European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 15, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday. December 15. 1985 the stars and stripes Page 9 left up. 4 Frank mar jul adjusts his protective mask. Right chief warrant officer Oscar 1. Longshore glances at map held by chief warrant officer Christian 1. Borth. Copter pilots try to get a handle on a Opp by Tony Nauroth Nuernberg Bureau or.  studied the landscape through the warped plastic face plate of his protective mask As he steered his us in Hucy Heli copter through the Long twisting Gorge formed by the pics Cut River. He was dressed at the highest level of Protection against chemical warfare. The army Calls it Mopp-4 Mission operational protective posture level four. Working in the outfit is like wearing a combination straitjacket and sweatsuit. Or. Of. Chief warrant officer Oscar j. Longshore and his Crew must Fly at Mopp-4 once a year. The Crew from act a co a 501st combat aviation in it Mon with Barracks in Furth usually ferries is army div vips and their guests. While pretending to Fly through Chemi Cal warfare the co Pilot remains unmasked at Mopp-3. He s Gol his eyes wide  would t do it during combat said chief warrant officer Christian d. Berth the co Pilot. But for training it s a safety requirement. You get a lot of Tunnel vision it s hard to breath and your mask fops up. You have trouble with Sim ple  the training Mission required the Hucy and Lwooh-5k observation helicopters to Fly North land wait Long enough fur the Pilot and co Pilot to Trade Opp Levels then Fly to a decontamination station in the Tinnen Lohe training area North of Nuernberg where the Birds were to be scrubbed. Capt. Philip j. Dermer detachment commander was commanding another of his unit s unusual training missions when he got the idea for the Decon Experiment. The helicopters had just swooped in on a unit and finished dropping water balloons to simulate an air attack. "1 saw the Diccon unit at the end of the runway and just started wondering How we would decontaminate our aircraft he said. Dermer said army manuals Don t explain How to decontaminate a helicopter although some professional military aviation journals have information on decontamination procedures. Working with the 1st army div s 69ih chemical co staff Dermer Drew up a plan tested it and had soldiers trained in chemical defense inspect the aircraft to fat Ilisari a themselves with it. The whole operation took weeks to plan to make sure the Diccon soldiers arrived at the scene with the right equipment remained hidden and rushed out onto the Landing one As the copters came in. The first full scale test occurred last week. Opt. Edward Swanda 69ih chemical co operations officer said much of a chemical agent can be removed just by flying through clean air but aircraft Are just As vulnerable As ground units and must be  Swanda s 2nd platoon used Plain soap and water in the exercise because the chemical used to decontaminate ground vehicles removes the special paint used on aircraft. We would Fly Home in Silver Birds Dermer said of the corrosive effect of the chemical. A 1st army div spokesman said the army is working on a paint which will resist the corrosion. During the exercise As the helicopters hovered through the experimental car Wash gremlins struck a water pump and it died. The pump was part of the apparatus Sel up at the second of to spraying Points of the Decon station. Swanda said the original plan called for using the heating capability of a 2a n Decon truck to warm the water then pump it through a separate system adapted to fit German firefighting High pressure Hose no/.7lcs that help overcome the downdrafts of the helicopter rotors. But when the Crew turned on the pump Only a momentary half hearted spurt trickled out. After trying for five minutes to fix the pump Swanda hustled his unit into plan. They stripped the camouflage netting off the truck pulled it up next to the Heli copter and using the truck s less powerful system got the Job done. It was a hectic few moments following the breakdown and some time was lost Bui the soldiers knew How to improvise. This kind of thing could happen in War just As easily As it can during  Swanda said. We just have to be ready for  is photo by Tony Neuroth 69th chemical co no us penises two members of Bis unit wishing Down a contaminated helicopter during simulated chemical warfare exercise