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

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  ershing

ble

First

ls

cut

u

by

Troy Darr

Pmhing Cable Sraff Writer

The firsr nine Pershing

JI

ere.:tor la

un

chers

(Els)

were destroyed at the Equipment Maintenance

Centt·r H•usen in Frankfurt on October 18 and 19.

The s   which were moved out of Camp Redleg

on September 1, belonged 10 Bravo Battery,

4th

Bat

talion, 9th Field Anillery, which was inactivated on

September 30.

The

Els were destroyed

in

accorda nce with the

procedures outlin

ed

in the Intermediate-Range Nu -

dear Forces Treacy and procedures were witnessed

by 10 Soviet inspectors.

First,

the erector launcher mechanism, which is the

pan

of

the

EL

that lifts

the

missile, was

sepamed

from the launcher chassis, according to a command

G-4

Pershing Missile Maintenance Staff office (MSO)

repres:entative

The work crew then dismantled and destroyed the

running gear.

Three

cuts were made in the running

gear, one in front and two in the rear. The plates

were

then

removed from the jacks so the jacks cou ld

not be remounted. The jacks are responsible for leve

ling the launching platform, which makes it possible

10 fire a missile.

The t,vo erector booms were then cut in two loca

tions

,hat

were not assembly joints. The booms were

cut in to pieces

of

approximately equal siies.

The erection booms, even

if

repaired, would

never have the strength to lifr rhe weight of a missile

again, said Maj. Gerard Han, 56th Field Artillery

Command public affairs officer.

The right boom actuator was also

cut

into two

pieces.

The boom

actuator contains the hydr:oulic

fluid that provides the pressure to erect the missiles.

Next, the missile launch suppon equipment, in

cluding external instrumentation compartments, were

removed from

th

e chassis.

The last area 10 be worked

on

was the frame. A cut

was made the width of the frame, one-third of the

way back from the front end.

Even if the

frame

was welded back together

it

would never withstand the stress it received while

moving, stated Hart.

After

destruction, the

Els

will be sold for scrap

metal with the guarantee that

th

ey will be further de

stroyed

by

the purchasing company.

• All the steps taken

will

make

th

e launcher im

possible to put back together. The actions 1aken

10

insure the destruction of the ELs were agreed upon

by

both panics

of the

INF treaty,

Hart

said.

The 10 cuts each launcher received were done in

under 15 minutes with a plasma-cutting torch.

Plasma cutting combines the technologies of gas

and arc welding. Electricity is used to concentrate the

plasma flow to a very narrow stream and forces it

thru a small orifice at high speed.

The

nine

erector

launchers destroyed this

month

were only the first of

many

that will be destroyed

during

the next three ye:ars.

L

  r-

Polnt

l l l9

to • Penihlng II Erector Launcher SSgt. Ricardo Roop Missile Maintenance NCO Charl

ie

Battery  nd

Battalion 9th Field Artillery shows the preH on Media Day where the cuts will be made In accordancewith the

Intermediate Range Nuci . Forcea Tre1ty.

\\)1.27,

No 2

Update

F

Y

I

Promo points

Some

56th

Field Artillery Command soldiers

will soon lose

promotion

paints previously earned

for the Primary Leadership Development

Course

and related leadership courses because of a new

Noncommissioned Officer Education System po -

licy that will require E-4s to be graduates of

PLDC to be eligible for promotion to sergeant.

Although the

new

policy will not take effect un

til Oct. 1, 1989, soldiers will be affected by it in

early 1989, according to officials in the office of

the

Deputy

Chief of Staff

for

Personnel.

Beginnin~ with the February promotion point

recomputauon for E-4s, and the May l 989

pr o

motion

point

rccomputation

for

E-5s,

points

will

no longer be awarded

for

the Primary Leadership

Course,

the Primary Leadership Devel

opment

Course, the Primary Noncommissioned Officer's

Course or other NCO Academy courses except

the

Basic Noncommissioned Officers

Co

urse.

(ARNEWS)

Policy clarlfled

The

Inspector General of

the

56th Field Artil

lery Command writes, There is a perception held

and practiced by a majority of Army

personnel

that needs to

be

corrected.

The next time you are outdoors during the

evening retreat ceremony' observe the rosition

taken

by

individuals during the playing o retreat

which

preceeds

the

playing

of 'To

The Colors

.

The

majority of individuals not in formation are

standing at parade rest - including senior officers

and

NCOs.

If yo u 'll check Appendix A, AR

600-25, you'll find that when not in formation, the

proper position is attention, and of course,

you

re

ma.in at attention

during

the playing of 'To

The

Co l

ors'

and render the salute.

