Vershina Cable

Vol. 20

No.8

56th Field Artillery Brigade

'

August 1983

Protestor1 1111rch peacefully round n American mllltery kaHme during IHI Eaeter't ant1-nuc1.., demonatratlon, (Photo by Greg Allen).

"Hot Autumn"' approaches

Events fog arms issue

war in Europe. They see the deployment u
by Tony Maravola
Soviet concern
The single-warhead Pershing II miuilt pan of an American plan 10 limit fururc
As both ,he German and Amerian offi
cials plan for what hll been billed the "HOT concerns the Soviets more than the U.S. Air nuclear wor 10 the European continent, leavAUTUMN" by the German Peace Move Foret GLCM for a number of rc2sons. It is ing the United States untouched.
Supporters of the Twin-Track decision
ment, the issues are being clouded by the highly mobile Lnd new mhnology makes it
events. The central issue is the deployment e&1ier to deploy and hide than the current, counter these argumentS, citing the growing
by NATO of new Intermediate-range Nu- shoner ranged Penhing IA. It is also vtry Soviet arsenal of incenntdiart range nuclur
fut, capable of hitting its urge, only minut01 missile. They funher point out that the
clear Missiles (INF).
The NATO decision 10 deploy 108 Penh ahtr launch. The GLCM is much slower. Soviet missiles are already deploytd, while
in, II and 464 Ground Launched Cruise Tht Soviets can see no viable countermta- NATO is only now preparing to deploy new
Missiles (GLCM) ""-' made on Dec. 12, 1979 sure to the Penhing II with iu surgical preei- missiles.
u part of the NATO Twin-Track deciiion. sion.
Basic.all,, the Twin-Track decision ailed for
Proposed rflluctions
NAT010 follow rwo parallel tracks in coun
In the negotiations in Geneva, the Soviets
.
"Grttru" ltaders
tering the Soviet threat posed by the deploy
have consistontly insinecl that NATO halt its
The WC1t German Peace Movtmcnt is op planned deployment of INF. They have
mcnt of the SS-20 missiles aimed at Wmern
Europe. On one hand, NATO would deploy Posed 10 the NATO decision 10 deploy !NF proposed 1ha1 NATO reduce the number of
its own longer-nnge intermediate-range nu in December 1983. They are backed in their
dear missiles while 21 the same time begin efforu by the "Greens," an ultra-liberal
negotiuions with the Soviet Union 10 reduce political pny holding 27 seats in the West
German parliament. One of the major figures
the number of nuclear weapons in Europe.
in the "Greens pony is Petra Kelly, the
step-daughter of a retired Amtrican Army
~neva negotiations
Formal negotiations between the U.S. and officer. She went to the United States when
With Primary Le-admhip Develop
the Soviet Union bcg,n in November 1981 It she wu 13 and rema.ined there until gr1du11
ment Course Class 8-83, the S6th FA
ing
from
American
University
in
1969.
Geneva, Switierl,nd. Ai the negotiations,
Bde. Noncommissioned Officers' AcaAs a student, Kelly wu involved in the
there have been mony proposals and counter
demy implemented a new, tougher phase
proposals by both sides, but no agreement American Peace Moment of the sixiie,. Since
of the Field Training Exercise, known as
hu bern reached, 10 date. If 1he negotiations her return 10 Gcrmany, she hu been active in
The "Mad Dog Batun Road March.
in Gentva fail, then NATO is commined to a varieey of mvironmental and anti-arm
The Academy has incorporated into iu
the deploymen, of both the Penhing II and ment issue,.
c,urTtnt erognm a seven kilometer road
GLCM. The fim missiles are 10 be open
Also backing the effon to stop the deploy
march w,th full field equipment and ruckment of INF is the more traditional Soc,.!
tional by Dec. 15 1983.
sacks. In addition, 1he taetical field trainThe Soviet Union Cllrrently hu over JOO Democrat Pany (SPD). h is intttesting to
ing exercice hll bttn intensified and no..,
SS-20 miuilu deployed. Each SS-20 carries note that in Oecembe.r 1979, when the Twin
includu concurrent ua.ining during the
three warheads and hll a known range of Track decision wu made, the SPD was the
land navigation phast. The expansion of
S,000 kilometer,. In addition, the Sovim controlling pony in the Wen German parliathe FTX provides :more realism and
have 275 older, single-warhead SS-'4 missiles ment. The Chancellor at that time was Hd
rigourous challenJ to the young non
(range: 1,900 kilometers) and 25 SSS missiles mut Schmidt of the SPD.
commissioned officers going through the
(range: 4,100 kilomettrs) deployed. Current
Those oppo..cl to the deployment of INF
fourw""k cour...
ly, NATO hu nothing comparable to the SS argue that the introduetions of these miuiles
20 deploytd in Europe.
will greatly increase the possibility of nucleor

