8/17/2019 The Pershing Cable (Feb 1985)
1/2
l ershina
Cable
Vol.
22 No.
2
February 985
C
UCVs arrive
by
rail for 56th Brigade
SIOI ) l,y Jucly A.
MC1"lriM
AJ companies throughout die Neu Ulm
commurury received dtnr
new
miliury
cargo vehicles, dtey found dte procedure
was not as cuy u unloading dte vehicles
from dte awaiting cars.
UnloadinJ dte
vehicles
wu jun dte fim
Step i.n * sen« of work
wh
.ch
wu
needed to
make the vthicles fully combat ready.
The
SSth ~n t c lW lc t
banalion wu
re-
sponsible for inprouuing all new vdudcs
for the 54th Brigade. Workloads were hand
led by Alpha company SSth for dte
1/41 F.A. and
ocher
units in
Schwiibisch
Gmiind
while
Charlie SStb was in charge of
all ncw vehicle inprocasing for die
l /M
F.A. in Heilbronn. .
Bravo 55th was in charge of all new vehic
ln coming through the Neu Ulm Commu-
nity and 2nd Lt.
Karen
Ba..,., OIC
of
that
operation,
pvc a
buic rundown of what
wu
needed
a
complne the job.
"Bravo u othCT 11ni11 of he SSch, inpro
cessed all
die
nnr vehicla for dte brigade.
Here in
Neu
Ulm we completed work on
I07 new vehicles in a matter
of
two week,,"
Beavus said.
"This
is
jun
one pan of the equipment
u~ u,d we knew die vehicles would be
anwing since early October. A
lot
of work
was needed on each
vehicle
a
make
them
combat ready," w added. ·
According a Jlcavus up a 90 ptl"Cfflt of
· die vehicla required commurucationa equip
ment u
weU
u yellow safety lighta,
TMP ·
numbers
u,d
other various electrical wiring.
"We
set
• goal of complning about 20 vc-
Mid-termer
waiver available
A reml is~t waiver which became
effective u of January I, 198S a,ay be we:
by commanders
in
order
a
wart
up to
10
points
of
the GT ,core rcquimnent for
reenlin:ment.
This waiv
8/17/2019 The Pershing Cable (Feb 1985)
2/2
Double
SMA visits · 6th rigade soldiers
by Joyce Arrington
Army Sgt. Maj. Gltnn E. Morrell
calked
with soldiers from all units
of
the 56th
Bdc.
during bis visit ro
Schwiibiscb
Gmiind Feb.
6.
Morrell
had
previously visited the brigade
May 10, last year, wbtn be stopped briefly
in Gmiind and toured brigade si«s
in
Heil
broM
.
Morrell wu
given
a tour of the brigade's
site at Mutlangen by USAREUR Command
Sgt.
Maj . James B. Craft, 56th Brigade Com
mand
Sgt.
Maj. T. A. Jackson, and 1- 41
Command Sgt. Maj. Malachi Mitchell Jr.
Morrell spoke ro soldiers there, inquiring
about their food and quarters, and answer
ing
some
of their questions.
Enlisted soldiers representing ·all brigade
units talked with Morrell at the Rodman
Theater before lunch, and NCO
call
was
held in the afternoon.
In response to questions about the condi
tion of qumers and other facilitie,, Morrell
said ,ha, renovation, arc being made both
oversea, and swe,ide. Money bas been ear
marked specifically for construction, and
be
saw no way that the money could be shihcd
for
some
other purpos
e.
h
i s not going as fut a, I would like,• he
$aid, '"but if we do screw up, at l~ast weu
h
ave a chance ro evaluate everything.•
Mor
rell also said that while renovation in the
works now might not be finished by the
time some soldiers PCS, those soldiers will
sec the improvements in their new duty sta·
Dons.
