Pershing

Vol. 27, No. 7

561h Field Artlllery Command

able
Update FYI

Speed 1/mit raised

HEIDELBERG, West Germany - USAREUR
non-ta.ctical vehicles (NTV) now have the go-ahead
10 drive somewhat faster on autobahns and primary
roads in West Germany.
Non-tactical vehicles arc motor vehicles used in
support of general transportation services. They arc
used for the transport of personnel, supplies and
other -cargo, and for facilities and equipment maintenance functions that require special design vehicles
n_o1 directly connected with combat or tactical operations.

Speed limits for NTV (MPH/KPH)

Cities Autobahns
NTV
31/50 65/105
NTV w/trailcrs
3I /50 50/80
Bus w/passengers seated
3I /50 50/80
Bus w/passengers sranding 31/50 Not
auth.
Trucks up to 7.5t GVW
3I /50 50/80
(EUR- release)

Happy anniversary!
By John K. D'Amato
NCOJC Public Affairs Staff

New check limit

HEIDELBERG, West Germany - Soldiers living on
the economy can cash checks for up 10 $ 1,000 in exchange for foreign currency at U.S. Army, Europe,
finance offices beginning Feb. I.
USAREUR is conducting a one year test which
allows the increased limit according 10 Cpt. Pamela
Douglass, USAREUR office of the deputy chief of
staff for resource management. The normal check
cashing limit is $ 745.
To qualify for the new limit a soldier must take his
current leave and earnings statement showing basic
allowance for quarters and overseas housing allowance entitlements and net pay in excess of $ 1,250
monthly to the finance office. The soldier can then
write one check for up to $ 1,000 in foreign currency
to pay for rent and utility expenses.
The increased limit is only available on the end of
month payday and five working days thereafter.
Soldiers on the dishonored check list are not eligible. Also soldiers writing checks on military banking
facilities cannot take advantage of the increased limit
if they are within 30 days of separation from the
service. If checks are written on a stateside bank,
soldiers cannot be within 60 days of separation.

Other
roads
60/100
50/80
50/80
Not
auth.
50/80

Services extended
To provide a better service 10 U.S. Forces per
sonnet, the 42nd MP Group has extended its cus
tamer service operations to all major military communities in Germany. "This means people no longer
need to drive to Mannheim to clear their personal
imporutions," said Cpt. Jeanne Burden, '42nd MP
Group's customs operations officer.
42nd MP Group's Customer Service Office on
Taylor Barracks, Mannheim, however, is closing its
doors to walk-in customers on April I, 1989. lnstead,
if yourc in Schwabisch Gmi.ind you can now receive
all the same services from your local customer service
office located in Building 306 on Cooke Barracks,
Goppingen. Soldiers in Heilbronn can go to Building
two on Wharton Barracks and in Neu-Ulm the office
is located on Nclson-Kasernc, Building 304. These
services include approving import permits, permits to
transfer, authorization for relatives to operate a POV,
(42nd MP Group)
and retiree registration.