missiles to be deployed, while they mainuin

the SS-20s already deployed. In addition, ,he
Soviet Union has proposed that both tht
French and British nuclear arsenal, which are
not under NATO control, be counitd in the
tot.ti number of NATO missiles. All NATO
member, have rejected this proposal.
Although both sides in the matter have
publicly stated that ,here is nill time for a
negotiated senlemeni prior to the Dtcember
IS deployment date for NATO INF, both
agree that there ppcars to be linle hope for
such a solution. In the meantime, the Wen
Cennan Peace Movement is trying to force
tht: We.st German government to reconsid~r

its suppon of the TwinTrack decision. regardless of the outcoms of the Geneva talks.

47 NCOs graduate
The mission of the Academy is 10
"build tomorro.., 's leaders today
through rugged mining and discipline.
The Academy's cadre take their jobs of
prepa.ring today's junior NCO's for the
leadenhip positions very seriously. CSM
Alex L. Gray, Commandant of the 56th
FA Bde. NCO Academy, said, "The
higher the Standards, the tougher the
course which leads to better-trained
NCOs." Gn y went on 10 quote tht
Greek philosopher, Virgil, who wrote a
bout the miracle of birds in flight. "They
can bccau1< they think they can. Birds
never doubt their ability 10 fly. Neither
should we NCOs ever doubt our ability
(Continued on Page 4)

Coinanents
Demonstrators exercising rights
during "Heisser Herbst" protests
b1 Jim Cramblet
The Federal Republic of Gennany is a democracy similar
to that of th, United States. Th G,nn:m people enjoy a
frdom in the West that is unr..liud in th, East.
Two of the rights of 1he Gtnnan people &re free speech
and the right to demonstrate.
The demonstrators &rt a concerned group of people from
various politic"1 and enviromenw groups worried about the
future of their coun1ry.
The u.me kind of demonstmions 100k plact in the U.S.
during the Viernim War in the 60s.
September ha.s bn dubbed the begining 10 a long ~Hot
Autumn" in Gennany. Peace camps, hum&n chains and
m:u,y 0ther demonstrations ire Kheduled 10 draw attention
to the puce movement. But not all Gennans are involvod.
Many Germans look at the demonstra1ions as a madness and
the only way a lot of the demonstrations take place i that
demonstrators from all over Euro~ are bussed to the area of
the dtmonstrations..

Germans in the areu that the S4th FA Bde. o~mcsin

tend 10 be very conservative. Correspondent Hans-Joachim
Noack of the Spiegel Magazine was quite upset because he
could not find the upset German populace in Schwibisch

GmUnd that he 1ough1 there should be. In an article written

by him and published in the July 11 issue of 1he Spiegel, he
wrote, "one who investigattS the opposition 10 the missiles.
will not fmd one single organized puce movement
member," concerning deployment of P II, and the demon-

.stration.s.
NolCk went as far as to describe the Gr..ns movement in
Schwibisch GmUnd as, "half a dozen juveniles which
gathered around their single ddegaie." Ht wu really upset
because he did not find an entire populace in an uproar.
The German/American relationship in the th,.. cities
where the 56th FA Bde. is locmd tcnds to be good. Offlimits arus are almost non-existent, fricndship between the
host nation and the soldien is in abundance. The Gennan
people ire willing to accept the American soldien into their
communities, into their way of life.
Regardless of the demonstrations, the hardsh:r.
' s which are
created by them, the tension that ,oldiers feel ue 10 thrni,
the friendship and relations between Genn:ms :md American, is worth prrserving. A wedge mun noc be driven
between established friends 10 sitisfy the different P.Uties
that form the majority of the demonstmors. At times, thi1
seems 10 be their goal.

