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AMADOR (J93d PAO)' ~ ,The 193d Infantry Brigade (Canal Zone) will conduct a series of field training exercises at the Rio Hato Military. Reservation' beginn'i'ng, later this .monrh- with the approval of- the"! .Panamanian government. U,S.' military units have.not trai~ed in the _ Hepubflcof Pan'ama outside the Canal Zone si nce 19? 4, .when the Briqade and the Panama National Guard 'conduct(3d a joint exercise at ,~.R,io.. Hatci.The 'R io " Hate reservation, located approximately 70 miles southwest of ~ the Canal' Zone, is the largest training area in the Hepublic, outside the Canal Z9I'1e:.lt isthe best local terrain and e nv i r onrnent ", for meaningful conventional warfare training 'by large units'
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and is excellent for live-fire exercises. , Between Jan. 18 and Feb. 21, each of the brigade's three Infantrv battalions will conduct a. conventional Army Traininq and ~valuatibn .Program(ARTEP) exercise. The . 4th Battalion (Mechanized), 20th 'Infantry. /, I will run the 'first ARTEP Ja'n, 18:26,,, , followed by the 4th Battalien, l Oth Infantry Feb . ..1:9 and the 3d Battal ion, 5th lntantrv, Feb. 13<2'), , These 'exercises are' designed to evaluate the abili'ty of the infa'n:t(y battali.onsof'the brigade to' perform specified' conventional ' warfare missions under simulated combat conditions, vehicles, equipment and The troops,

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I arrived in Panama on 4 Jan 1979 and after in-processing I was sent to the 534th MP Co (STRAF) on 9 Jan 1979. I was quick to learn that it was the anniversary of Martyr's Day (Balboa Riots - 9 Jan 1964) The entire unit was on alert and dressed in full riot gear. Squad Ldrs had shotguns with 18" bayonets. All of the vehicles were wrapped in concertina wire. I didn't do any in-processing that day. I could only think to myself, "What the Hell have I gotten myself into!" Just a week and 1/2 later I was in the field for a major exercise. The company ARTEP at Camp Bayonet, Empire Range and then onto Rio Hato for the very first joint exercise with U.S. soldiers and the Panamanian National Guard (PNG). A little baptism by fire, hit the ground running and don't look back. A great learning opportunity combined with some great people resulted in some lasting memories. John S. Sporrer (MSG / Ret.)

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Friday, Jan. 12, 1979

193d trainsat Rio Hato

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from Page 1)

supplies-wil] be transported 'frornthe Canal ZonetoRio Hato by aircraft;-Landing Craft, Mechanized (LCMs), and road convoys. Most Inter-American Highway travel by convoys will be at night, during minimum traffic periods, andwill be escorted by the Military Pol ice and Panama National Guard. The three battalions will pattern training techniques along the lines of . .tactical capabilities featuring infantry tactics, combined infantry and airborne. operations, and mechanized infantry techniques. Each battalion will be joined by other tactical and combat service support units of the brigade which will be providing air, ground, and

water transportation, intelligence, communications, medical, engineering, field artillery, and supply and logistics support to the tested battal ions. Headquarters elements of the brigade will control and evaluate the exercises and coordinate the logistics and administrative support. The opposi ng force for each exercise wi II consist of one infantry company and one mechanized infantry .cornpanv from the brigade and teams from the brigade's Special Forces unit which will conduct special effects operations to add combat realism to the scenari o. Throughout. the exercises, extensive air support will be provided by the brigade's 210th Aviation Battalion and the U.S. Air

Force Southern Air Division. Many soldiers and much of the supplies and equipment will be airlifted to Rio Hato by C-130s and "Chinook" helicopters in order to minimize road convoys. Other Ai r Force and Army aircraft will conduct close air support, resupply, and otherrelated missions. Members of the Panama National Guard will participate as observers throughout the exercises. Other members of the National Guard will participate with the Special Forces teams in establishing and conducting escape and evasion operations, which will be part of the exercise scenario. In addition, approximately a platoon of the National Guard will participate with Company A, 3d Battalion, 5th Infantry in airborne operations. Extensive safety precautions wi II be employed throughout the exercise period, according to brigade officials. While simulated ammunition will be used for the most part during the period, some live-fire exercises will also be conducted, using 105mm howitzers,M60 machineguns, M16 rifles, and Light Antitan k Weapons (LAW). At the completion of each exercise, the training area will be cleared of fired munitions by the troops involved in the exercises and by the Brigade's Explosive Ordnance Detachment. Every possible effort will- be made to' leave the area as clean as it was before the exercises. In addition Military Police and Panama National Guard patrols will be on hand to keep'unauthorized personnel out of thetraininc area.

