European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 23, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Umpires Call nerf Ball War by Virce Crawle Pretory a term writer   so Cal Dviri any isl  Jim i  j  in is Vear s a u r  -. To  and Ikic most Pawn he Isa Piv  fell Ilia highe p Riv re hemp unfair to him. I had a compan coming right at me. In column. And the terrain was kind of  the Ham erg Pla Toon Leader said indicating he thought he could have out mane Vered the at tacking company. I think we could have done  instead. Fly s platoon got wiped Outin seconds he blamed the computer but actually it was flesh and blood umpires nol Silicon chips who sent his imaginary men to their pc Dawn Graves More than 4.500 people if you count the enlisted Drivers arc earning their living As Centurion shield umpires. They carry fal Rule books and. Using tables of probability thai sort of read like income lax schedules figure out who probably would have lived an died if the fighting had been real. This is easy when a company of 14 tanks gels Pori de by a tank battalion numbering More than 50. The convincing gels harder when two roughly equal forces meet at Dawn. With the limited number of Soldierson the ground there could be a Battle  around and there Ain t anything to see. I hat s really Gonna make the Umpire s Job Lough said maj. Mike Maher. An 8th in div spokesman. The division is in charge of the exer Cise umpires this year and people up and Down the Chain of command  umps will make or break this newfangled streamlined Kef Orget. The  k. Maher said is for umpires to paint the picture of the Battle in words since there in t much of a Batteto see. Armoured engagements can look Down Ghl lackadaisical to an outsider because half a do in tanks can be portrayed in a single a humvee with an Orange serf Hall on us Antenna. It works like this a Captain or lieu Lennal is driving around in a a humvee. Pretending he s a whole platoon or com Pany. All the while he s shadowed by an i main 2nd . Andreas car a right jumps onto an armoured personnel Carrier in l drtiu1 his Engineer company through an  Sihle Renud  an Engineer Ostach. I brigade air a is fruit the cd army i. Lull 2nd . I a id tiillli1 left that he just tulle is with co. 82 and Knur in 7lh Knur Umpire us sin rum Lime commander v what the grou the Umpire actually had Niento with hit the Umpir and schools a Lar rank o Lime the Slop. The highs what s going on and it looks like then tells in he d he doing if he his people and equip ulis tins information ass the  lines. Suit Syl. Jim Buhi front and i pc. Greg Sanders Check the location of Engineer obstacles on a map Al the Umpire control Center in Crail Sheiron. Boih Are Riih the kill inf Oil s looking for an Umpire from the oppo site Side. Blue forces Are filled a Amsl Gold this year the two get together compare the Battle plans of the opposing comma ulers and a cud who s Likely Loum. I Hen they go Back to their units and. Not revealing what Thuv know Ghoul theother Guy s plans sit a k and watch whal happens. Mask alls we re not evaluating their  mane vering. We re determining -1.hi would win the  said 1 St a. In  Schreiber. A Linker from in Lihau in. Was. Geimann. And the Umpire who Lold lieutenant la thai his p Aloon had struck out Soiu limbs umpires tin give hints Ghoul whal the enemy s up to. Schrib or said. A solitary Plum acc can t mimic the actions of a mile wide armoured front. Captain needs to be told what he d truthfully he seeing. Otherwise Centurion shield ii would he an exercise in Blind Man s Bluff with unseen Lurn vees passing each Oiler in the night. Often limbs taking the p no of recon Naissance Umpire reports arc also sent up a separate Chain of command so that exercise planners can keep track of it All on their big maps in the sky. La. Col. Cgeorge m. Stephenson is in charge of area control Center 2. One of four information a criers that process Umpire reports. The colonel said his people put together a lot of Little Pic Tures to make Thi big picture kind of like a to  is All this necessary ii a War game is i uinf.1 to be fought Punk Mentall. Ii chess by an other with a map spread out Over the Hood of his Unisee. Can t we make the final leap of Faith and fight War games entirely on computer key Hoard Schreiher a s in. You Del Znilek no i p  he said. " the computer is Good because it saves you a lot of Money. Hut looking Al a computer screen in t the same As running through this Farmer s Fields and seeing in i Tan 111 a tank under a  computers also lend to need climate can rolled environments far from the mud and cold of a real West German Winter. And. Of course Otil in the Woods you can t lust put a pause on the com put and run to the  Schreiber said i Apt. David j Jones a company Umi Mandr from Mannheim s 3rd in. Hard regl. Said that the idea of Llin Mecs instead of tanks was not Espe \. Nth. New. I did tins in a forger  he said. 11 i of too Muddy Lomov e Hanks and became m effect a jeep  junes helped teach the huh inf i s Umpire school two weeks ago in Cira  Chr. West Germany and said that Lii. Course stresses Oil skills painting Liu picture in winds like Maher talked ii Sci is in l an us Pic who can t  in be what s going on urns the risk of killing his Man. Jones said thai is style reformers. Which Promise Manv More a humvee wars in the future have their upsides and downsides. Vilh Oul tanks you Don t have to worn about what a Lank will wreck on peaceful Countryside. As Long As the Bat the is  in your head. Sou re just limited a imagination and what kind of Umpire it ii  Jones said. I understand budgetary con Siramis he said. I understand ten Sions with the Host nation. You Tram with whatever you can. To the Maxi mum of sour capability. And this is All the can let us do. So we might As Well make the insist of 11." Page 6 stars and stripes special edition tuesday january 23. 1950