European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 28, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                August 1985 the stars and stripes Page 9 by Joseph been German Rifleman fires from 300 at staff sgt Kevin staff Martin Laplant and sgt Toney Fullard take a break in their revolutionary War gunfire sounds the same in six languages by Joseph Owen Stuttgart Bureau Germany at each crack of a the mountains of bavarian Wetterstein Range rang with a Brilliant Sun baked the producing a few flushed faces among the competitors at the seventh annual International minuteman the heat was Only a minor distraction from their passion for the group represented military Reserve units from nine speaking in at least six and the sound of gunfire was the common language that bound the held at the edelweiss Cavern Rifle Range for the third year in a was sponsored by army Reserve Europe schools in Frankfurt and it was organized to teach the shooting teams from the Reserve units to work together and with each nations after seven years of the marksmen often dont need to be one shooter said at least half the competitors who appeared this year have been involved in the event most of the men who keep coming Back Here come Back because they like to and because they want to better their old said Jean a 34year old belgian reservist who walked away with second place in the combined scoring of individual the contestants came from the the United kingdom and the United enlisted with the belgian Circle of Reserve said he is better acquainted with Many of them than he is with other belgian organizers of the event dont mind that a a lot of these and a lot of these have been Here said Donald spokesman for the 7th army training that part of the interoperability to Exchange ideas and get to know one Many participants compete against one another Sev eral times a year at other International he the United which has about former Active duty soldiers enlisted in fielded two teams in the one of which won third place in Overall team an air Force Reserve team also Germany sent 12 fireman teams and the other nations sent Between one and three teams competitors used m16a1 rifles on the Rifle shooting on foot from 100 kneeling from 200 meters and prone from 300 they also fired m1911a1 pistols from 25 meters on a sep Arate the event also included a mock combat during which teams used the american forces multiple integrated laser engagement system to gauge their shooting accuracy while firing Blanks at each other in the the device attaches to emitting a laser beam that trips an alarm on the in tended targets Chest equipment if the shot is on the final results of the shooting Competition were combined team performance first Belgium Netherlands team Rifle usage first team Netherlands usage second team pistol Belgium Denmark United combined individual performance 1st Gabor Netherlands Jean Belgium Floyd usage first individual Rifle Frank usage first team Paul Netherlands 1st individual pistol 1st Gabor Netherlands Sec Belgium Jean women Likely to be involved in any future combat Washington up army 4 Marian Anderson was waiting with three other women soldiers for the evacuation plane out of Point when the sniper fire it was evening on the fifth Day of the Grenada invasion Anderson had been Yelling at an Al male unit at the Airstrip to douse its lights for Security the units replies females were Cut Short when snipers proved Anderson and three other military policewomen everybody shut and we All hit the she for roughly two hours the four Lay prone As sniper rounds came Over the according to to hemp 4 Elizabeth Milli like the others a member of the 82nd airborne dive 118th military police the incident ended with the successful evacuation of the the Only women among the but it illustrates the Uncertain relationship Between women and combat in today like their Navy and air Force coun the army women soldiers cannot legally engage in but Many americans do not realize that women combat support roles and the nature of modern ground warfare make them Likely an upcoming army decision could place them even closer to the All servicewomen face some risk of encountering air Force women Fly refuelling and a acs intelligence air according to the women equity action these aircraft make logical targets for enemy women naval personnel sail on Hospital and repair congressional mandate bars per manent assignment of women fliers to air Force planes on combat women sail ors likewise cannot hold other than temporary positions on ships and aircraft expected to undertake combat the army has no such it tries to interpret the intent of looking at the other services exclusion rules when making its according to Constance Davis of the army office of the Deputy chief of staff of that translates to a policy barring Only Pri Mary combat the army defines such combat As engaging an enemy with individual or Crew served weapons while being exposed to direct enemy a High probability of direct physical combat with the enemy and a substantial risk of anything else however if returning enemy if women Are in a unit which is they will defend their and Are trained to do Davis the policy enables women soldiers to serve in units almost certain to come under fire in today fluid ground i think were kidding ourselves if we think that women Are not in a combat environment Given a says army Carol Barkalow codes army assignments for their Likely exposure to com Bat at the logistics assessment task fort this system of direct combat probability coding keeps women out of the tank Cannon Field Low level air defense units and attack helicopter Barkalow geared in part to Battlefield the system allows women soldiers into rear area Supply and operational support units deemed less dangerous than those at the front according to the army own air land Battle the War of the future at least in Europe would be every according to there is not going to be a definite front especially not very Early Davis a combat is going to take place All if there were a there would be women going Back and Forth All the time Over the she despite the Grenada evacuation decision later deemed incorrect by the com Mander of the 82nds xviii army corps if theres a Battle the women will stay to Complete their Barkalow experience As an officer with a Battery of air defense artillery in Ger Many showed her How vulnerable such operational support units could i was six to seven air minutes away from the East German she recalls of her three years at the Nike Hercules missile i was dead meat if War broke enlisted women find targets for Field Artil Lery and serve with Lance and Pershing mis Sile Davis based on an army re search Institute she estimates that roughly 19 percent of today enlisted women soldiers serve in such nontraditional occur woman occupied army positions most susceptible to according to Barka include the traditional one of As Well As the Les traditional Job of and nontraditional ones of tank me and truck women maps can also come in close proximity to As Anderson and Mil liken both since promoted to sergeant found on the army apparently expected in her pre Landing Anderson re Mem they told its real world those Are real bullets out besides the Airstrip Anderson narrowly missed driving into sniper fire on if not for a stalled she i  be Here telling you the Milliken guarded pos the same and the islands american embassy when she returned once she was sent along on a rat patrol to Check out sightings of cubans on the Hill opposite the although her squad encountered no in women now serve in support units army guidelines technically prevent them from according to an upcoming decision on whether to fully open these Forward support battalions could prompt other moves allowing women closer to she it May be a catalyst for future decisions of that within an army combat troops Are supplied by one main and three Forward support in a the army theoretically would put the Forward support battalions right behind the front in the main support battalions would stand in Back of the Forward support like combat Forward support battalions Are coded or most Likely to see women cannot join them Perma As they can main support across the roughly 17 percent of troops in the army 51 Forward support battalions Are Barkalow those women served in an earlier version of the Forward battalions which is being phased she they have moved with their old jobs into the new Forward support battalions and stayed there on permanent once they their positions will be filled by