!r. Feb. 14, 1979 Irninistration and mess. , AI though a rear element, the ains. must dig in and be prepared o -defend itself if under hostile track. Being a fixed element and ighly subject to attack because of lis they cannot move to gain fire operiority as can their forward lement. Before night falls, the rear lements were set up, camouflaged, nd dug in with the help of the il'8th Engineer Company. With light rapidly advancing: .the line inits deployed into defensive ier imeters after a hard day' of noving.

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The halt isa welcome relief. Taking advantage of this, most ,f the men too k ti me out to pull. xeventive' maintenance and cho;' lown on some CRations. Once all. inal adjustments to the perimeter '" 'l(8re made to' achieve maximum :ecurity, the men were allowed to _ 'est. In most casesabout 50 percent' Nere allowed to rest ata time. Security is very strict during the lours of darkness. Being immobile, :he enemy knows this is the time IOU are most vulnerable. Before jaylight the next morning, the.mits packed up and are ready to moveagain. 'Day 2. Put Bravo Company in the thick of things, with the notification of movement to .$he front. From its observation post, " Bravo grouped to fight off an attack from the opposing force~: with the use of support elements f.r o m the 4th 'Baltalron tMechanized), 20th I n fantrv. Infantry. Also attacked were 106s from its own CSC. ' ..'-' .'.,' Bravo overcame the attack with .. 'very few casualties and regrouped " for an attack of its own. Catching .the opposing forces off guard with its ground troops and making the opposing forces withdraw, Bravo was-locked in combat most of the day.

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POW~.9.!:. Di'vid_'Pa~ry (I) and Sp4 'pi,,!1 Rinker, 549th MP,co guard an 'unruly prisoner of > war at the Briga_de, PO'{\' _Com~und. The 549th's 1st and 2d platoons Jbuiit' the compound consisting of three holding areas in a day. (U.S. ARMY PHOTO bySpST.R.WellerJr,PAO) " con'tac'ts 'With the OP'E:OR throughout the day. They seized their objective with minimum casual ttes. and prepared for a counter attack. No counter-attack came from the opposing forces. Charlie then resupplied and had evening chow which was the onfv "';"'t chow for the dav, Charlie then moved back into a defensive position, to wait for information on .the opposing forces and to , mount a night attack. Moving out on the night attack, Charlie encountered 'the opposing for c e within' '2,000 meters .. .> Ch~rlie grouped with 3 platoons to overcome the enemy's position. Capturin.g various weapons, personnel. and equipment, Charlie then secured the objective for' the .counter-attack. which never Came.' A Co, 4th Bn (M), 20th Inf, from Fort Clayton provided strength, mobility, and fire power to various elemenis a! 410, mounti.~ghigh.speed attacks, an'9 ~~ hasty withdrawals, over all enabling' . '. these -e lernents the capacitv to _move, shoot and communicate. Mad Dog Alpha had the honors 'of being' the opposition force for the 'ARTEP with elements of 4,20. Throughout the ARTEP Alpha would hit, move, and hit again to' give the realis;,. of being the enemy. They gave outstanding support to benefit.all elements of 4IOand ga~e t 86m, the feel of 'a conventional warfare environment. . .', . Day 3 put all companies on _ patrol s. '[1 I Fs, offensive a.n.d -defensive status with the o p p o siti on forces.and t he ir counterpart the 4-20 rnountinq a high speed attack on the main body and supporting elements of 4:10.. . 'Day 4 was a live fire operation with Band C Company 4-10 and A Company 4-20 in company assault. Then ..the 'battalion went into a defensive position and conducted a night-live fire exercise. . Day 5 brought on redeployment. Flexibility and mobility are one of the keys to a successful unit. The 4th Battalion, 10th Infantry metthe challenge and accomplished its inission with the skill and' professionalism that makes it "Above the Rest."