This may seem minor, but it actually reflects a

lack of knowledge and education. Surely as a pro-

fessional you want to do things the right way.·

ank changes

The

Department

of D efense and its community

banks

arc putting

an end to free delivery of can

celed checks, st.aning early next year.

February

bank

s

ta t

ements will be the last to in

clude cancelled checks, and staning in March,

a

1

fee will be assessed for each

old

clicck a customer

asks the bank to photocopy.

A

new DOD program

called check safekeep

ing will be implemen ted

first

in

Germany

and

later will go to other parts of the globe where US

military personnel serve.

To make check safekeeping work, customer

checks will be microfilmed n du plicate and stored

in locations in

Frankfun

and

the

United States.

Originals will be kept

for 90

days and

all

micro

filmed copies will be kept a minimum of seven

years.

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

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Per hing Cabla

November 19

 

ershing celebrates

25

ye

I .

to

th

e field army. Because of the in

creased requirements of this mission

the Army beg.tn an upgrade of Pershin

1. At the same time, the Army autho

rized an increase in the number o

launchers

in

each battalion from four

to

36.

In

order

10 in

crease the system's abi

ity to move, shoot, and communicate o

pan of the QRA mission, the Arm

awarded

a

contract in Ja nua ry, 1966, t

Martin Marietta Aerospace to explor

development of new

gro

und suppo

equipment system for

Per

shin

g.

Th

new ground support equipment becam

the upgrade from

Persh,ng I

10 Pe

shing 1-A with the produc tion contra

being awarded

to Manin

Marietta

No vember, 1967.

U.1. -

e-placlng the old reliable Redstone System, the Per hlng I, Introduced to Europe In 1964, Increased ran

ge

and rellabltlty.

The most noticeable change

wa

s th

introdu

ctio

n of wheeled vehicles

t o

r

place

th

e M-474 tracked vehicle fami l

The wheeled erector launcher w

faster in the missile erection procedu

and more reliable than its tracked pr

decessor.

y

Gerard

J.

Hart

Public Affairs

Off

icer

Pershing has been

pan

of the Army

in,·entory for

over

25 years and in

Europe in one of its models since 1964.

The evo lution of the Pershing missile

system and the 56th Field Artillery

Co mmand arc so significantly inter·

t,vined that discussion of one without

the other is llmost impossible.

The original Pershing missile was

concci,·cd in 1957 by the Advanced Bal

listic Missile Agency.

That

agency's in

tent was

to

replace the aging Old Re

liabl

e

Redstone missile. The ABMA

wanted a design which was

sma

ller than

the Redstone but with a greater r.tnge

and increased reliability.

1958: In the Beginn

in

g

In March 1958, the Arm y Missile

Command awarded the Orlando Divi

sion

of

Martin Marietta a contract for

the development of a mobile missile

system.

The

specifications for the new

Pershing system called for a 400 mile

range, twice that of the Redstone, but

also required the system 10 be one-sixth

the weight and one-half the heigh .

The Pershing

des

ign moved quickly

from the drawing board

to

the test

range. The first launch of a Pershing

missile occurred at C ape Canaveral,

Flo rida on February 25, 1960 - 22

months

after the award of the Marrin

Marietta contract.

The firs, tactical equipment was de

livered to the Army in October, 1962.

A, this time the Pershing missile sys

tem's mobility was dependent upon the

M-474 tracked vehicle, built upon the

chassis of an M-113 armored personnel

carrier.

The

first Pershing battalion wa~ the

2nd Battalion, 44th Field Artillerv,

commanded by Lt. Co l. Patrick W. .

wen. Their training in the system had

started nine months earlier, but the ac

tual battali

on acti

vation

took

place in

March, 1963.

After off-post training, the

2-H

FA

became the 1st Battalion, 41st Field Ar

tillery, trained and equ ipped at Fort Sill.

1963: Arrival In Germany

By Oct ober, 1963, the 1-41 FA

moved to Wingate N . M. for its first ac

tual

Pe

r

shing

firing. On its return 10 Ft.

Sill, the battalion was redesignated 4th

Battalion, 41st Field Artillery and as

signed to

7th

Army in Germany. Its ad

vance parry left for

Germany

on March

11 , 1964, from CharleSton

Air

Force

Base, SC,

wh

ile the main pany left New

York harbor aboard the USS Buckn

er

,

arriving at Bremerhaven on April

11

,

1964.

The

main body

soon

linked up

Lee Barracks in Mainz.

In

1968, the

l-81 FA moved 10 Neu-Ulm, still home

today, to the Ist Battalion 9th Field

Ar

tillery.

The third battalion 10 deploy to

E

urop

e with the Pershing system was

the 3rd Battalion, 84th Field Artillery.

