European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 03, 1969, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday february 3, 1969 the stars and stripes Page 7 Seneff air mobility is Here to stay Grafen Wohr Germany a american sky cavalry men whirling above this tank Man Euver area say they firmly believe the air mobility concept they Battle tested in Vietnam has a place in european used saturday a Demon stration of a helicopter borne As Sault by a battalion of infantry Complete with artillery to Illus trate their Point. Their commander is maj. p. Seneff jr., 53, of Chi Cago a Stern looking office whose fiery belief in the army s air mobility program rubs off on his men. First aviation brigade Seneff formed the first army aviation brigade and command edit for two years in Vietnam. It was that sex Orience that anchored his Confidence in helicopter operations As a major component of future Battle order. And it was their Vietnam Fly ing that leads the pilots Assem bled Here by Seneff to say flatly air mobility is Here to despite losing More than 1,000helicopters to enemy ground fire in Vietnam the helicopter has emerged As the indispensable horse in that Jungle and Rice Paddy War. But critics in and out of the army As Seneff put it in an interview question whether what was developed in Vietnam will work in a sophisticated theater of operations such As Europe in any future Seneff there is no doubt that the answer is yes. He cite these reasons Why formations of helicopter carrying troops and their equip ment would Fly at tree top level and i mean right on top of the Trees enemy jets Wouldhave a difficult time making a pass at them at that would be careful plan Ning of approach routes Over difficult terrain the helicopter can go dispersion would be by twos and threes All Over the damned Countryside with larger formations assembling when the Mission is ready to go. The helicopters can carry their own fuel with them in 500 gallon rubber bags which we redeveloped in Vietnam. At Grafe Woehr site of theman Euver Carbide ice very close to soviet occupied Czecho Slovakia Seneff assembled some 100 helicopters for his air mobility demonstration. Included Are various types of troop carriers so called flying cranes capable of hauling even Light armoured vehicles Slung be Low them and some of the new Huey cobras. The cobra is the first Helicop-1 Ter designed As a gunship and j if you can love a Snake the american pilots love this air Craft. It is mounted with automatic guns and multiple rocket launch ers that look like Catling guns. It has a 36-Inch-wide nose when coming straight at an ene my. Defiantly declared one major you try to hit a target clearly professional enthusiasm Marks the comments of the men who Fly these Craft an who believe in the future of helicopter Type operations on the Battlefield. But As one of Seneff s operations officers conceded you can argue this thing All Day. It Slike and looming Large in the argument among the professionals is what will happen when an ene my shows up with armed Heli copters of his sees the helicopter As Sault concept he pioneered shaving two primary missions hit and run behind enemy Lin Sand Landing troops for linkup marking targets with 2.75mm smoke rockets is the ov10a Bronco airborne Forward controller. With other for the behind the lines idea he says he believes that no future War will have drawn lines such As those in world War ii in Europe and that the fronts will be More flexible More poor european weather the general emphasized also is no obstacle. In Vietnam he said the Monsoon Rains Kep the choppers on the ground too. He said that last year As 3rdinf div cd in Germany he kept a log and found that Only on 10days of the year was it impossible for me to it where wanted to go by Many changes much of what has been Learned and developed in Vietnam. Sen eff admitted would have to be could not Fly at 1,500-2,000 i feet like we do there. It would be suicide Here. At that Altitude an enemy fighter would knocks Over like fish in a i and in Europe helicopters. Could not operate out of fixed bases As they do in Vietnam. In any Case Seneff conceded there would be greater losses when army air mobility came up j against an enemy that also Hasi Ujj r e a t antiaircraft capability with an air Force of his own and helicopters of his own. The enemy in Vietnam has none of these things. Seneff s Gung to pilots How Ever Are Quick to add that if they will take bigger losses against a better equipped enemy so would the tanks the infantry and everybody Strauss praises air cavalry assault fax Vilseck Germany up the United states showed off its Vietnam developed air cavalry assault techniques in a live fire demonstration saturday t h a t West German expert said Points the Way to european military re form. Former defense minister Franz Josef Strauss the ranking West German official among 2,000north Atlantic Alliance observers and others viewing the operation Pegasus demonstration said mass helicopter tactics May make it possible for european countries to scrap Large standing armies in favor of Small regular forces backed by reserves. We have seen that the Ameri cans Are no longer fighting with the weapons and tactics of thelast War Strauss told newsmen after the demonstration at a i 1 s e c k training area Only 25 Miles from the czechoslovak Frontier. Expanding on the implications of operation Pegasus for euro Pean defense Strauss said West Germany could not afford to equip its entire 12-division army with the weapons demonstrated. But what we have seen Doe Point the Way to Reform of our services. We could develop fully Mobile army of Small size having what you americans Cal sophisticated equipment and lots of firepower backed up by Large territorial although now the