What the demonstrators seem to forget is 1hat soldiers do

not make policy, nor can thoy change it. What soldiers mus,
remem~ is that they can not become involved in anonthor
countries poli,ics. Jn the coming "Hot Autumn". the soldier
will be wkcd to differentim between those hard core
drnionstrators and those Germ:ms that arc just worried
abou, thoir country.
Soldiers will be wked to preserve friendship and good
relations. It will be tht solditn job 10 in1ure that a
do
not destroy what many have strivod 10 gain over the }'tars.
Every action of every American is observed as the Ameri
can attitude or belief. Every word spoken is taken as the
and ~ople.
attitude or policy of the American
The American soldier, his actions, h,s attitude. is more
imponant at this time than ever before. The 56th FA Bde. is
in the intemational limelite of the news. Daily, it appears in
the new,, on way or the other. Reporters from all branches
of the media are knocking at the door, and it is tho soldiers
job to present a good view and a positive attitude of the
brigade.
The Germans aro a ,aluod and truS1ed allie. The majority
of tht Gorman people arc good friends. Don, let the actions
of a few ruin it all.

f,..,

Armr

Don't do the crime

II vou can't do the time

by Tony Maravola
I've often wondered about the mentality of the criminal
who, onet convicted and 1en1enced, complains about the
punishmenL The question that I would ask is, "Did you
know that what you were doin, was illegal and you would
be punished if caught and convocted ?"
If the criminal answen, "Yes," ,hen all I can say i,,
"What's your beef?
If ~rson knows that something is illegal and does it
anyway, thcn he or sh should be prepired 10 suffer the
consequences.
Take, for example, the use of illegal drugs. There isn't a
soldier in the brigade who doesn't know that the use of any
kind of drug without a doctor's prescription is ii.legal. And
when ceruin non-medical drug1 are involved, such ..
hashish, mariju:u,a, cocaine or heroin are involved, there can
be no question of iu legality.

II

Pershing
Cable

There has also been enough publicity on th< penalties

associated with drug abuse. No one should be surprised,
then, when a soldier is found guilty of drug abuse or drug
trafficking :md punished. Yct some ~pl< ir<.
It remind, me a linlt of my children. They somehow
never quite believe that Mommy or Daddy will really stnd
them 10 their room if they misbehavo. They always ex~t
that wo will back-off at the last minute. When thy are
finally sent to thtir room, they cry.
I guess tho criminal mind work, like that, too. Like little
children, they cry. Bu, they are not children. They ire
adults. Noon forced thrni to break tho law. They were told
what would hap~n if they were caught, but th.e y went out
and did it an'f".ay. So what do thoy expect1
The point" simply this. If you insist on violating ,he law,
then you ,hould be prepared to pay the penalty. To put it
into word, from an old TV detective show, "Don't do the
crime if you can't do the time. "

There is an old saying that has been around for as long as 1

can remember; "There are two things in life that arc certain,
death and ta.res."
A lot of ~ople "'ill argue with me when I say that drunk
drivers tak.e a chance on cuning their life txpecuncy ,hon
when they slide behind the steering whoel of, car. I " 'ould
also receive many opinions if I said that if ,hat person h.s
not been driving drunk, ht/she wouldm 't h,ve killed him or
herself or someone else in the proccs,. Most ~Opie will
simplify the answer and say if it wasn't ,heir time th<)
woudn't have died. Who's really to say?
If you read the July 1983 inuo of Soldier Maguine you
will know ,bou, the btaSt. The bem (bo11lc) kills u lean
25,000 Americans each year. Do you wan, 10 be a smisuc?
Here in tht Army we have services to help the drinker.
HowevCT they never seem to have time 10 uke ad,,nug< of
these opportunities. But they do ha.e the time 10 go 10 the
club and drink and tllk about their problems.
Then the beasts rears its ugly head. Sometimes a small
fender bender will wake up a person, sometimes it " 'on't. It
seems that ,ome people profer to h2Ve a major eris,, before
they come 10 their senses. Then thoy live with that guilt for
the rest of their lives.
Dnink driving continues 10 be a great problem in our
community. Apparently it's not enough, that ~ople rrccive
field grad Article IS's, reduction in rank or rcvootion of
their driving privileges. Maybe we need stiffer ~nalues I
would like the syStrni 10 get YOU before the beast gcu us.
I challenge you not 10 get behind the wheel if you knot.
you have had too much 10 drink. Got ,omeone to drive vou
home or catch a iaxi. Better you have your car it ripped thin
your life or ,omcone et.es'. A drunk driver is a killer.
SSG Jackie Branhirn HHB, 56th FA Bde

'PERSHING IN EUROPE"
~

--0llar

llrig.0.,,-~ Anlllony M. Me-

Augu1t 111113