European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes saturday. December 21. 1985 Story and photos by Tony Nauroth Nuernberg Bureau ital i swot air. Germany the thin Rusty Cyl Low Viup dripped from every fold of his uniform. His m l i Rifle  .1 thick plug of mud Mcd in its barrel and a Stream of blood dripped Down the length of his Middle Finger am Goth Rcd in a to i on inc floor of inc armorial personnel earlier. Sgt Douglas Probasco s wound did t seem to Bolher him. And despite his Laboured breathing a smoking  re Etc dangled from Between his Index Finger and the bloodied one. His other hand was wrapped around his Rifle and a wide heavy Silver and Gold ring glinted in the spots where it was not caked with mud. He was just one of thousands of huh inf div soldiers training at Grafin Wocher before the training area shuts dim n fur the c  .  s breath came in Short huffs. He was half Way through .1 grueling platoon  Drill at Range 201 a  after Days of rain thai turned Gra Fen Woehr dust into Irac Woehr mud. Soldiers arc familiar with the phenomenon and stand in Awe of its tendency to Siphon their Energy right out through their muscled legs i he course required soldiers to Man Euver w ill their tracks through a wooded area and then across 3 wide Inu Ildy Plain to the objective they were using live ammunition the track lulled along the Range throwing its infantry squad Holt or St lick. Des Filic the rough treatment. Probasco declined to use one of the Jesus straps loops attached to the ceiling for maintaining a secure grip while under was. Probasco is a dismount team Leader serving with co b. -4th in 8th inf out of Mannheim. His Job is to Rush out of the track and secure the area then move his troops Forward on fool to take the objective a Well defended Hill. Staff sgt. Fidel Quill pc or. Is Probasco s squad Leader. He stands on a five gallon can so he can stick his head up out of the top Hatch for a Clear View of the Range. The mud soup drips Down h s rain suit Over his boots and Down the sides of the can. These Guys Call the rain suit "wopp-4," a Takeoff of of p-4 an official army acronym for the High est level of Protection against chemical warfare Unis Sion Orion cd protective posture level four. Voi p-4 wet oriented protective posture. The objective is sighted. Go shouts Quill pc  the rear Hatch opens and Probasco s troops follow him into the muck where the syphon starts ils awful dram on their Energy. So bronc yells rash my they slip their Mucky lingers into Tho. Protective mask earners rip the masks out and Don them within the allotted 15 seconds. No the breathing gels Cien harder Ami the slurping sound of the mask s valves adds a sound Irack to the syphon pumping under their feet. Second platoon Leader 1st Sieve Var com his i Soli spot in his heart for Junior leaders such As Juil Lope and Probasco. He used to be one when he w in an enlisted Soldier. He said he knows How to Challenge them and he does. The squad Leader is the most important Leader in inc army he said. I m not just saying that la i a last. He has direct control Over More people than any Leader at any other level of the  Vav Rynn acknowledged that his soldiers had problem sin the course. We needed to work on coordination and maintain ing steady fire. That worked out better today than it did when we were Here last june. But there Are other areas we have to concentrate on. This was t to show our expertise Wrynn said. It was to identify and work on problem areas. We can put on it show any time. Today we needed to into sgt. John Mathis track commander wait Ito Etc 1_ i a i .