Aprfl 1189

196~. Lyndon Baines Johnson is President of the

United States. Cassius Clay becomes the heavyweight
champion of the world and the Beatles are a hit in
their first movie, "Hard Day's Night." Martin Lu1:hcr
King is chosen as the youngest win.ner ever of the
Nobel Peace Prize, and North Vietnamese gunboats
fire on U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. Following
the incident, U.S. troop levels in Vietnam escalate
from 20,000 to 190,000 in the next year.
Half a world away, the main party of 1st Battalion,
41st Field Artillery board the USS Buckner for a seven-day cruise. They will arrive in Bremcrhaven on
April 11, and travel to Schwabisch Gmiind, West
Germany, where they will share Hardt Kasernc with
the 56th Field Artillery Group.
With Pershing 1 missiles, which have replaced the
old RedStone missiles, the small force represents a
new nuclear deterrent for NATO. A short time later
they are followed by the !st Battalion, 81st Field
Artillery in Wackershcim (which will move to
Neu-Ulm in 1968), and the 3rd Battalion, 84th Field
Artillery in Neckarsulm.
1'69. Richard M. Nixon is the 37th President of
the United States. The country is still recovering
from the assasination of Martin Luther King, the capture of the USS Pueblo, and the seigc of Khe s~nh.
Neil Armstrong steps from his lunar module Eagle to
become the first man to walk on the surface of the
moon, four days after the launching of Apollo 11.
Sharon Tate is killed in part of a grisly murder that
will later implicate Charles Manson and followers of
his cult. A music festival at Woodstock draws more
than 300,000 young people, and anti-war demonstra
tions split the country.
Celebrating their 5th anniversary in Europe, Pershing soldiers see the first P-IAs arrive. The upgraded
system featuring a replacement of tracked launchers
by wheeled-erector launchers, gives the new units increased mobility and survivability.
197.f. After a torturous year of nationally-broadcast hearings and threats of impeachment over "Watergate", President Nixon resigns his office. Potricia
Heam, granddaughter of publisher, William
Randolph Hearst is kidnapped from her apartmcn t in
California, later to be seen in a bank holdup as one of
the robbers.
It is the 10th anniversary of Pershing units in Europe. Outnumbered by Soviet nuclear weapon's sys
terns and conventional forces, Pershing units have become the cornerstone of the NATO defense.
1979. Disco is King and the movie 'Alien' is the
blockbuster hit of the summer. A radioactive leak
occurs at Three Mile Island and throws most of the
country into a panic over nuclear safety.
Anwar Sadat, Menachcm Begin and President
Jimmy Carter sit down to work out a Middle East
Plan between traditional enemies Egypt and Israel.
John Wayne dies, Margaret Thatcher is elected first
woman Prime Minister in British history and the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan.
Pershing has been in Europe for 15 years. The So
viets, however, tip the nuclear balance by continuing
to deploy SS-20 intermediate-range nuclea.r weapons
with multiple warheads.
NATO sees the threat as e;irly as 1978, and adopts
a Twin Track Agreement, calling for negotiations
with the Soviets for the removal of the SS-20s, and
deployment of a new Pershing II missile system if negotiations are unsuccessful.

In 1980, the U.S. offers to negotiate with the So,iets on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces ( INF} and
the Soviets refuse. By the end of the year, the Sovie,
Union has deployed 200 SS20's with 600 nuclear
warheads.
1984. Gymnast, Mary Lou Retton captures the
Olympic Gold Medal and U2 is considered one of
the best new acts of the decade. Following the death
of Andropov, Number 2 man in Moscow behind
Chernenko, Mikhail Gorbachev visits Margaret That
chcr for talks in Britain.
Glenn, Hart and Jackson make bids for the Presidency, and the Democratic ticket of Mondale-Ferraro
is overwhelmed by Ronald Reagan, seeking his second term. A gas leak at a Union Carbide plant in
Bhopal, India kills 2,500.
It is the 20th anniversary of Pershing, and a critical
year of the NATO alliance. The Soviets have ,valked
out of the Geneva talks on reducing Intermediate
Nuclear Forces, but have deployed 360 SS 20's ,vith
1,080 nuclear warheads.
Two months prior to the start of 1984, a ne"
Pershing missile, the P-11, is deployed in accordance
with the Twin Track Agreement.

See 25 years on page 7 ..

j_

I
!
I

The llrat Perahlngs required yards of heavy cables

that had to be manhandled when the missiles were
emplaced for firing. The PII not only has fewer cables
but also a range of more than a thousand mlies and a
new guidance aystem.

Winter Sports feature hotshots

By Rosalyn R. Coleman
Pershing Cable Staff Writer
This has been a busy year in sports
for the 56th Field Artillery Command's
sports enthusiast.
Last month the Command held its
double-elimination basketball championships at Hardt Gym. The competition was fierce but the team from I st
Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, who placed first in the Men's Open Championship, proved without a doubt that they
are the Command's finest.
Halfway through the competition
only three teams were still unbeaten,
1-9, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Battalion and 38th Signal Battalion.
In the first game, 38th Signal and 2/4
Infantry battled. The "grunts" dominated most of the game, easily handing the
"communicators" a third place finish.
Then came the showdown between
1- 9 and 2-4. 1-9 controlled most of
the game, beating 2 - 4, 68-62, according to I - 9's coach, Sgt. Ernest Moses.
In the Women's Open Basketball
Championships, 2nd Battalion, 9th
Field Artillery captured the first place
trophy with a win over the Headquart-