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.Captured elements of the opposing force were evacuated to the rear as well as Bravo's own wounded. After reconning and finding the opposing force Bravo' regrouped for chow and to resupplv with much needed items .sach as ammo and water. Bravo prepared for a night. attack on the opposing force's defense position. Chari ie Company was also pulling reconnaisance in force rnissjons (RIFs), making several

ALWAYS LOOKING FORWARD-5p4 Pedro Ortiz, Scout Pit, csc. 4-IOth Inf scans the terrain ahead of "Bravo" Company, 4-IOth as the company prepared to move forward on DDay (U.S. ARMY PHOTO by Sp4Johnny Beatty, PAO). '

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Bayonet Banner, Feb. 14,1979

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534thMps:a/so,h[JveARTEP
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by Sp5 SteveSotcan information concerninqtraffic and OPFOR, .a fire resulted 'from an It's zero thirty and the road, conditions Observing and errantly thrown simulator. company area 'of .the 534tti logging possible ambush sites, Dry brush in the area caught Mi I i tarv . .Po I ice Ccmpanv location and size of 'bridges, fire from the, "explosion" and the (STRAF)is busv, with activity, A conditions' and widths of battle quickly became' between short while ago the company waS roadways, in order to determine man and fire, Everyone in the area put on alert in conjunction with the type of. traffic which can use .desperatelv went to work' to their ARTEP,' them- is a- major part' of this' contain the fire and withlnhatf an Two hours' after .the alert operation, " , hour 'everyt-'iing was under notificati~n an advance party'. ls Another'big role played by the control, .~ headinqfor Empire 'Bangeand' the ." military, police -involves the vicinity of 'Camp Bayonet, the handling ofPOWs. This'area of BaseCamp for the 534th ARTEP, reponsibil ity 'includes.. the At 8:30 a.rn. hours the main establishment of an'EPW holding. body of the company, . area, The evaluators on' nand for commanded by -Capt. Robert this exercise observed the actual Wilhelm, clears post. and moves implementation of an EPW area, out for Empire Range" search of' POWs, tagging and A short time. later' over 100 'accountability of captured .personnel are .occupvinq the field equipment and' documents aml ,site 'ilia working to" set .' Lip' " besic handling of POWs: operations, _ During the ARTEP, the ,"Tagging along", since the start . evaluators put the' MPs. in ' a some five hours -before, are two . situation which envolved the evaluators who obse~e and physical security of fictitious evaluate the operations of the MP communications site, From this unit: point in' the' problem -the MPs' Some of the 'areas under went info action by 'pulling a evaluation 'include: c~nducting -recon of the site, establishinq-an t r a t t-Fc", r-ec o ISan,C8-, ',SOP, setting' up guar.q: t and, ./, ~t~o11smment,bf Prisoner ;,-.jnstructions for ,the'sa g ',co ,;;\of Wa"" EEPWj "'.and til"-~ y.,ith' putting ,foget a~ .~ planning'ankactual conducting' of reactionary force, . physical security operations. During the "plav".a real world Traffic recon is' a very / dilemma happened : which: got important job which entails everyone busy, Word had it that . "hitting the' road" to gather . while under attack from the,
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. Alter completion Of 'the evaluation at Empire' R~nge" the 534th went to' work (still under evaluation) as they' deploved to assistthe brigade at R'iq Hato. . During the Rio Hato mission, the 534th worked jointly with the Guardia Nacional, as' well as' providing combat .support. to the, '1--20th. "
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REAL WORLD 'ACTION ...Members of the 534th MP,Company'f;ght , a fire believedto have been causedf!om an ~rtillery'simulato~; during theirARTEP. (PHOTO by'PFC Lawrence Beck, TASC) .