Like many other

units,

the 84th FA had

a long hi

story

of activations and inacti

vations, but iu most recent incarnation

as a Pershing

batta

li

on

occurred

on

Jul y

4, 1964. 3-84 FA personnel went

through several

months

of equipping

.tnd training at Ft. Sill in preparation for

its deployment to Europe. The unit's

advance elements depa ned

for

Europe

in April, 1965. The main body followed

and arrived

in May.

The 3-84 FA was

..

/  

.

1969: First Pl-As

The

first

shipment of Pershing I

-

equipment arrived in Bremerhaven o

Augu

st 13, 1969. In ceremonies co

ducted on Spetember

2&, the

1-41

F

commander, Lt.

Co

l. Thomas E.

Shazo, and the 56th F ield Artille

Group

commander, Col. James E. Co

way, received the keys for the ne

equipment. Pershing I-

A.

had arrived

Schwabi

~,·

h Gmiin, .

October I 1969, mark ed the effecti

imp lementat

ion da

te of Pershing I-

capability

for

3-84 FA in Neckarsulm

u.a.,-.,"'°

TIie

mo

at notlclable change to t

he

Pershing sy1tem wu the replacement of tracked la

uncher

•

with IH t

e

r,

more reliab

wheeled erector launchers. The Pershing IA, however, still required the 1upport of a large land

train .

with its advance pany at Hardt Kaseme assigned 10 the 56th Field Artillery The unit began the neccessary upgra

in Schwiibisch Gmiind, where the l-

 41 Group

a

nd

took

up

its quaners at

Ar

· in personnel and equipment to incre

FA (the final unit designat

ion af

ter sev- tillery Kaseme in Neckarsulm. the battalion's combat capability.

eral cha

nge

s)

shared

Hardt

Kasernc

On

September \ 8, [ 970, the 5o

with the 56th Field Anillery Group.

1965: Quick Reaction Alert

Field Artillery Group, which did n

The next Pershing battalion to arrive have a historical relationship with

in

Germany

was the

\st

Battalion, 81st In 1965 Pershing units assumed an

new

brigade, became the 56th Field

A

Field Artillery. The 1-81 FA

had

a long additional role in support of the nuclear tillery Brigade. The new

56th

FA

B

history, wh ich included assignments deterrence missfon of NATO. The gade demonstrated the importance

with the old Honest John and Corporal three units were given the mission of the Pershing

sys

tem and gave it a co

missile systems. On April

15,

1963, Quick Reaction Alert which required a mand and control capability with

1-81 FA was reactivated at Ft . Sill and portion

of

each unit to maintain the creation of the Headquarters and

Hea

became

part

of the Pershing missile highest level of

combat

readiness and be quaners Battery.

team. The 1-81

FA

deployed to Europe prepared to fulfill its wartime mission in

in October, 1963 and was first garri- the minimum amount of time. This

soncd at M cCu lly Barracks in Wackern- QRA mission was in add i

tion

to its ba-

heim, while its Service Battery went to sic mission of providing nuclear support

The new brigade commanded t

1-41 FA, 1-81 FA. and 3-84 FA Pe

shing firing battalions. The 2nd Batt

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

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Pef /ling Cable 5

November 988

rs

of peace presence

lion, 4th lnfantr)' which h

2d

been re•c·

tivated on Julr 21, 1969, and had a unit

lineage dating back to the War of 1812,

'as part of ,he S6th FA Brigade and

pro,·

odcd

the infantry dcfcnsi c support

the unils required. A Headquarters

and

Headquarters Battery pro ided a com

mand and control umbrella s 'ell

as

additional communication and logistic

support.

1978: Twin Track Agreement

In 1978, the North Atlantic Truty

Organi, at ion .ukcd the United Sme• to

deploy intermediate range missiles in

Europe 10 counter the deplorment

of

intermediate ungc. mobile SS-20 nu•

clear missiles bv the So iet Union.

Once again, the Pershing system ,vould

be

upgr~dcd wi th • long term effect on

the S6th field Artillery Brig•dc.

The Pershing II

missiles

arri,•ed in the

Brigade

uca

eu

l

 v

in

the morning

of

No\'cmber

27

1

983.

A ground con\ O)

had mowd the missiles from Ramstein

AFB to ~lutlangen Missile Storage

Area. Then Lt. Col. Douglas J. Mid

dleton initiated the training and readi

ness

program that would successfully

iransition the 1-~I FA battalion into the

first operational Pershing

II

battalion.

The training was intense.

By

December 15, the first opemion•l

Pershing II firing bmcry A Bmery,

1-41 FA, commanded by M•j. Nolan

Warson. 'a