European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 23, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                No Small details in War planning leaders focus on tomorrow s needs by Kan Clauton Raf Orger Taam Waltar Manching West Germany to an infantry Man hunkered Down in the mud with a Rifle and handful of bullets the scope of War is narrow and immediate. He s not thinking about three Days from now or tomorrow or tonight. He s worried about How to move a few feet right now to the next bit of cover and arrive there in one piece. He s the most Basic element of warfare and the Las link in a command Chain that in Centurion shield 90 begins with the corps commander. These top level commanders and their staffs arc the ones get Ting the most training this year. Even though most of Centurion shield s infantry men arc microchip blips instead of flesh and blood soldiers leaders say that Battle planning is no differ ent. War fighting gels More complicated with each St Pup the command Structure. When it. Gen. George a. Joulwan v corps commander moves a single map Symbol thousands of soldiers crawl Forward through the mud. When he Points to a spot on the map and says want to attack Here hundreds of people begin issuing thousands of orders. If the succession of orders Are the right ones the Soldier in the foxhole at the Bottom of this planning Avalanche will be Able to take the next Hill. If not. The Battle and the War could be lost. Maneu vers like Centurion shield test this top level staff planning and coordination. For instance the artillery barrage that keeps the enemy s head Down so that the Soldier can crawl Forward is the result of signal corps communication systems that allow fire support sections to get target information from intelligence analysts. All the while logistics people must keep bread and bullets flowing to the front. When Joulwan says do it his staff must be a Leto Tell him How i will affect his next order. And his next. At the corps level War is today and tomorrow an the next Day. And each move is Analysed in terms of its effect on future Maneu vers. The fire support staff does t think in terms of individual cannons and air planes. They coordinate All the gun batteries and attack aircraft both Armand air Force within the corps Battle sector an area from the front lines to deep in the enemy s rear area. The staff also manages the Battlefield airspace tonsure Friendly Force aircraft Aren t punched out of the sky by their own artillery rounds. We arc flying some real missions against Vii corps and simulated ones against electronic Divi Sions but when my Guys look at the map they Only Sec enemy said it. Col. Paul Treolo chief of staff for v corps artillery. Here at corps artillery it s transparent to us that we Don t have our soldiers in the Field he said. Keeping those real and imagined soldiers supplied with weapons and widgets is the responsibility of it. Col. J. B. Alden v corps logistics and operation officer during Centurion shield. He too does t count individual guns and Gas cans. The widget counters Are below corps level. We track Force weapons systems and tank killing i. Gen. George a Joulwan left v corps commander discusses Battle plans with maj. Gen. Glynn c. Mallory jr., commander of the 2nd army div from fort Hood Tivas during the Centurion shield exercise. Uric. Gen. Larry a Lee commander of the 31st separate inf brigade of the Alabama National guard looks on. Systems he said referring to tanks Bradley fighting vehicles and track mounted anti tank weapons. We keep track of those systems Down to brigade level because that s where the commanding general of  he can t wait until a Lank brigade runs out of main gun rounds before he orders More from the Supply system. He must anticipate How Many they arc going to need and when then make sure More ammunition food Gas or whatever is on the Way before the unit runs out. We can t be reactive in the support  said. We have to be  that requires close planning and coordination with other staff sections. When Joulwan leads his corps in Battle he does icon the run Between corps division and regiment command posts in the Field. During his Brief stops sometimes As Short As fiver ten minutes he stabs at enemy positions on the map and asks what s happening Here 1 need to know what his intentions  corps intelligence people let him know what the enemy is up to another example of Complex staff actions. V corps 205th military intelligence brigade peo ple mull Over millions of bits of information while trying to figure out what the enemy is  gather data from a variety of sources ranging from electronic wizardry in spy satellites to the mos Basic intelligence gathering device a Soldier hiding in the Bushes with a pair of binoculars. Six Man Long Range surveillance units would infiltrate enemy lines to provide hundreds of spot re ports said maj. Nick Grant the intelligence Bri Gade s operations  Are blended with  ional intelligence1 Agency reports snippets of intercepted radio transmissions photographs radar images and interrogation  we say Gen. Joulwan. This is where the 1st army div is that is a result of thousands of pieces of information being put together Grant  said that less emphasis on mane vering individual soldiers through the mud allows the staff