GUN JEE~ CREW..:'Sp4 ~i;;;;"'1 A~ders~rc;'riv~rl."PF6Ja;:;'es Ti~I'in' '(gunner), and Sgt: Thurman,Farmer~ 53.4th,MP Company stand ready' with their gun jeep during the 534th ARTEP.(PHbTO by pFC l.awrence Beck, TASC) . wAS STAPP ;#c-" ~i(;n'r '~e:s;flE jELV wflliAl //ci,,~~-k.-~STAeEt</ . ..rlvAs" G~A,O/"vC.7/iE -,

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I was just a "Newbie" Pvt thrown into the middle of all of this. What a great experience. The above photos are of some of the 1st Plt. (Sgt Marvin L. Wade) My squad Ldr was Sgt Koenig. He went to the PMO shortly after we returned from the field.

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Bayonet Banner, Feb. 14,1979

13

LEA, Guardia National work we II",togeth er

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by Colin Hale "They're really working -well , toget h'er," is .how Capt. Joe Galloway, ofthe Law Enforcement' ,Agency (LEA). 'desc~itied the 39 . Panama National Gu~rd's'men' operating with the 534th Mp Company at Rio Hato. ' T he National Guardsmen. all, from the company bas ed at Chor rera, conduct joint. patrols with the MPs, mount joint guard. , wi th .the M Ps a t the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) and 'jointly guard the two road entrances to Rio Hate. . They also live in the same type of tents, eat at the same messhall at the 60lst Medical Cornpanv'and, in off-duty hours, play football and other tea-msports together. Galloway pointed out that most of tbe 534th MP Company did not spea k Spa n ish and few of the shade of a tree at Rio Hato. (U.S. ARMY PHOTO by SYMBOLIZING the joint effort, an MP jeep and a Nati onat Guardsmen knew any CoIu,.Hale, PAO) Panama National Guard patrol vehicle share the scant English:with the exception of the Guardsmen's commander, Sub Lt. They found their tents erected High<way,.about a quarter of a mile the 51.8th Engineer' Company: Tomas R. G~rcia: for them. "If we need 12men to put~' As a' result, much of the away, clustered am ong some trees thought this placed the Guardsmen up a tent, we get six MPs and six and hidden beneath camouflage ,at a disadvantage. communicating between the two nets. ' National Guardsmen -- all the . Accordingly, the 51 8th Engineer groups was by signs and sketches, , I nit i a llv, the National Guard ~workload is shared," Galloway 'but "my people are -picking LIP a , Company constructed a full-sized said,', L s,4;r" occupied a small field table in the little Spanish and it's getting easier MP desk of plywood and lumber In common with other units, the Operations Center while the MPs .. and 'del ivered it to, the Operations all the time," said Galloway. . 534th has a makeshift shower -;{ " had the use of two big tables. The LEA base at Rio Hato is the Center where it was snared equally truck, ,with three 50-ga.1lon dr.ums ~{ However, Capt. Michael ~. Lane.of closest to the ln.te r-Arnerican by the MPs and the National Guard. backed up to a bank,twopallets for' due b oa rds: a' spigot'~nd some<-'" Before the A RTEPstarted, only dn~ils for p'rivacy. I,: ~', ,'.,' )) the 1st Platoon was at Rio Hate. On. "We lose a little water when we ~ ,the eve of the ARTEP, the 2nd . Platoon, commanded by QLt, Paula change 'the spigot, but it beats ,~ fighti ng the dust to and from .the ~:; 'Barclay, arrived after 52 hours at shower point," Galloway~id, " Empire Range and on the road.

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SECOND Platoon commander 2Lt Paula Barclay (left) chats with (from left) Sgt Clarence Butler, Sub. Lt. Tomas R. Garda 'and S9t. Israel Coba. (U.S. ARMY PHOTO by Colin Hale, PAO) S #

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PANAMA National Guardsmen and' members of the 534th MP Company share the MP desk specially built for them by the 51Bth EniJineer Company. '(U.S. ARMY PHOTO by Colin Hale, PAO)

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The Public Affairs Office (PAO) were mostly Air Force Personnel. They consistently got names, rank, titles, etc wrong. 1LT Paula Barclay was 1st Plt Ldr. SFC Markowe was PSG.

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