight and • every seventh day they

don't fly, said Criswell~

That's

to make sure every·

thing is

in

workin~ order and nothi?g is l~aking. • •

PilotS arc especially safety conscious,

s1 11cc

their

lives arc constantly

on

the line. Marbcs said, Before

each flight we check every single

pan

we can sec

and

we

do

start-up checks as we move around, before w e

ac;rually start our mission.•

193rd Safety Officer, C W02 Angel Torres, defines

safety

as

any procedure that saves lives,• and he be

lieves safety is supreme.•

According 10 Torres,

on

monthly safety inspecti

ons

-   193rd personnel look

for

safety hazards, not

only in the helicopters,

but

in the whole

work

area.•

E.

Undue

harassment

by

landlord.

F. Landlord sells house and tenant is forced to

move 

G. Aparrment too small and docs not conform to

U.

S. standards.

H. Broken/bunt

water pipe$.

Accordmg to HQDA, the

U.S.

government can·

not assume liability

for

areas of personal responsi

biliry.

Soldiers should check with their local Housing

Referral Office, before making any moves.

(A

R·

NEWS)

New weight limits

Authorization to increase military household

goods

(HHG)

weight allowances has

~en

received

from the Per Diem Travel and Transportation Al

lowance Committee. This increase will be effective

for

movemcntS after June

30,

1989.

Eligibiliry for the new weight limiu is determined

by

the effective or reponing date of the PCS orders,

and the date the HHGs arc actually moved.

According

to

Transportarion Management, Head

quarrcrs, USAREUR, at lcaSl ont segment of the

Every month we have officer safety meetings and

enlisted safety meetings,• said Torres. Once per qu

arrcr we have an officer and enlisted safety council.•

According

t0

Torres, the

pur:fOSC

of safety meet

ings and safety councils is to ducuss and point-out

safety hazards. We discws future plans and task

pcnonnd

10

correct safety huards, he said.

Marbcs agreed,

•If

I was worried, I

wouldn

't want

10

fly.•

Marbcs and Torres aren't

wor

ried

now

and with

the 193rd's thorough aviation maintenance and safety

procedures, they'll never have to be.

The

Army identified the problem. The uni1 took

corrective action,• said Plourd.

Th

ough

we

weren't

able to

co

mpletely perform our peacetime mission of

suppon for a shorr time, we protected the lives of

soldiers and civilians through extensive safety and

maintenance procedures.

That,• he said, •was a far more

imponant

mis

sion. '

Because of his confidence in the maintenance

crews, Torres doesn't worry about the condition

of

the aircraft h e flies.

I

feel pretty good ~ u s that's

what they (helicopter mechanics) go to school for. I

trust them. They are specialim, very professional.

They're capable

of

doing a very good

job.•

that HHG move

must

take place after June JOth.

For

more information concemmg the HHGs

weight allowance increase, contact the Housing Re

ferral Office (ARNEWS).

riving on

Because American

so

l

die.rs

don't

f ay

German

road

Wits

and drive

on taX

and duty- rec gasoline,

any visitor from the

Sates, who wanu to

drive a

soldier's

car

in Germany, needs

to

get an authority

document from the 42nd MP

Group

.

To

get this document, the visitor's pa.ssport

numbers must brought to the local 4

2nd MP

Group

field office. The guest will also need

an

in

ternational driver's license, or an official translation

of a stateside license. · .

The authority document, along with 1he vehicle

registration, proof of insurance and driver's license,

must be

in

the car when the guest

is

driving.

In

sur

ance needs

to

cover the visitor also.

Contact the local 42nd

MP Group

field office for

more information. (ARNEWS )

8/17/2019 The Pershing Cable (Jun 1989)

2/2

~h in Cab/

June 989

5

Clerk s train to track troop losses

by Lisa M. GilJyard

While most

of

the Anny's personnel

administration specialists were typing

away in their warm and dry offices this

April, some of the clerks from the

4th

Battalion, 9th Field Artillery and the

261st Personnel Service

Company

were

getting hands-on-training• n their Mi

litary O ccupational Skills under sim

ulated war conditions.

We

may

work at

our

own desk in a

cozy office, but that doesn't mean we

don't

go

to t~e field, said Spec. Patricia

Chandler, a personnel administration

specialist for 4-9, while literally stand

ing

up

to

her

knees n mud outSide of a

small camouflaged tent which was to be

her

home

for the next four days.

Most service members think per

sonnel administration spccialistS don't

have jobs in the field, much less go

to

the

field.

According to SSgt. James Schofield,

NCOIC of the

records division at

261st, that's simply not true. Our most

important

job in

the field is to process

casualty reporu that are I00 percent ac

curate, he said.

When a soldier is wounded

or

killed

during war, his unit muSt immediately

report the incident for two reasons,

Schofield explained.

One i., to notify the next-of-kin as

soon as possible.

The other is to notify the Department

of the Anny (DA),

so

a replacement can

be found with

the

same qualifications as

the dead

or

wounded soldier.

