European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 20, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday january 20,1990 the stars Amu stripes Page 9 store offers enough to feed an army b John Millar s aft writer Erting. West Germany a lot of groceries will fit into a 5-ton shopping cart that s Why sol. Walter Wright has two forklift son hand. Some of his customers prefer to have their groceries delivered. Wright obliges when possible by using cargo planes and Helicon pics to Supply 4.300 regular customers it s just like a giant commissary said Wright the administration no for the ration break Point located on a Zierman arms Ca sern in Erding. Just Northeast of my the break Point staffed by 31 sol Diers from the 26th Supply and serv ices co. Provides food for soldiers in the Southern sector of the Centurion shield 90 Man Euver area the system is As Large As the numbers it s designed to feed. Three Days into the Battle the ration Point had 5.000 pounds of Coffee. 80.000 containers of milk and 16.704 ration meals on hand. But knowing that troops can get tired of the army s prepackaged and some times Fri Etc dried rations the Supply Point soldiers arranged to have the entire Southern Force eat steaks and barbecued Chicken today and sunday. What we re trying to do is offer them a Home cooked Wright said. It s to build their morale just like a commissary the ration Point offers everything from fresh pro Duce to Frozen foods and meats. Ingredients needed to prepare 14 different breakfast and dinner meals arc stocked. Incidentals Range from shaving Cream to repair parts fuel and even whole vehicles if the need arises. Also like modern commissaries the ration Point uses computers to keep pee. William Bassell uses a Fork life la Load a 2 i inn ship Pink cart at the ration break Point in Kerdine. West German. Ass John ukr track of stocks. Just As commissary clerks Check social Security numbers to approve personal checks ration Point clerks feed pertinent information such As How Many soldiers a unit has to serve into a computer. Units receive a com Puter printout detailing the kind of food to be issued the Quantity of each item and the Dollar value. With their shopping list in hand the mess sergeants drive their 2 and 5-ton tactical shopping Carls along a giant aisle. Ration Point soldiers read the printout and direct forklift operators loading the trucks. Units that Are in the Market for weapons sleeping bags and helmets look for Sut. Herman Macon. The no o in charge of two of the task Force s Supply sections. Through us they can order anything they need to keep said Macon. Who noted that the Supply store s clientele grows As the Battle continues. Sometimes n Pels pretty crowded. Now thai the War has started Well probably Hac a lot More stall sgt. Kevin Brown the no in charge of the ration Point said there Are plenty of logistical headaches including late supplies from contracted civilian truckers and difficulties in locating fast moving Field units. And then there s Mother nature. The colder it gets the slower you move trucks and Brown said. It s just hard to still he said. This is the main operation that sustains the United slates army you can have All the bullets in die world and All the fuel. But Sou can t eat German officer lauds use of computer simulation by Ken son staff writer Kirchberg. West Germany West German soldiers talking about nato s ongoing microchip Maneu vers sound As if they received the same Brief ing As american troops. The germans cite lessened Environ mental Impact reduced costs and Quality staff training As the prime benefits of exercise c enl non shield i. Which uses computer simulation to reduce the number of men and machines in the Field c Apt. Wolfgang Brand logistics officer for the i2lh i an or Oil. Said the West German army does t have Kittle Simu Salors like those used Lor the cd excise. But he expects to see Simi Uii systems soon. In the upcoming year we expect a lot he said. We now have computers Only for training tank Drivers and gunners and helicopter Brand s division is operating As an element of the i s Vii rps during the exercise Lmh runs through a in. 2h in Southern German n Yah i in climb Calls Foi Lei Naii divisions to Ivah e to work within american corps he said. That is nol As difficult As it sounds thanks to Zierman and Liaison who help ease language the Only problems we have Are changes in orders from Ligand said " fhe reaction time is too Short. Bul trial s probably because of the style of the exercise. Because in is computer driven. It seems that things happen faster than they normally another problem is coordinating oper Lions with the simulated units because electronic divisions Don t have Liaison officers. But we re learning he said. This has been a very Good exercise for Brand sees computer driven com Mand Post exercises replacing Mammoth Brand said. " i he people in the area nato Field Maneu vers a change that Happy the army is Here Wilhour tanks. No major complaints from the Iii cry. Bran the people the Are will Likely please German residents in the exercise area. Although there have been West German soldiers Man the phones in Kels Riihl. West Germany. Sas j m Dothe tactical operations Center near Din the 12th i an or div usually deploys men and More than 300 tanks. Ligand said the unit fielded just 2.000 soldiers without Armor for Centurion shield. Staff sgt. Jirgen i Ischer. A training for the division said he does t think Iii military exercises should be eliminated or scaled kick just because i Amei i i Uroic seems less threatening. I a i discs like tins Are very necessary Mccaue the Mission of the army is to Delend. And Vou can t defend unless you Tram in Ardless of what s going on in the he said. " there is no sense in hav Iii an aim if n can t a though he acknowledges that using tits Putur simulations can help save Wear and k Iron the Environ men nothing i an ice lick a Lank commander actually cig in his Lank making i is Hel said. i m Al Iii a Kriiger. A 20-year a i v ii in who has been in the est German Aims for Olnee months. Ducin t limit. Much of in Uirich shield. Inn much Minev. And it s Ilie Anvi Tia Tilini the political Mist Between a to and the Warsaw pact seems to he greater than the military Trusi he said. " the military on both sides have to accept the fad that the political situation has
