European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 25, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday october 25, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 3 crisis in the Gull taking a breather american soldiers enjoy a break from wearing hat of mud Lake Idaho and at a desert recreation area. They Are with Cottondale fla., writes Home to his wife their duties with Field artillery units in sgt. David Maddox of Jacksonville fla., the 24th inf div Mech from fort Stew from his tent in the desert lie s with the the saudi desert. At left sgt. Blair Park match wits at soccer during their Day off Art a. At right spec. Bryan Bevan of 1st Cav div from fort Hood Texas. Army National guard let Down at not being part of buildup Gulf briefs military to help Florist Send Christmas Trees to troops Durham Conn. Up a a Florist has Cut through red tape and will Send Christmas Trees and homemade cookies to . Soldiers who must spend the holidays in the saudi desert. A i done to want what happened to the Guys in Vietnam to happen to them a said Ann Page who owns pages Flower shop in Durham. Page knew she could not Send the decorated Christmas Trees food and other presents via direct mail to . Troops in the persian Gulf because the saudis object to what they consider religious symbols. The . Government initially refused to handle the shipments and risk offending the saudis. But it relented last week and will deliver the presents aboard military aircraft said Page who has no close relatives in the Gulf. Nearly 60 of the 18-Inch-High Trees have been collected around Connecticut and Western Massachusetts from Florist and Craft shops. Page also plans to Send . Soldiers packages containing batteries underwear insect repellent suntan lotion pens and writing paper toiletry items and foods. Residents of a convalescent Home in Rural Durham Are also baking Christmas  to deploy anti chemical unit to Gulf Prague Czechoslovakia apr parliament passed a Resolution tuesday to Send a brigade of soldiers specializing in anti chemical warfare to the persian Gulf the state news Agency ctr reported. The 179 Volunteer soldiers Are the first troops from a Warsaw pact nation to receive approval to go to the Gulf. They will be accompanied to saudi Arabia by 48 vehicles 10 trailers and 200 tons of materials and equipment the Agency said. Hungary and Bulgaria Are also considering sending forces. Last month czechoslovak president Vaclav Havel first proposed sending troops from his country. Havel a spokesman Michael Yantovsky said negotiating the troop deployment was complicated because Czechoslovakia and saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic  Stamps declared invalid by regional postal officials Riyadh saudi Arabia up a postal authorities from the Gulf cooperation Council have declared iraqi postage Stamps invalid and said mail bearing the Stamps will be returned. The move a further isolation of Iraq was agreed upon monday at a meeting of postal officials from persian Gulf countries the saudi press Agency reported. The postal authorities also decided to print a poster declaring a Kuwait is a free  Washington apr operation desert shield has lifted the spirits of a . Military battered by budget cuts and the demise of the cold War but one segment of the armed forces sees the persian Gulf buildup As a slap in the face. Combat units of the army National guard have been excluded from the Force deployments which now total More than 200,000 personnel in the Gulf area including More than 34,000 non combat reserves from the army Navy air Force and Marine corps. A a we re trained and we re ready a said Beryl Diamond a spokesman for the Georgia army National guard whose 48th inf brigade was left behind when the two Active duty brigades with which it trains headed off for saudi Arabia last month. A it was disappointing to troops who had trained for a Mission a Diamond said. As in Many of the other Active divisions in the . Army the 48th serves As a a around out brigade for the 24th Mech inf div based at fort Stewart a. But when the Pentagon deployed the 24th to saudi Arabia it substituted an Active brigade a the 197th at fort Benning a. A instead of sending the 48th. The 155th army brigade of the Mississippi army National guard which rounds out the 1st Cav div from fort Hood Texas also was left Cooling its heels when the division shipped out for the saudi desert this month. The Pentagon chose to fill out the 1st Cav with an Active brigade of the 2nd army div. The controversy is growing now that the Pentagon is preparing to rotate fresh troops into saudi Arabia to replace those that have been there from the Start. No final decisions have been made but the services Are expected to set persian Gulf duty limits of six months. President Bush ordered the Gulf buildup on aug. 8. That Means the Pentagon again faces the question of whether to use combat reserves which Are available under Federal Law for six month stints. The alternative would be to again deploy Only Active units. The Pentagon a initial decision not to deploy the 48th and other combat Reserve units has raised fundamental questions about the role of reserves in the . Armed forces. A if we do not use the reserves when they Are required Why have a Reserve a said Bill Legg director of naval affairs at the Reserve officers association a private group. Since 1973, when the draft was abolished and the military restructured itself the armed forces have put increasing emphasis on the role of reserves. But the Gulf crisis is the first time the a total Force policy has been put to a test. Leggy a group applauded the Bush administration when it authorized the Call up of As Many As 48,800 non combat reserves to perform cargo handling air transport port Security intelligence and various military Supply jobs. But the Reserve officers association and others say that not using combat reserves is a fierce blow to the Quot if we do not use the reserves when they Are required Why have a Reserve Quot a Bill Legg morale of these citizen soldiers who train with Active units and Are required by Law to be ready to mobilize in times of crisis. National guard units train one weekend per month plus one four week exercise each year. A a we be heard a number of reasons for not sending guard and Reserve combat units but they re about As solid As Sand a said rep. Les Aspin d-wis., chairman of the House armed services committee. A i suspect the most important Factor is the Active Force prejudice against using Reserve  Aspin and reps. Beverly Byron d-md., and Sonny Montgomery d-miss., released a report last week sharply criticizing the Bush administration for not using combat Reserve units in saudi Arabia. A the suggestion intended or not that their work is neither fully appreciated nor really needed in time of hostilities would have a disastrous influence on morale and performance a the report said. A the failure to make greater use of Reserve units in this crisis raises the broader question of when a and even whether a they would be used in the  Pentagon officials cite two reasons for not sending combat reserves to saudi Arabia. One is that Field commanders in saudi Arabia have not said they need them. The other is that the 180-Day maximum deployment period for reserves is too Short to make Good use of combat units since they would need extra training before shipping out. Critics say the reserves should not need extra training. They cite the Pentagon a own study of the Reserve forces published last Spring stating that a the Reserve components have achieved unprecedented Levels of capability and  Georgia a Diamond scoffed at the suggestion that the 48th would need extra time to get ready. A we believe the 48th brigade would require no More training than an Active brigade would a he said