But processing a casualty report can

be a slow procc~s. he continued. A copy

of

the report must be sent from the

soldier's unit to the 261st, then to VII

Corps, from there to Ist Personnel

Command and finally

it

reaches

DA,

who notifies the soldier's next-of-kin

and finds a replacement.

According to Schofield, the casuality

report needs to reach DA within a min

imum of two days,

so

speed and accu•

racy is

of

the utmost importance. Th,.t's

why clerks from 4-9 and 261st were

in

the

field training in a war-like atmos

phere with simulated casualty rcporu,

he explained.

•This

is the first time

our

clerks have

actually trained together with a unit

in

the field,• he said.

It's

given us a chance to work with

the TACCS, (Tactical Army Combat

Service Support

Computer

System) n

the

field which makes casualty report

ing and replacement operations more

expeditious,• added SSgt. Brian Rood,

the PAC supervisor for 4-9.

By using the

TACCS

system, and

Army computers used in many units to

process personnel actions, 4/9 has been

able to put the casualty report into the

compu

ter on

a floppy disk and send

it

through the proper channels quickly

and easily. ·

The

clerks of both units feel using the

TACCS

is

an

effective way to get their

job done.

• All

the

soldier's background infor

mation is

in

the

computer, I

don't

have

to search through a 20 I personnel file

for data to process a report;

it

makes

my job faster and more accurate, ex

plained Spec. Dexter Howard, a per

sonnel actions specialist

for

261st.

All administration specialists

must be

proficient in processing casualty reports

because when mass casualty reports

start pouring in, everyone stops •nd

makes them priority, said Schofield.

The supervisors and clerks

from both

units agreed that training with the

TACCS in

the

field has helped them

improve their casualty rcportin g system

and they plan to continue simular train

ing in

the

future to perfect

the

casualty

reporting process.

Bismarck Kaserne s hectic history hailed

by Anthony J.C. Hosch

Bismarck Kaserne, the Command's oldest kascme,

was

built

between 1911 - 1913

to

replace the Alte

(old) Kaseme. The old kaserne, also known as the

Prediger, is now a museum located in the Markt

platz in Schwiibisch Gmiind.

The

kaseme is named for Otto Bismarck,

who

was

chancelJor

of

Germany from 1871-1890.

Bisma.rck was dismissed from office by German

emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, who felt Bismarck was

becoming

too

powerful.

:x.

Although dismissed from office, Bismarck was welJ

liked by the people, said Brigitte Mangold, Schwa

bisch Gmii nd's Archives clerk. Bismarck initiated

so-

cial

changes such as insurance plans, pension plans,

social security benefits and a system of treaties,

which secured peace for Germany and surrounding

countries.

According to Dr. Klaus

J.

Herrmann, director

of

the Archives of Schwabisch Gmiind, the kaserne was

occupied by

the

German's 180th Infantry Regiment

until after World War I. Following World War I, a

German training battalion of the 13th Infantry Regi

ment occupied the kaserne.

_

German troop, prepare for a military pared, at Bismarck KaMme during It's Nrty dlly1.

This regiment was known as the Gmiinder Battal

ion and their mission was to train troops for the en

tire German army. Becauseof the signing of the Ver

sailles treaty, Germany was allowed no

more

than

I 00,000 soldiers.

However, Hitler tried to build-up the German

army by unofficially discharging

the

soldiers already

trained, which allowed him to train another 100,000

soldiers.

In

1935, he initiated the draft to stre.ngthen

his army.

To

surrounding cou.ntries, it appeared as if

Germany was abiding by the treaty, but in r,eality his

army exceeded its limitations.

Hitler, pushing his power to the utmost, used the

Gmiinder regiment from Bismarck along with other

troops and deployed them to within 50 kilometers

c st of the Rhine river,

in

violation of the Versailles

treaty.

Herrmann said, Germany's neighboring countries

didn't

really say much to Hitler,

but

they made him

aware they disapproved

of

his actions.

Hitler, disregarding the

other

countries requests,

went even fanher. The Gmiinder regiment, a s part

of

a massive assault by German troops, invaded France

on May 10, 1940. Later, the Gmiinder regiment was

stationed in Poland from Jan. 10, 1941 until June 25,

1944, when

it

was sent to the Russian front. ·

According to

Herrmann,

the weather and Russian

assaultS took a heavy toll

on

the Gmiinder regiment.

Only

three German soldiers made

it

back.

After the German army was defeated in World

War II, Bismarck K.aserne housed Polish, Romanian

and Ukranian prisoners

of

war.

The kaserne was·used for housing prisoners until

1951, when the first American troops

arrive< .

The 5th Battalion, 73rd Artillery occupied

the

ka

seme

until August 1968.

In

September

of

_

hat

ye_ar,

Bismarck became

the

home

of the

56th Field Artill

ery Group, (which has no hi.,torical relation to the

56th Field Artillery Command).

Since 1970, Bismarck Kaseme has been the home

of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 56th Field

Artillery Brigade.

The

present organization, redesignated as

HH

_B

56th FA Bde in March 1972, became a Command n

January 1986

Soldiers come and go, but Bismarck Kaserne's col

orful history lives

on

.