European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 25, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday april 25, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 3convoy rehearses Summers Transfer of chemical arms a amps l. Emmett Lewis or. The slow moving Convoy travels the autobahn near Schwarze Nacker West Germany. By Peggy Davidson Kaiserslautern Bureau Clausen West Germany a army truck Drivers and West German police went through a slow motion rehearsal tuesday of this Summers slow motion Transfer of deadly chemical weapons. The 70-vehicle Convoy of empty tractor trailers and police trucks wound its Way along secondary roads and autobahn in a rolling test of the removal operation set for july through september. The plan is to truck 100,000 artillery shells filled with the nerve agents from the Clausen army depot to the Railhead at Miessau. The steel containers of shells will be taken from the trucks and stored on the Concrete pads at Miessau until the entire stockpile of weapons is at the Railhead said capt. John m. Curd spokesman for the 59 the Ord brigade Pir Masens. Once at the Railhead the shells will be loaded onto seven trains and moved to the seaport at no Denham. The Navy will take the shells to the Johnston atoll in the Pacific Ocean where the chemical will be incinerated. Tuesdays Convoy was the first joint training Convoy said Brig. Gen. Dennis l. Benchoff 59th Ord brigade commander. Benchoff said no shortcuts Are being taken on safety issues. He noted that the weapons were a designed to be transported under wartime conditions with no special  the practice Convoy used one of the possible routes the trucks May use this summer. Truck convoys will travel on secondary roads from Clausen to whichever autobahn the German police decide to use. While on the secondary roads the Convoy vehicles travel at 20 Miles per hour and Are spaced 165 feet apart. On the autobahn they travel at 30 Miles per hour but maintain 330-foot intervals. The Low Speed on the autobahn is a a Speed at which we can maintain control of the Convoy Quot said curd. Tuesdays dry run took a circuitous route. The Convoy headed West through the towns of Clausen and Don sinders. It made a Quick Jaunt on route b-270 to autobahn a-62, then headed South to Horci Schwiler where the autobahn changed to a-8. From there it was West to Zweig Rick in Northwest to ecu Skirchen and autobahn a-6. That autobahn took the Convoy past Niedert Cybach Sci Skirchen and several other towns to Miessau. The trip of 25 to 30 Kilometres lasted More than two hours. On a secondary Road the Convoy took about 25 minutes to pass one Point. A second Convoy of civilian cars trailed after it because German police would not allow them to pass. On a-8, the military Convoy spent about 15 minutes passing a single Point. Traffic on both sides of the Road was slowed. Cars that followed were not allowed to pass when the Convoy was near Entrance and exit ramps. Each 70-vehicle Convoy will have 20 tractor trailers hauling munitions curd said. The rest of the Convoy will include 17 . Military vehicles and More than 30 German police fire and safety vehicles. On tuesday a German police Van filled with officers Rode Between each tractor trailer. Following along for part of the autobahn drive was a car from the soviet Mission to West Germany. Benchoff suggested that the soviets might simply have business that brought them onto the autobahn. Maj. Gen. Roland Oppermann commander of  in said he hoped the soviets were watching and that they reported a How Well we work  takeover of Kremlin possible expert says by David Tarrant Brussels Bureau Willinger West Germany a the possibility of a military takeover of the soviet Union has grown in recent months and Mikhail Gorbachev is moving quickly to repair relations with the military in order to keep control Over his country according to natos chief adviser on the soviet Union. The trend partly explains Why the soviet president is less responsive to Western pressure regarding Lithuania Chris Donnelly said. A today his major concern is keeping his country together and what the West thinks about that whether the West likes it is in fact of secondary importance to him a said Donnelly soviet Logist in residence at nato Headquarters. A at the moment he can to afford to allow Western interference in what a happening with his relations in Lithuania even if this Means using military Force to prevent  Donnelly made his remarks in an interview with the stars and stripes and in a speech at a conference of the association of the United states army Europe. Gorbachev a attempt to Reform the ailing soviet Economy which he began shortly after he came to Power in 1985, has failed Donnelly said. And widespread disillusionment with his policies and growing nationalism has greatly increased the possibility of a military takeover he said. A a few months ago i would have said not about the possibility that the military might take Over the soviet government Donnelly said. A now in a not so  Gorbachev alienated the armed forces As he attempted to switch More resources from the military to economic development. A Gorbachev had a very jaundiced View of the military As a Strain on economic resources. It was completely a War machine draining the system a he said. In Gorbachev a View the military had created such a state of confrontation with the West that it prevented the soviets from getting the very goods and services they needed from the West to Reform the soviet Economy. As he sought to restructure the soviet Economy and society Gorbachev attempted to remove some of the military a stature and even made it a Scapegoat for the country a problems. By the Middle of March Donnelly said Gorbachev realized that his program of economic Reform had failed. A realizing he had to Start fresh and rebuild something new in the soviet Union and realizing the prime objective because of the nationalist ferment was now to keep the country together he had to eat Humble pie with the Only organization that could guarantee to do that a the military a Donnelly said. The military understands the need to shift some resources from defense to economic development but wanted to move in that direction More slowly he said. A basically the military is a lot happier now. First they have a lever on Gorbachev to Force him to listen to what they say. Second Gorbachev himself seems to have realized that he has to get a grip that he has to give himself Powers in order to keep control of the country a Donnelly said. A i think that As a result we re Likely to have a rather More difficult time in getting what we want from the soviet Union in negotiating with the soviet Union in dealing with the soviet  Donnelly believes that a window of Opportunity for lithuanian Independence May have passed. A the end of last year when Gorbachev s main aim was clearly the economic development of the country when he particularly wanted Western assistance Lithuania could More or less do what it wanted. A and if it had moved further and faster it would probably have achieved a breakaway from the soviet Union. Gorbachev could certainly at that Point have survived that. I done to think he can now afford to let Lithuania break away on its own  in the Short term the West can expect that there will be unparalleled instability and unpredictability in the soviet Union he said. And the West must also Deal with the perception of its own population that a peace has broken out forever and Gorbachev a Success is assured a Donnelly said. A but the facts now Are slightly