European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 25, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday March 25, 1986 the stars and stripes if if if Page 9 video gunners take on imaginary enemy by Mike Heronemus staff writer Ottendorf Germany Metal boxes big enough to sit in. Video screen displays and Turret controls that put gunners and commanders into a mock Battle. An imaginary enemy that can shoot Back and kill at least electronically. The simulators Are unit conduct of fire trainers a Cost which Are used to keep Usa eur tankers mechanized infantrymen and cavalrymen skilled in their jobs to spot and kill the enemy. Twenty five a costs Are now in use in Usa eur and 46 will be in operation by the end of october said David f. Osborn regional manager for general electric the company that builds supplies tests and repairs the computerized trainers. Additional deliveries Are scheduled to Usa eur units through fiscal 1989, he said. About 70 of the 270 a costs being supplied to the army will end up in Usa eur with battalions with the my Abrams or m60a3 tanks and m2 or m3 Bradley Osborn said. The Cost to the army for the 270 a costs including training programs for soldiers who will be instructor oper efe Cyronics rules Utoft world by Chris Estes staff writer Grafe Woehr Germany the Utoft world is a Green video game Battlefield dotted with farmhouses barns and enemy troops and equipment. Sound effects Are provided through headphones. Amp 3 o clock right someone screams behind you pointing out the soviet armoured personnel Carrier. Squeeze the Palm grips turn the Turret right Arm the25mm Chain gun. A Little lower the commander advises looking through his Periscope. You push Forward on the stick. There it is coming from behind a barn. On the scope you see the yellow Dot use the stick to move the Dot onto the amp. The russian is moving Lead him a Little. You re on pm the commander says softly.  red trigger. You hear the gun shoot you see a red Dot Streak out and hit the amp. It takes five shots to kill a amp the commander says. Squeeze again. Four rapid shots. Four red dots. The amp is hit engulfed in flame for a second. Destroyed. The Brown burned Hull of the soviet Personne Carrier sits there. You got pm the commander says Hind a to the left Calls the voice from behind. You spin the Turret left raising it in search of the soviet helicopter. Align the sight. Three Quick shots. One downed chop per. Actors is about $600 million. Instructor operators Are trained to conduct Utoft training at the unit level. General electric hires former tankers to give the initial training because they can relate to the terminology and what it s like to be a Crew member Osborn said. Each battalion with a Utoft can schedule up to 2,600 hours of training each year. If a few units continue to train As heavily As they Are now they will use More than 2,600 hours Osborn said. But he does t think Many will keep training As much once the push to get ready for live fire gunnery at Grafe Woehr ends. February training was intense according to Osborn s figures. In Bundlach 3rd so Lith Cav used its Utoft 493 hours. The average use for 25 a costs was 243 hours last month nearly 61 hours a week. The Utoft gives Turret commanders and gunners an Opportunity to improve their skills without being on the Range. But it is not designed to replace live fire training or even to prepare soldiers for gunnery qualification Osborn said. Many commanders Are using it just to prepare for Range firing he said. We be even had some requests to develop scenarios which would duplicate a specific  with the varied and Complex Battlefield scenarios the video screen can display tankers and Bradley Crews can face enemy situations they could never get on a training Range Osborn said. Situations can change from a one on pne meeting with a stationary target to moving while fir ing at several moving targets. The enemy can fire Back too. If he scores a hit everything goes Black As death. Besides the unit costs general electric is beginning to produce Mobile costs mounted in trailers so they can be pulled from one National guard unit to another. The ultimate would be a platoon Cost Osborn said. That would allow a platoon Leader to direct several vehicles and each Turret commander would be Able to see the vehicles beside him. We re also working to integrate the Driver and loader into the costs Osborn said. Now Only the Turret com Mander and gunner can train in the simulator. It s just the beginning Osborn said. With the improvements we can make As technology develops. Companies can fight companies. The scenario is As wide As your  viewed through the scoffs sights an enemy helicopter is caught in the White Cross hairs. S8.s photo by Tony Nauroth Pupil bus monitors take charge for a safer ride by Connie Dickey staff writer Gellhausen Germany George Edwards does it because he finds it fun. Lloyd Fellers does it because he wants to help his school. Tiffini Griffin does it be cause she wants her bus to be a Winner. Tracey Aeron does it because she wants to see if she can handle responsibility. The fifth and sixth graders Are Volunteer Pupil bus monitors for Gellhausen elementary school. Principal Nancy Bresell said the Pupil bus Monitor program was started last year and worked out so Well that the school decided to try it again this year. We let Only fifth and sixth Grade Stu dents Volunteer but choose Only the responsible ones and the ones who can be trusted to follow the bus rules Bresel said. All volunteers Are Given a Chance to prove they Are responsible. Some find they Are not comfortable with the position and others have been removed for being too Bossy the principal said. Fellers said he has to watch the riders All the time. Last year some of the riders brought knives onto the bus and would tear the seats or they would sit on the Steps by the Back door and try to open it so i have to make sure they Don t do that he said. The kids Don t mess with me too much Edwards said. They know i mean what i say when i Tell them  Aeron said her pupils behave fairly Well. Besides the usual shouting and holler ing they listen of. This bus is a lot bet Ter than it was last  All three monitors have had winning buses for having the fewest incidents in a month. But not All the monitors have been so Lucky. Griffin said the riders on her bus will not listen to her. Most of the kids Are bigger than i am so they Don t even listen she said. The younger ones do of but the older ones won t do what i  Bresell said the school looks at the Monitor system As a positive Way to improve behaviour. The eight school buses each have a Pupil Monitor and the monitors prepare two reports one for the morning ride to school and one for the afternoon ride Home. The reports document incidents of run Ning hitting throwing name calling unsafe or irresponsible behaviour Yelling bad attitudes standing and damaged prop erty. The reports Are tabulated at the end of the month by Derris Harter assistant principal. The student monitors have no real authority nor is there any disciplinary action taken but the bus with the lowest number of incidents in a month is declared a Winner Bresell said. As a Reward the children Are taken to the Mcdonald s in Hanau for a free meal. Their parents also receive a letter saying their child s bus had the Best behaviour forthe month. The children think it is a special Honor and there is a Competition among the Chil Dren to have the Best behaviour she said. Behaviour has improved so that Only three bus passes have been pulled permanently this school year. Bresell said the school has sought adult volunteers because adults Are More forcible and More authoritative but we can t get them Back Home so we Don t Germany  we cannot afford to pay for Perma nent bus monitors so using the students is a Good idea for our school Bresell said. And we have had no negative reports from any of the parents about the student  Gellhausen does not require military parents to spend time As bus monitors although some military installations do. According to Sec. De Rolph Usa eur spokesman each military Community set sits own policy on bus monitors. Bill Hydar transportation officer for department of defense dependents schools Germany said bus behaviour is the responsibility of the military Community. He said the school system has no bus Monitor policy except for special Educa Tion buses or those carrying children with special medical problems