One area where Morrell is opposed to
changes
is
uniform items. After the new
BOUs become available, Morrell said, be
would oppose any attempt ro chani;c the
clothing bag. However, be did mcnnon an
improved combat boot, which be called
"bener than any boo, the Army
ha.s
ever
had;
and said it should be available
in
clothing sales stores in both regular and in
sulated styles for those that want them.
Morrell also said that he would prefer that
clothing
allowances
be paid at the beginning
of
the year in one lump sum, which could
be
slightly larger than the present allowance.
Another topic Morrell covered wu the GI
bill, which expires Dec. 31, 1989. The
new
biU
rakes effect in July, but Morrell said
"there is a catcb-
22
in thai - if you arc eli
gible for the Vietnam era GI bill, you have
to
serve
three years under the
new
bill be
fore
getting the benefiu.• He said that be
i
trying to get automatic eligibility for the
new bill. Morrell said under the new bill,
soldiers lose six months of education and
2500 dollars, "But at lea,t i, did not disap-
Wife
visits
too
pear
into the wild blue yonder.•
According ro Morrell, the position of the
Department of the Anny is to continue oth ·
er prognms such
a,
retirement,
commissary,
post ach:ange, "cdical and dental care, and
pay raises. However, he also said be wants
the Dept. of Anny Inspector General ro in
vestigate the current CHAMPUS system,
which Morrell described u • a bucket of
wonns.•
"Soldiers end up paying mon,ey out
of
dieir
own pockets ro get medical care they
were promised
when
dtey came in the
Army.•
Wc have to take a bard-line stance at Dc-
partmtnl of Army level, and quit letting
people reeolirt for present duty
as
signment
m overm:enl(lb MOS.•
Morrell also said
be is
trying to do away
with the restricted
file,
saying that it allows
individuib ro hide
things
that eventually
come out when the individual reaches senior
NCO
rmks. "We do not need that
and
we
never did.
need
it,• Morell said. •An NCO's
record sbould be open ro God and every
body ro look at if they so desire, and tbcn
we will M selecting the right leadership."
"Criteria for
s12ying
in
the Anny
is
going
to get tougher and rougher, Morell said.
"We need to lock in on
SQT
scores. Why
do
we promote someone ro the rank of E-5
and they do not pass their SQT? How can
they tnin, lead,
maintain
and care for sol
dim
out
there? They cannot do that.•
•we can reenlist • soldier today wbo i
not eligible
ro
be
promoted tomorrow, and
we can promote a soldier today who
i
not
eligible to be rcen.listed two yean down the
road, so we ue looking at putting that inro
one regulation and trying ro get that locked
in ro where it really means sometmng.•
Speaking during the NCO calf, Morrell
reminded them that
the
criteria for suying
in the Anny
and
getting promoted arc
estab
lished "by the sundards, policiesand
regwa
·
tiOGJ we have, and you and I are charged
with the responsibility ro make sure people
comply. So why have we bad to put people
out
of
the Army
at 10,
12
or 16
years of ser
vice?
Because
they -..ork for us, and we
have
seen them day in and
day
out but we did not
make
than comply, and 'hold their feet to
the fire' in accordance with the standards,
policies and regulations we bave. "Some of
our own peers we did not
do
that ro, and we
have seen
them disappear because they could
not meet the weight requiremen~ we have in
--.--,
oth
tn11118d
and NCO. were lll>le
to air
gripes and uk ~ uring
AmrySgt
MIJ
Glenn
E. MorNll'I
vlalt
to
the 51th Flelcl Attlllary
fll1gllde.
by M It. Diamond
The quality'of life at the ,6th Field Ar-
tillery Brigade wa, the main focus of the
U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major's
wife
K.artn Morrell on their recent visit to
Europe.
Since
the
qua
lity
of
life concepts revolve
around Army
families
and the di
ffi
culties
involved in being a family in the service,
Mrs. Morrell started her day with a visit to
the Child Care Center and Hardt Elemm·
tary School. After her tour
of
the school,
she visitcd t
he
Army Community
Service
Center and the Red Cross which were
hi~h on her list of priorities. Here s
he
met
with ACS director Nancy Slade and her
staff. Mrs. Morrell,
hdd an impromlU
symposium with the
ACS
staff and Red
Cross
si.ation manager
Kenneth Gosso.
