European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday january 26, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 9 pressured Pentagon finally gives budget authority to commandos Washington a the Penta gon bowed to Congress on tuesday and authorized the special operations omd to develop its own budget and program proposals providing Ameri Ca s commando warriors with some in dependence from the bureaucracies of the Parent services. The decision was made by William  in currently the acting Secretary of defense while Secretary designate John Tower awaits Senate confirmation. Defense sources said Taft acted after Tower made it Clear that he did t want this becoming an Issue at his confirmation  on the surface tuesday s move would appear to involve merely a change in internal bureaucratic procedures. But defense sources and congressional leaders described the change a important explaining that for the first time the general in charge of special operations forces would have a direct line to the Secretary of defense instead of having to funnel his budget requests through the Navy air Force and army. I m very Happy and pleased that Secretary Taft has directed this said rep. Earl Hutto d-fla., the chairman of the House armed services commit tee s special operations panel. The armed services have not done right by special operations. It s been a Low priority for them. And there s no question there has been a lot of Resis Tance Over there inside the Pentagon. But we have to get the special operations forces the resources they need and the Only Way to do that is to give them budget  the special operations come was ordered established by Congress. The Bill passed in october 1986, specified that the new command should receive its own budgeting authority but set no deadline. The Pentagon subsequently has come under fire the past two years for its slow Pace in reorganizing the Chadnof command and setting up the new entity. The Reagan administration consistently argued that it was making great strides in improving the readiness of the Navy s seals the army s rangers Green berets and anti terrorist Delta team and the air Force s first special operations Wing. But Congress remained unconvinced saying it still appeared that the elite commando units were losing out in the internal Pentagon Battles for manpower and Money and did t have the training or equipment to work to Gether. Taft s directive specifies that the commander of the special operations come will be assigned program Bud get development responsibilities for special operations  i direct All officials to provide . Special operations command the resources support information and assistance required to perform the above tasks he added. The special operations come wit Headquarters at Macdill fab fla., is headed by army Gen. James j. Lind say. . Tankers training hard by John Millari Irmburg Bureau _ Sci Weinfurt West Germany names like rank lords sons of vengeance and Meg Cleath May not eco to invoke the spirit of cooperation an Friendly Competition. But International camaraderie can take a Back seat to the push for armoured advantage when american tankers Are pitted against teams from four Nat countries for the coveted Canadian army trophy. Tanker lore says the cat Competition got its Startin the Early 1960s, when a group of Canadian Armor soldiers challenged their West German counterparts Toa Beer bet Over which country had the Best gunners. No one seems to recall who won the original Wager but the Competition has become an International tradition held every other year since 1963. Belgian dutch and . Teams have joined the orig Inal West German Canadian rivalry Over the years and since 1985, the Competition has pitted nato scentral army group against the Northern army group. In addition to individual platoon prizes the win Ning group takes temporary Possession of the cat trophy a $50,000 solid Silver replica of a Canadia Centurion tank. This year s Competition is scheduled for june 19 to23 at the Bergen Hohne nato training area North of Hannover. Over the five Days of the event platoons of four tanks each will Roll downrange while their Crews try to blast 32 main gun targets and another 80 wit their tanks machine guns. Each platoon receives Points for targets hit How fast they Are hit and the amount of ammunition brought Back at the end of the Battle run. Additional Points regained if All targets Are hit but Points can be deducted for safety violations such As not keeping the platoon inline while running through the Competition. Those bearing the american Standard for the Cen trial army group this year will be a platoon from the 3rd inf div s cod 2nd in 64th Armor  West Germany As Well As a team from the 3rd army div in Frankfurt. A team from the 2nd army div fwd also will compete but Only with the Northern army group. Although a 3rd army div team placed first in thelast cat the first time a . Team won that distinction in the Competition s 25-year history the Ameri cans historically have not done Well despite Fielding what generally has been acknowledged As the bes equipment. The 3rd inf div team faces additional hurdles this year according to 2nd it. Thomas Fisher a co d platoon Leader. In a visit to the Competition Range Fisher s team was Quick to notice that the targets used in the contest Are about half the size of those the normally fire at. Moreover Fisher s unit will be Riding relatively newm1a1 Abrams tanks featuring 120mm Smoothbore main guns in place of the original rifled 105mm. It s like a big Shotgun it s got a bigger punch Fisher said. The tank s different. Because it s differ ent you have  sgt. Glen k. Howell of 3rd inf div s cod 2nd in 64th although the unit has had the tanks for about a year sgt. 1st class Roy Fuller the co d platoon sergeant said the newest Abrams has a lot of things we Don know about  but if we get the bugs out of the system i Don t see any problem Fuller said. The 3rd inf div platoon also will have to become Awell honed team if it expects to display the cutting Edge at this year s cat. During the four tank Bat Lerun it gets pretty crazy in the Turret Fisher said As Crews Are trying to figure who s shooting at  still Fisher added when you try to reach out an touch someone at 2,500 meters it gets pretty exact  to overcome potential problems Fisher s company has been training since july to conquer the  by the time june Rolls around unit representatives will have made five trips to the Competition training area located near fallin Bostel West Germany. Rounding out almost a year of training for the Competition the soldiers also will have made several trips to the combined arms training Center Vilseck near Grafe Nib or West Germany and at least one to the training area at Wil Flecken. It s like Riding a roller coaster said pfc. Richar Csanyi a loader on one of the co d tanks. We have army sgt. Jose Casare Armor adjusts an mall s muzzle reference system. To work a lot of late hours and we go to the Field All the time. Those Are some of the bad things. But the closer you get to it the Competition the More pumped up you  Fisher said that aside from calibrating weapons practising live Battle runs using simulators and continually re evaluating the actual Competition site . Tankers Are receiving the help of experts on matters a detailed As projectile flight. The list of experts includes representatives from general dynamics makers of the my Al Abrams tanks the troops will use Hughes aircraft co., responsible for the tanks fire control systems Honeywell which manufactures the tanks ammunition and master gun ners from the . Army Armor Center at fort Knox by. If the gunner shoots and misses a target there s no one to blame but the gunner Fisher said. That what we re going to get it Down  with that kind of preparation under the tread it is Little wonder that co d is heading into the final months of preparation with something approaching Confidence. We re America s team Fisher said promising positive results from the tank lords when we Roll through Bergen this