ers and Headquarters Battery, 56th Field Artillery females. HHB 56th held
on to second and 55th Support Battalion finished third.
At the VU Corps Junior boys
Basketball Championship in Munich,
last year's champions, the Schwiibisch
Gmiind junior boys, upset Neu Ulm by
the score of 69- 49. The team also went
to the USAREUR finals in Grafenwohr, where they gained conrrol of
the game again st Gelnhausen with less
than two minutes left. Final score
60- 52 Schwabisch Gmiind.
Neu-Ulm's bantam team edged out
Schwiibisch Gmiind in overtime during
the VII Corps Bantam Championship
tournament held
in Schwabach.
Schwiibisch Gmiind was in the lead by
two points in the last minute of the
game. With three seconds on the clock a
Neu Ulm player made a desperation
shot and scored two points to squeak
by Schwabisch Gmiind 26- 25.
In bowling, 38th Signal's men took
first place in the 56th FA CMD Bowling Championships held in Heilbronn.
The team from 55th Support Battalion
placed second and 1st Bn., 9th FA finished third in the competition.

Pvt. PAC asks

PVT PAC asks: My battalion has a lot
of Pershing MOS soldiers (21G, 21L,
lSE, 46N), who are wondering what is
going to happen to t hem after INF?
Cpt F. Peddler says: All Pershing
MOS soldiers are encouraged 10 submit
preference statements to DA. Field
Artillery and Ordnance branches recently sent GI lists of those soldiers
they interviewed for reclassification.
Those interviews were conducted in
January 88, so we have plenty of new
soldiers who haven't told their branch
what MOS they wish to reclassify into.
The process for us is easy. The soldier
needs to go to his battalion PAC, where
a preference statement can be printed
on TACCS, indicate J MOSs on that
form, sign it, and the battalion sends the
sutement to Gl. Gt will consolidate all
requests and send them directly to DA.
Pershing soldiers need to make their intentions known to their branch. If not,
they may be reclassified according 10
the Army's needs and not their own.
Reclassification preferences need to be
at DA at least 6- 12 months prior to
their DEROS. D A starts coordination
for schooling and reclassification during
that time frame.
PVT PAC asks: Last month you
told me I couldn't pick up the soldier I
was sponsoring since he was flying
into F rankfurt and could ride the
sponsor bus. Now my sponsoree is flying into Stuttgart; can I pick him up
there?
CPT F. Peddler says: No. Effective I
May 89, the Sponsorship bus (S-bus)
will transport all soldiers, with pinpoint
assignments to our units, from the
Stuttgart Airport ro Schwabisch
Gmund, Neu Ulm, and Hcilbronn.
And ail Pershing soldiers LTC and be-

low and battalion level CSM and below

will use the S-bus for transportation
from either Frankfurt or Stuttgart.
PVT PAC asks: I see alot of NCOERs and I'm not real sure what justifi.es excellence ratings; would you give
me some examples.
CPT F. Peddler says: Of course. I've
consulted MSG Inkblot, my NCOER
expert to give me some examples of excellence.
0 scored 290 on APFT
0 scored 9'4 on SQT
0 60% of his soldiers in his squad received EIBs
0 his areas of res,Ponsibility all received
commendable ratings during last Ci
0 under his guidance, three of his
NCOs were selected as NCO of the
Quarter for the battalion
0 maintained 98. 7o/o communications
reliability over five CMD fTXs and
three NATO TAC Evaluations
0 his section received forty-eight commendable ratings on the recent Command Inspection
0 his section has had no vehicle accidents or alcohol or drugs incidents
PVT PAC ub: Lately I've had alot
of my actions returned from Gt because of missing documents; what
preventative measures can I take to
ensure that my 41871 arc completed
before being returned?
.
CPT F. Peddler says: As a minimum,
all requests require the following data:
DA Form 2A; DA Form 2-1; DA Form
4 I 87 signed by soldier and commander
if voluntary - signed by commander if
involuntary; and an endorsement by the
battalion SI. For each action, different
documents are required bur the stronger
you make your case, the better the
chance for approval.