If everyone here •iuck ro their job
description,"
;be
said, • nothing would get
done. That's
-why
we're bett; to help each
other, the service member and their fami·
lies."
•And the reuon I'm here i s to help you.
T
al.k
to me. Tell me your problems."
The group did not need much promp
ting. Within five minu«s after her arrival it
was dear that tbc lines of communication
were: open.
Although there
wett
no immediate solu
tions ro any of the problems Morrell heard
on her visit here she gave ber word that
SM would take everything she beard up
her chain of command, lieginning with her
bu,band.
"Today there :arc not only Army wives,
but Army husbands, and they all
have
a
Pershing Cable
the
Army. That weight standard bas
around for
a
long time. So we must m
sun we do
the
identifu:ariou, selection,
ning,
and continue
to
enforce that wher
we.may be assigned."
In closing, Morrell c:a Jed today's A
better
than
any
we
lu.u
previously
a.dcliug. We have a
good
Army .today,
it's getting bctt.cr all the time."
Things
that Morrell is
uying
to chang
assignment and ETS procedures.
N
ob
knows wbett
th,ey
are going until they
thett, &0d with all the
modemiution
the
smart
people we ha•e in the Army
should be able ro assign a soldier to at
bmalion level." Another change in
works is to let soldien E1 S from where
arc assigned. •we should have looked
that
a long time ago.
Morrell nressed the need for a
NCO
corps in tbe Arrn7.
He
empbu
the imporuuce of linking schools with
motions and retention, saying that he w
like to make graduating from PLDC ma
tory before promotion t o E-S, and suc
fully completing BNOC. PCT or BCT
fore E-6.
Morrell said that soldiers
in
combat
rpecia.lties spend 45 to 50 weeks in s
during a 20 to 30 year
caner,
while co
suppon and service s uppon spend so
weeks during their career. Stating tha
aver
age
for
an
enlisted soldier at NCO
is 62 weeks, Morrell said. ·tt s a small
ro pay for the
mileage
.,... get out o
NCO
corps."
Morrell said he hopes to get a badly-
ed OPS/INTEL course on-line by late
year, which would round off the A
school
syttcm
. He stated he is not lob
for more schools, saying •we have got
schools right now,
all we
need to do is
tinue to improve them."
Morrell stressed the imp oruuce of a
NCO corps, soying "You are the ones
should be able to identify ,be sbortcom
tha1 a soldier we wan,
t.o
retain bu w
nine months that they work for you. A
you cannot do that within nine month
you
have
a problem.•
"You arc just Jetting a soldier up to
failure, because it i s roo late at 30 mon
they arc on a three-year cnlist mtnt, an
to late
ac •o
months
if
they arc on a
year enlistment
.
Morrcll's
other
main topics were _p
tion and retention. Hl- said
that
cu1off
will remain high in overstrength speci
adding We have good soldiers that c
get promoted because we mi,manage
force and we have got
to
get a hand
tha1.
chain of command. The problem is, t
arc not
all
awvc of it. I think we nee
do a better job of disscmcnating infor
tion to family members.•
Elaborating, with
an
anecdote, sbe s
· · t remember when Glenn made first
geant. All
of
a suddtn
J
wu
cxpttte
know everything about the Army. W
didn't; and I still don't, but at lt2St I k
where I can go to get :answers."
In addition to
wbett
she can go for
wers to her questions, more than
8
y
u an NCO's wife
has
taught Morrell w
she can accomplish on her own. "Toda
Army wife can set her mind to d
something and work miracles. Ten y
ago she would have been a meddling
male. And in
10
more years 1 think
will have
an
even greater influence."
Fetiruary
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