European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 18, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday september 18,1977 the stars and stripes Page 23 roads give big assist to Forward controllers new air support concept lauded by Jim Coles ii staff writer Kassel Germany is air cover can make the difference Between life and death said capt. Pat Garvey air Liaison officer Alo to 3rd brigade 8th inf div As he discussed Romad a new approach to air support. Romad or radio operator maintainer and Driver said Garvey is the next Logi Cal step in providing air cover for the ground . Wayne Cobb a Romad team member said the fact Forward air controllers Are officers and Are trained to coordinate the air and ground forces but the enlisted men who were with them weren t really involved before. What we roads do is operate and maintain the radios for them. The radio and the vehicle Are the key to the whole he said that the roads now a new career Field have a big responsibility. We take care of the strike paperwork keep the jeep running the radios operational take care of the logistics and assist the fac in any Way Cobb a six year air Force Veteran said that the Job has its pros and cons. He said he does t much care for going to the Field and playing Grunt but i enjoy it Over All. It gives me a broader perspective and a broader insight into the Way the army does things. It s a lot different from us but we All work for the same the Romad teams Are taking part in operation Blue Fox a multinational exer Cise which is part of the autumn forge air controllers end slowdown in Spain Madrid up Spanish air control lers decided saturday to end their two Day old work to Rule slowdown strike and to reestablish Normal traffic As of Midnight. The action was called off after 16 representatives of the air controllers association met with transport minister Jose Llado and received formal assurances that the Cabinet will accept their demands in its next meeting the air controllers said. The controllers asked for pay hikes fringe benefits civil servant status and a beefing up of the Tower Crews. The slowdown strike Cut air traffic by 50 per cent and delayed thousands of Passen Gers at Spanish airports. More than 70 Spanish airlines flights were cancelled in the first 24 hours of the strike which started Friday. On saturday delays ranged from two to 11 hours. Series. Some 4,000 . Army personnel Are involved along with ground and air forces from Belgium and Germany and elements of Safe forces. In All More than 24,000 troops 10,000 wheeled and tracked vehicles and several Hundred aircraft will be committed at the height of the exercise. S. Sgt. Al Richards formerly a ground radio repairman said this Job has been a learning situation for me to see How the army works. I Don t care for this kind of work. I prefer electronics but there Are advantages. When i m in Garrison i have no details to do and life b a Little easier for me on an army Post. But i have mixed emotions about this roads thing. I volunteered for Germany and then was assigned to this Job about 10 months ago. Since then i be been to the Field at least once a month for up to a week at a time. That s not normally what people in the air Force do. One of the advantages to the Job is that we see All kinds of Beautiful places to visit once the exercise is Over but when we re in the Field it s dirty Garvey who is an f4 phantom Pilot said being on the ground has been a real experience. As a Pilot i know what the planes can do but being on the ground has Given me an insight into what the troops his opinion of the roads is they re indispensable. These Guys Are really dedicated to their jobs. Some of them Don t like the conditions they live in while in the Field but they go out and do a crucial Force capt. Keith Bennett fac for 1st in 2nd brigade 8th inf div said that the fact and roads provide a close air support system at All echelons Down to Bat Talion level. He said that if a unit needs an air strike the battalion level fac will pass the information along through the net to an area control Center where a priority is Given the request and the planes assigned to carry tout. Commandant a belgian rank Between capt. And maj Erik Sanders said that As far As he knows the . Is the Only nation that uses pilots As fact. We have nothing like roads to support our fact and our people Are army officers who receive Spe Cial he said he suspects that the reason most other nations use ground officers in this capacity is that there Aren t enough pilots to spare for the Job but that s Only a maj. Gen. Robert Tabary Deputy com Mander of the 1st belgian corps the Host unit for Blue Fox said air support is vital. We have certain commonalities within nato but each nation is a Little Dif Ferent in its procedures. One of our goals Here is to find out How Well we All work to Gether. We really have two exercises going on one on the ground and an air exercise. To Cut costs we re doubling up on the air crafts roles. They la perform their Rou tines and then take the assignments from various fact. Well see what Russ 5th generation missile threat Washington up intelligence sources say the soviets May be ready within three to four years to test highly powerful and accurate new missiles that might be Able to destroy . Missile silos in one devastating blow. They said the development of four new types of soviet missiles posing the threat of a so called first strike capability is one reason Why some military analysts believe the . Icbms Force will become vulnerable to destruction by the Early 1980s. The sources said that the russians have been working on their new fifth Genera Tion missiles for three or four years Al though few other details Are known. Based on past performance they said the new missiles should be ready for test flights in about the same length