European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 8, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday september 8, 1990 the stars and stripes a a Page 3 crisis in the Gulf Navy skipper stays Cool in Gulf hotbed keeping the Waters Calm is a Challenge by the los Angeles times in the persian Gulf a a i try to be aggressive in my patrol area a said cmdr. Kevin j. Cosgriff skipper of the . Navy ship that fired one of the first rounds of the confrontation in the persian Gulf. His ship is the guided missile frigate Robert g. Bradley and its motto is a Power to Cosgriff a thoughtful 41-year-old new yorker is using All the Power the Bradley has to enforce economic sanctions against Iraq. With other ., British and French warships in the Gulf the Bradley is charged with intercepting seaborne cargoes to and from Iraq and occupied Kuwait. Two weeks after the iraqi invasion the Bradley fired across the Bow of an iraqi Tanker attempting to Stop it. The Tanker steamed on and Cosgriffe orders that Day were simply to continue tracking it. Now the american vessels Are operating under a . Security Council Resolution that gives them the Power to crack Down. Every Tanker and freighter is being challenged. A we average about 10 Call a Day a Cosgriff told reporters on Board his warship to thursday in the Central Gulf. He referred to radio Calls from the Bradley and its two helicopters demanding a full report on cargo and intentions from merchant ships in his area. One of thursdays Calls went to the Kriti filoxenia a Tanker of greek registry. An officer on the Bradley a Bridge who could see the Tanker clearly in his binoculars delivered the message. A Tanker Kriti filoxenia a he said a this is the . Navy warship on your port Quarter. What is your port of registry a a Piraeus a the tankers Captain responded. In answer to further questions he said that he was carrying diesel fuel a a he a excellent. If we have to go to War id follow him a John Kondratowicz from the saudi arabian Gulf port of Jubal to Yanbul on the red sea coast. The answers the look of the Tanker and the feel of the situation persuaded Cosgriff to let the ship proceed. Thursday morning the Bradley a helicopters had checked out a six or seven other ships in the patrol area said it. Rick Groenenboom one of the pilots. The choppers which operate within a 100-mile radius from the ship Are equipped with radar and extend the Range of the Bradley a radar. A we were up about 3 /2 hours a Groenenboom said. A we spot them we Call them up and sometimes we go in for a close this Means bringing the chopper to within about 100 Yards of the ship close enough to read the name on the Stem. So far Cosgriff has not ordered a ship boarded but his Crew is prepared if necessary. Coast guard Ensign John Kondratowicz Heads a four Man boarding party and he would expect to Check cargoes cargo manifests and sailing orders. Like other officers and sailors on the Bradley Kondratowicz described Cosgriff As the Man he would want in a tight situation. A a he a excellent a Kondratowicz a native of Cape cod mass., said. A if we have to go to War id follow him the Bradley Cosgriffe first command is an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate. It has a Crew of 215, and the Low key skipper appears to know them All by name. Cosgriff has been around. He started out in the merchant Marine and served on an ammunition ship plying the Saigon River in the Vietnam War. A i was 19 then a he said a and immortal. Now in a 41.�?� his Navy experience includes 10 years of sea duty and a stint in Washington with the defense intelligence Agency As a soviet Navy analyst. This is Cosgriffe third tour in the Gulf. The Bradley was in route from its Home port of Charleston s.c., when the iraqis invaded and the frigate was suddenly front Page news. Cosgriff said that the main concern of the Bradley is the potential threat of iraqi aircraft and mines that could still be adrift from the 1980-88 Iran Iraq War. No iraqi planes and no mines have been encountered yet but Cosgriff keeps a Lookout a in the eyes of the ship a directly Over the Bow to watch for mines. The Ever present problem is the climate. The temperature on the Bradley a weather decks reaches 120 degrees at midday and Cosgriff has rigged Canvas awnings wherever possible to provide Shade. Hatches Are kept shut to keep the air conditioning effective in the Interior spaces and a layer of cheesecloth has been added to the filters that protect computers and other critical equipment. A this is the worst operating environment for machinery in the world a Cosgriff said. A worse than the Arctic. Its very hot very humid Sandy and Dusty. It gets into machinery into electronics into your eyes. I Call these hard conditions they re harsh but in the oven of the persian Gulf the skipper remains Driver hums his Way through the desert by Ron Jensen Steff writer in the Central arabian desert a if sgt. Jeff eggerts plans had remained intact head be studying history Back at fort Stewart ga., the Home base of the 24th inf div Mech. But thanks to the iraqi invasion of Kuwait on aug. 2, Eggert is now participating in history not Reading it. Instead of important dates he a memorizing the unchanging landscape of the saudi desert As a Driver for the divisions cob 1st in 64th Armor. Since arriving in saudi Arabia two weeks ago he a pushed his humvee an average of 250 Miles a Day All of it across a rectangle of Sand 30 Miles wide and 24 Miles deep that holds the divisions Arsenal of tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. And he a never lost his Way. A i done to get lost a he said. Recently Eggert drove for More than an hour across the desert where the passing scenery refuses to change. For As far As one can see the landscape is Sand Small Brown clumps of vegetation and wandering herds of camels. The humvee bounces and twists As the Sand gives Way underneath. Out Here the divisions troops Are scattered their machines swathed in cocoons of camouflage netting. The 28-year-old knows the Way to each outpost. A regular Sand Isnit too bad a he said while carving out a new path toward a company a location. Indeed the Sand seems to hold the multiple purpose vehicle just Fine. A but when you get where people have been driving its real soft a he said. At the moment tank tracks Are the biggest Hazard to desert driving. A a they re ruts. You can run Over them its just bad for the Eggert is hungry for news from the world. He has spent the past two weeks out Here where news is As scarce As water holes. A passenger somewhat More connected to the outside tells him that an american has been shot that morning in Kuwait by an iraqi. Eggert shakes his head. A a it a going to be something stupid like that that starts this War a he said. Like everyone he Hopes there will be no War. But he told his wife Janie and son Michael Back in Georgia to be prepared to be without him for six months to a year. A my wife she a a Strong woman a he said. Until his return Eggert will concentrate on his task. He usually drives for the company commander but because the first sergeants vehicle Hasni to arrived Eggert is his chauffeur As Well. In one week Eggert crisscrossed 1,500 Miles of Sand he estimates. During the conversation Eggert mentioned a rat patrol a the 1960s television show about the world War ii North african Campaign. A i think about it every Day a Eggert said. If there Are no real rats there Are camels to Dodge. This is bedouin land and the wandering herdsmen and their herds of camels and goats sometimes meet up with the american interlopers. Its something the division is learning to accept said it. Col. Ray Barrett the commander of the divisions 3rd in 15th inf. A this is their grazing land. We Are occupying that area now a he said. Sometimes the bedouins wave and offer Tea to the soldiers. If the soldiers find a bedouin with his pickup truck stuck in the Sand they pull him out. To do his part Eggert slows and passes behind the camels that stride across his path sometimes in groups of More than 20. Eggerts familiarity with the desert has produced no great fondness or animosity for it. A just another Sandbox to play in a he said. A amps Ron Jensen sgt. Jeff Eggert behind the wheel of his humvee Dodges desert dwellers while performing his chauffeur duties
