European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 22, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday March 22, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 runway repair unit solves the Hole problem by Paul Cozby Kaiserslautern Bureau Baum older Germany staff sgt. William Rodriguez stood knee deep in a churning mix of crushed Stone and Gray muck As his company worked feverishly to repair a swimming Pool size pothole. The hardest thing is to make sure it s level he said shouting above the Roar of Road graders and Cement trucks. The members of co a 293rd engr combat in were working on a Hill top runway far out on the Baumholzer tank Range. For five hours they fought the clock and a biting wind to fill the Hole first with a bed of crushed Stone then with a Cemen like mixture called Grout. The final stage included the critical leveling process Mak ing the runway smooth enough for air plane traffic. All across the runway members of the 293rd filled craters to demonstrate various methods of repairing bomb damaged airfields in wartime. While military observers from nato countries and the . Air Force looked on three massive craters slowly were transformed into usable Landing surfaces. In a combat situation army personnel need Only 18 to 24 hours to fill a Crater pour Cement or Asphalt and let the surface Harden said 1st it. Christopher Evans a civil Engineer with the 293rd. Rapid runway repair is a temporary measure that involves filling a Crater and laying a Metal mat Over it. That Job Falls to the air Force but the semipermanent repair is an army task Evans said. There would be several targets in rear areas hit first in a combat situation said it. Col. John Glass who directed the repair demonstration. Obviously air bases would be very important and if those glamorous fighting aircraft Are going to be a deterrent you have be Able to get them off the  the 18th engr brigade has experimented with Many ways of runway repair which the 293rd Field tests. Our battalion has been an integral part of devel Oping the Best answer for support of the air Force in Airfield damage repair Evans said. British Canadian German belgian and dutch Mili tary representatives attended the demonstration thurs Day both to see How . Forces operate and to Exchange information on Airfield damage repair. We tend to do More of the rapid runway repair with the Mats said it. Col. Ray Bradbury of Britain s 39th engineering regt. But the semipermanent we do is very similar. We do a lot of filling and  the actual method of repair used would vary in wartime with local supplies. Each method has advantages. But the question is what materials will be available said col. James f. Mccarthy he Safe assistant Deputy chief of staff for engineering. A Cement Plant is needed nearby when Concrete is poured he said. The hot mix requires Asphalt. But the Stone and Grout can be used with material available at any base. Regardless of the method the moment of truth comes at the end of the process for Rodriguez and his co workers. Once the surface hardens a steam roller tests the repair. You just Hope there Aren t any cracks he said. My. 111-1 j i i photos by Dick Hodgso what May look like a mud Bath to the Layman is the beginning of semipermanent runway repair in Baum older. An Engineer smooths the surface of a repaired Crater to make sure the runway is usable for advanced aircraft. Group helps German . Armies work together by Mike Heronemus staff writer Cologne Germany a Small group of . Army officers in Germany spends All its time trying to make German american team work on the Battlefield an easy reality. Our Mission said col. Fred Barthmus is to improve the interoperability of German and american  Barthmus is the . Army training and doctrine come s Liaison officer for combat development and doctrine As Well As Deputy to the senior Liaison officer col. Peter f. Dauber. Radoc Headquarters at fort Monroe va., has 16 Liaison officer jobs located with the German army service schools and the Heeres amt general army office in co Logne. The schools Range from the German armed forces staff College at Hamburg in the North to the nuclear biological and chemical school at sont Hofen in the South. The German army has Liaison officers at . Army service schools and Radoc Headquarters in the United states said it. Col. Wolfgang Dischert Public affairs offi cer for the general army office. Radoc Liaison officers also Are stationed in England Italy and France. Liaison officers teach classes at the Ger Man schools and arrange for equipment demonstrations and briefings. Barthmus said part of their Job is to encourage Allied use of the same equipment. Anytime you have the same equipment you have no problem with interoperability Barthmus said. You also save Money. For instance the germans Are buying the . Multiple launch rocket system also the Patriot air defense missile system the germans have been using the Hawk air defense missile system and the 155mm self propelled howitzer although their 155s have a different Breech Block Barthmus said. Even with the different Breech Block . Soldiers could take the place of a German howitzer squad with no problems he said. The latest example of interoperability is the m1a1 Abrams tank which has the German 120mm main gun. A key Point in interoperability is that your service is Able to use Allied nation consumables like ammunition spare parts and fuel Barthmus said. That is one reason diesel is becoming the Standard fuel he said. A major part of the Liaison officer s Job is to observe How the German army does things then to write technical reports or fact sheets. Those reports can be used by . Forces that will be fighting beside German army units. One report gives All the communications and electronics terms that would be needed for smoother operations Between German and . Forces. A fact Sheet gives the views of several German officers who saw the my Abrams demonstrated for the first time then were asked to compare it with the German Leopard ii tank. A recent report concerns How . Sol Diers transported the Leopard ii on their heavy equipment trailer and How the Ger mans did the same thing with their trailer and the my. The test showed we could move each other s tanks if we had to maj. Marc Howard said. Talks Between High level representatives of Radoc and German army counterparts take place once a year. Agendas include issues about How the two countries armies operate together and ways to improve cooperation in doctrine training armaments and logistics Barthmus said. Positive results that have come from those meetings include use of a three color Camou Flage pattern for vehicles Barthmus said. The pattern used now by . And German armies is a lot harder to detect and easier to put on. The paint scheme helps differentiate betwee Friend and foe he said. With both armies using the same pattern it is less Likely that a . Unit would fire on a German unit and vice versa Barthmus said. Another result of the meetings has been publication of logistics and medical hand books that explain How German and .units can work together