of time. The weapons Are intended to succeed current generation russian icbms Al ready rated first class in Power and accuracy. About 200 or More Are now in launch silos. One of them known As the ss18, has a warhead equal to the Force of 25 million tons of int and can carry it experts said to within 1,500 feet of a target at 5,000 Miles. Intelligence sources said the new mis Siles Are expected to be even More accurate. The United states is now in its third icbms generation with the minuteman Iii. The next missile generation the my is still in the research stage. It is hoped that this Mobile missile designed to move around in underground Railroad tunnels will offset the expected gains in soviet mis Sile accuracy. The Tunnel system would raise the Price of the my to More than $30 billion More than the by bomber program president Carter cancelled. Defense Secretary Harold Brown has slowed my research on grounds the Tunnel concept has not yet been proved valid. Test trenches will be dug next year. The my also would include accuracy improvements that could put it within 100 feet of a target at 6,000 Miles increasing . Capability to Knock out soviet missile silos. Military planners Hope to have it in opera Tion by the mid-1980s, but that depends on the Pace of development. A weapon theft claim labelled hoax by Usan St. Louis up would you like to buy an atomic weapon i be got one in my garage said the unidentified caller on a radio talk show. The air Force has labelled As a hoax the Man s claim that he and other Security officers at Whiteman air Force base walked off with a nuclear warhead not once but twice. The Man telephoned Jim White Host of a Syria reports 900 new cholera cases Damascus up Syria reported three More cholera deaths and some 900new cases saturday As Arab health authorities struggled to contain the outbreak of the disease in the Middle East before the trickle of moslem pilgrims to Mecca be comes a flood. Health minister Madani Al Shyami told up that the number of cases in Syria had risen to about 3,000, including 71 dead. The last official figures released by Syria came three Days ago and showed 2,105 stricken and 68 dead. Meanwhile 13 new victims in Jordan brought the count in that country to 337 and two More in Lebanon where 24 persons have been afflicted so far. The number of new cholera cases is de Clining and we Hope it will be completely eradicated from Syria within two weeks the minister said. But we will have to wait until the end of the pilgrimage season to Mecca to be cer Tain because we expect new cases Are pos sible due to the movement of people at Shyami also said that contrary to re ports published so far the epidemic did not originate in Syria but was brought in from other countries which he declined to name. Shyami Laid responsibility for the spread of the disease on other government departments which he did not name and said the health ministry was not at All to blame. He said the 71 deaths resulted from people arriving at the Hospital too late for proper treatment arid urged the Public to observe the Public and private Hygiene rules Laid Down by the health ministry. The minister said Syria cd decide against a vaccination program because the vaccine was Only 10 per cent effective Catholic executive Dies St. Louis a the Rev. John j. Flanagan former executive director of the Catholic Hospital association died of an apparent heart attack. He was 76. And that cholera cases were occurring at virtually the same rate among people who had been vaccinated As among those that had said a world health organization who team that visited the country had expressed satisfaction at the measures taken by Syria to counter the spread of the disease. The who delegation left Friday he , jordanian authorities car ried out daily inspections of restaurant Sand Public shops in their anti cholera Battle. There have been no deaths reported in Jordan but authorities were concerned because Many pilgrims to Mecca from Turkey Syria Iraq and other Northern Points in the Middle East traditionally pass through Jordan in route. A ban has been imposed on All fruit vegetables Dairy products and sweets from neighbouring countries and officials have forbidden pilgrims from entering Jordani an cities and villages setting up special Way stations on the desert pilgrimage route. Talk show on Knox and told him i m in the air Force. I m a Security guard. Five of us got together and we just took the Man gave specific details of the 20 megaton warhead and said he and his co Horts pulled the stunt to emphasize lax Security at the base located near Knob Noster in Western Missouri. He said the warhead was being returned at the same time As he was talking to White. The conversation was on the air for an hour and 15 minutes and continued off the air for another three hours. White fed by the air Force and the Fri asked the Man technical questions to determine if it was a prank Call. The Man was knowledgeable about the base and its storage facilities. It All started out As a Lark he told White. Where i work has a storage area. We store the Dummy warheads outside the building and they re painted a different color. All we did was take a Dummy and paint it the color of a real one and painted a real one the color of a Dummy. That night we carried it Force officials took a Quick count of the warheads at Whiteman and said none was missing. They also said none had been tampered with. By tracing the lengthy Telephone Call they located the caller in Illinois. Officials said the Man will not be charged but they refused to identify him. Young skier killed in mishap Zermatt Switzerland a a Young skier believed to be English was killed in a mishap on the theodul Glacier near Here. Another skier also believed English was badly injured and rushed to a Hospital by the air Zermatt Mountain Rescue service