finance min ister Strauss who supervised West German rearmament in the1950s, is still considered one of the country s leading spokesmen on defense affairs. Sitting beside Strauss for the show and apparently equally impressed were nato Secre tary general Maulio Brosio of Italy and Gen. Lyman l. Lent Nitzer supreme Allied com Mander in Europe plus a doze More four Star generals from the United states and Allied coun tries. Lemnitzer backed up Strauss View saying that air mobility has provided us wit new reinforcement capability for the 200,000 . Troops in Europe. More than 90 american an West German gunship and troop carrying helicopters backed . Air Force phantom Jet interceptors howitzers and a Mored infantry demonstrated How to seize and expand abridge head behind enemy lines. We have taken the infantry Man off the ground lifted him a few feet into the air and Given him great Speed said maj. Gen. George p. Seneff former army helicopter commander in Viet Nam who ran the , he conceded that if such tactics Are to work air superiority Over the projected land ing area is have the right to expect the air Force to keep enemy fighters off our backs Over a 20 mile area at a Given time for our assaults he asserted. If we Ever get into a situation where this cannot be done we will be losing the War operation Pegasus climaxed Aman Euver that began three weeks ago with the Airlift of 12,-000 troops from fort Riley kan., 3,500 .-based airmen and 96phantom jets for War games. It came during a pause in the Carbide ice War games. By the associated pressing a question and answer ses Sion with newsmen after the exercise Strauss made these re Marks q. What did you think of the air mobility display a. As you know i was for six years the defense minister of Germany and the last time i was Here in Grafe Woehr watched operation Winter shield. Due to the invitation of the .army, i was Able today to watch the Progress Between 1961 andi96, and the changes so far As technique and tactics Are concerned it was More than inter Esting. I think a very realistic concept has been demonstrated Here a concept that was developed in Vietnam. Q. Are the tactics you saw Here applicable to a european conflict a. The Overall aim of our at lactic Alliance and of our com Mon defense Effort is and must be in the future the determination to prevent any kind of War. Therefore any aggression Mustbe deterred and a potential aggressor must be fully aware that an aggression against any nato country is a suicidal risk. Now number two the problem of a local conflict the demonstration Here has proven that the co operation of the american an German armed forces in the framework of nato makes limited aggression hopeless. Q. What do you think of the dual based concept a. We want a Strong american physical presence Here. On the other hand we know that Amer Ica is suffering from an Over commitment around the world. Therefore it has always Bee my conviction that we europeans should do More in the Field of defense and that we should take More responsibility and a greater share of the Burden. On that basis i think the american shave enough flexibility and mobility to defend us when we europeans Are ready and pre pared to do More than we have been doing in the last few years. Q. Have you heard much propaganda from the Eastern bloc nations concerning operation reformer a. I have heard something about this but i Don t care Forit. There Are Many Maneu vers in East Germany Czechoslovakia and Hungary. We watch them and we Don t interfere. And we should not be concerned about such . Is operation reformer More politically or militarily inspired a. Before the 21st of August i would say militarily. But now Isay both aspects Are important. The invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia by soviet bloc forces began aug. 21. We have taken the infantryman off the ground lifted him a few feet into the air and Given him great Speed. 19 million americans suffer mental sickness editor s note t h i s i another in a series of articles outlining the purposes and pro Grams of those associations 22 in All which have combined this year in an America wide Appeal for Public support of the common welfare. The combined Federal Campaign willbe conducted overseas from feb. 15 through March 31. National association for mental health there Are Many different kinds of mental illness some mild some sever some originating from physical causes and some entirely due to mental to the statistics of the National association Formental health at least 19 million americans one in every 10 suffer from some mental or emotional disorder. The total cur rent expenditure for treatment of mental illness in the United states has now reached the unprecedented sum of $2.376,927,000. But there is a brighter Side tothe Story. Gone Are the cruel Days of an ignorant society which kept the mentally sick chained like mad animals or treated the like criminals. Today millions of them Are treated in Hospital Sand clinics or by psychiatrists. A Bah m. I and restored to emphasis is placed today by the Namh upon it work with children the Early detection of mental illness an treatment that May provide the boy or girl with life Long immunity against Extension of the illness or even its recurrence. The association Points out that although great strides have been made in the past few years an the Snake pits of past decades have nearly disappeared therein still a crying need for expanded facilities larger numbers of trained personnel and better equipment for the daily care of patients. And a final outstanding state ment made by the Namh reflects Progress that can not be challenged when prompt and adequate treatment is provided at least seven out of 10 mental patients can leave the Hospital partially or totally