55th Spt Bn. captured the women's

bowling tide, while 2nd Bn, 9t.h FA pla
ced second and 4th Battalion, 9th Field
Anillery came in third.
Sfc. Steve Cook of Alpha Company
55th Spt Bn., finished second in the Vil
Corp Bowling Championship. Cook,
who also placed sixth in the USAREUR
competition in Grafenwohr, was selecetcd to try-out for the All-Army team in
the United States.
At the Command's Cross Country
Championships, 2nd :Bn, 4th Infantry
ran away with first plac.e in the men's
competition. 38th Signal came in second, beating third place HHB 56th by
five seconds.
55th Spt. masters and women's team
seized first place honors in both the
master's and women's categories.
At the recent Vll Corps Ski Championships, Spec. Lisa Marchant, HHC

38th Signal, finished third in the slalom

and 4th in the giant slalom in Berchtesgaden.
Another skiier, Chad Werts placed
9th in the slalom at the USAREUR Ski
Championships.
In other action, Major Fred Lydick,
Command Provost Marshal qualified
for the USAREUR Racquetball
championships to be held at a later date.
Schwiibisch . Gmi.ind recently hosted
the Vil Corps 14.1 Billiards championships. The only competitor from the
Schwiibisch Gmiind area was eliminated
early in the competition. The men's division winner Venancio Rodriquez,
from the Munich military community,
cued-in on his opponents weakenesses
and was presented with a first place plaque from the 56th FA Commander,
Gen. Roger K. Bean.

25 Years ...
The new system increases PH's range
1989 George Bush is the 41 st Presiover the old PIA from 400 10 1,100 mi- dent of the United States. The Reagan
les, and fewer cables allows quicker em- legacy is an Intermediate Nuclear Forplacement and displacement by firing ces Treaty signed on December 7, 1987
crews. A new terminal guidance system, and ratified by the Senate the following
allowing the use of smaller warheads, summer.
gives the system an almost unheard of
Pershing celebrates its 25th anniveraccuracy rate and allows the use of
sary in Europe. In 1986 it had become a
warheads with a smaller nuclear yield.
Command and added the 38th Signal
Protest demonstrations attract hun- Baualion, a restructured 55th Support
dreds of thousands of anti-Pershing/ Battalion and the 193rd Aviation Comanti-nuclear forces across the country.
pany to this command structure.
At one point, a human chain of deBy the end of 1988, Soviet inspectors
monstrators stretche5 from Neu Ulm to have visited each of the Command sites
Mudangen. Almost exactly on the on init;al inspections to verify that the
twentieth anniversary of Pershing in number of treaty-limited items listed in
Europe, another demonstration results the Treaty's Memorandum of Under
in four demonstrators ibreaking through standing are present.
perimeter fences at Mutlangen and three
In the fall of 1988 and the early
warning shots being fired.
months of 1989, a flawless rmograde
Pershing soldiers, already tasked with operation has allowed one battery from
fielding the new weapon's system arc Heilbronn, Schwiibisch Gmund and
stretched to the breaking point when Neu Ulm to remove its Pershing missicalled to pull round-the-clock guard les and support equipment and inacticommitments to safeguard the equip- vate.
ment.

Despite the challenges presented with

the fielding of the system in the face of
continued demonsrrati-ons, all three of
the battalions ore at operational readiness status h1 the end of 1985.
By July 1986, the string of successful
Pll launches have stretched to 28 of 31,
to include the 3 on July 26th from Cape
Canaveral. Two months later, an announcement is made that General secretary Gorbachev and President Reagan
will meet in Reykjavik, Iceland for a
summit meeting.
Less than a year later, the record of
launches has extended co 44. On March
25, 1987, six Pershing II missiles arc
down-range from the Cape, the most in
a single day.
Three weeks later, Secretary of State
George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze have reached
and agreement on Intermediate Range
Nuclear Forces. The essence of the
agreement is a verifiable elimination of
all systems on both sides, the same "zero-zero option" President Reagan put
forward on November J I, I981.

The Command's mission to provice a

credible deterrent remains unti I May J 1,
1991. Pershing II was deployc-d in t9S3
to force the removal of the Soviet SS-20
threat. That mission has been accomplished to a degree most skeptics would
not have believed possible.
Deployed 25 years ago to meet a Soviet short range nuclear challenge, and
later the intermediate range nuclear
challenge, Pershing will not see a 30th
anniversary.
But, the number of anniversaries celebrated by a whole range of other missiles systems can now be numbered on
one hand, as well. Gone by the end of
May I 991 will be 176 Soviet SS-4s and
SS-Ss, 776 SS-12s, 200 SS 23s and 650
SS-20s.
"We gave peace a chance," is a slogan
seen on magaziM covers and on the
back of one of our erector launchers. h
is a proper toast to Pershing soldiers
past and present, who have served with
distinction for a quarter century.
Happy 25th Anniversary.