European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 02, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday september 2, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 9 computer speeds artillery response by Tony Nal rot ii Nurnberg Burrau firm in artillerymen in Usa eur can now bring their big guns to Bear on an ene by in 30 seconds with a computerized system rather than the hour it often look under the old system. As of aug. I 2. Every army artilly unit in Europe became automated with the tactical lire direction or to fire computer system. Each level of artillery command ii computerized. A Soldier at the front can enter a request for artillery support into a Lap sized module and within .10 seconds can watch the fireworks. Wok Vonjj Msj. Jack Congrove an operations officer from the 210th Field arty Bri Gade at Herzo artillery base North of Nuernberg where artillerymen from throughout Germany just finished a we Klong test of the system said it could take up to an hour or More fur the big guns to respond to such a re quest using the manual system which required people to talk and perform calculations at every level the request went through. This resulted in human error said maj. Lawrence Cerruti assistant operations officer for Vii corps arty based in Augsburg. Cerruti was project officer for the corps level exercise. With tac fire fire support soldiers known As fist teams travel with front line units and use a Lunchbox sic digital message device did to Call in fire support Over radio or land lines. The message is scrambled and sent in three la five second bursts which officials say arc impossible or at least highly impractical to Jam or Monitor. Though the system is completely computerized Cerruti said tac fire opera tors can perform More than 90 percent of the maintenance required on the system and a toss of part of the system would t mean disaster to a commander. The information is mutually linked to other units which keep Mirror image files he said. The most a would lose would be 15 to 20 minutes of Cerruti said that in a test where the fastest manual team at the artillery school at fort Sill okla., went up against tac fire the scores were s45 photo by Tony Nauroth spec. 4s James Proietto and Fril Larson of the 72nd Reid arty brigade from War theirn work on a fire plan using the tac fire control console. Even for inc first five missions but inc manual learn could t keep up with a system that knows no exhaustion. To to Soldier in combat tins Means thai his request Tor artillery can be answered faster yid Hal the fire direction control Center can handle More missions and inflict greater damage i the Chenu. The Susiem also makes possible vast improvements in ladies i Miler the manna s\s.icm. An Artil Lery Batter was positioned with am its guns close together Ami pointed in the same direction. Nou the guns can be dispersed More because the Battery level computer can make individual adjustments to each Pun. But there Are disadvantages said Cerruti. The system is totally communications dependent and it is almost too Complex. An operator has so much available information at his fingertips that he might be concentrating on one thing when he should be looking at something else Cerruti said. A spec four can do the same thing with tact it. That it used to take a roomful of captains to Cerruti said. The computer might say one thing and there May be a tendency for an operator to say. That must be right the computer says so hut an experienced artillerymen might say wait a minute that can t be right " skills highly perishable operators must be highly trained and their skills Are highly perishable Congrove said which Means they must train As much and often As they can. One of the purposes of this exercise was to sniff out glitches in the software program. According to maj. Steve Chakkou. Chief of the 3rd inf div arty fire support Clement some problems were found in the program. We know we have problems Congrove said but t Carrh is still a tremendous advantage Over the manual Sec Janes Rose of the 72nd Field Vly Ujj Rigac has trained several new units on tack if. He cites the sol Diers uncertainty of the system As being a minor problem something that capt. Mark Fuller also of the 72nd. Said disappears As soon As soldiers get out to knife Woehr for live fire. Record number of americans travelled this summer new York not despite concern Over air safety americans took to the skies in record numbers this summer bombarding european and Domestic tourist destinations at a rate of More than a million passengers a Day. . Air carriers aided by the Dollar s Strong purchasing Power overseas reported their busiest months Ever. Trans world airlines the focus of a 17-Day hijacking drama in june even recorded an 11 percent jump in traffic in july Over the same month last year. The Strong showing reflected the actions of travellers such As Steven Sonnabend president of the Sonc Sta Beach hotel on key Biscayne. Fla., near Miami. He and a Friend had planned to Fly to Greece Israel and Egypt. We had some concerns after the hijacking about flying into the area he said so we went to Spain and France travel by automobile also Rose. The . Travel data Center an Industry research group predicted that nearly half of All americans would have taken at least one round trip of More than 100 Miles by the Lime labor Day rang Down the traditional curtain on the 1985 vacation season. The Holiday weekend was expected to find nearly 32 million americans on the move 28 million of them in their own cars and trucks a 5 percent increase Over last year according to the american automobile association. The expensive Dollar however scared off Many canadians and other foreigners and a recent flurry of resort construction stiffened Competition for tourist business in some areas of the country. In addition lingering worries Over the Middle Bast hijacking and a series of air crashes did Manifest themselves in some trip cancellations or changes particularly involving Greece where the Twa hijacking began. But even the greek tourism authorities forecast a 10 percent increase in american visitors this August Over a year ago. According to the air transport association which rep resents . Airlines Domestic air traffic was up nearly 17 percent and International traffic More than 15 percent this july Over the same month last year. August was expected to match the Pace according to spokesman William Jackman. He called the two summer months the busiest in airline history As measured by the total number of Miles that Pas sengers travelled. Figures collected by the government he Saiu. Also showed that the american carriers for the first time exceeded a million passengers a Day this summer. The european travel commission an association of West european countries said this Calendar year would produce a record of 6.4 million americans travelling to Europe. The figure represents a 12 percent increase Over 1984. The entire world this year has been a bargain because of the strength of the american Dollar said Lee Harmon marketing director of a Alterson travel in Sacramento. Calif. But the same economics thai delighted american trav Elers abroad dismayed their foreign counter parts. Along the Maine coast for example innkeepers restau rant owners and antique dealers spoke ruefully of the canadians who stayed Home this summer rather than pay si.35 or so in Canadian currency for is in . Currency. Two Otta wans who did Brave the unfavourable Exchange rates and drove to Ogunquit Maine last week were an Gela Kramer a librarian and her Friend James Irwin a stereo Salesman. On the plus Side Irwin said gasoline is cheaper and better giving him 30 percent More Miles to the gallon. According to inc american Aulo Mobil association gasoline prices this summer were generally is Abl and averaged just under $1.27 a gallon for regular gasoline and $1.47 for Premium unleaded. Among he attractions said to have been hard Hil by a decline of Canadian travellers was Glacier National Park in Montana where visits were Down Aboul 15 percent this july and August compared to last year. Even West germans Long among Europe s staunchest and Best financed travellers have been intimidated by the Strong Dollar. About 200 cancelled five Tours they had booked for soul Horn Utah. The Swiss Loo. Were feeling the Pinch. Elianic Muller a Bank cashier and Katharina Konig a denial assistant both of we Simmen Switzerland found the franc does Noi buy what in used to. Halfway through a five month driving tour of the United Stales and Canada they have taken to sleeping in i hair camper bus. Travel operators in widely scattered parts of the country spoke of increased Competition from rapidly sprouting tourist facilities. In Ogunquit new Motel and hotel construction along us. Route i has nearly doubled the num Ber of available rooms to 2.500 in the list three cars according to the City s chamber of c Miner be. Still said Elizabeth Lambert of the Ogunquit tourist information office it s like a tidal wave of people Here you can t find a room for the
