European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 26, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 a the stars and stripes monday november 26,1990inbattlefield lurks behind desert s Beauty by Randy Pruitt staff writer in saudia Arabia near the Kuwait Border a spec. Brian Ridgely stared up into the Milky Way and whispered what everyone else was thinking. A a it a so peaceful and quiet out Here its hard to imagine it being a Battlefield. It was a Case of mixing business with pleasure for Ridgely and three other soldiers with the 5th in 6th Cav which is normally stationed in Wiesbaden Germany. Their Job was to drive to this Remote observation Post to see whether atmospheric Haze at certain hours could be used As concealment for their units Apache attack helicopters. From their Vantage Point atop a lifeless Sand Knoll they could catch not Only spectacular sunrises and sunsets but they also could visualize death and destruction on the vast and Distant Plain. Images of peace and War made a strange tableau for these Friendly smiling men who thrive on their units motto a tank  a your main purpose in life is to destroy enemy tanks a explained capt. David Stark assistant operations officer. A we Are the divisions ready response Force. We Are the first . Forces to engage the  Stark said a few other . Troops Are in front of them. A but that a the special forces and they Arentt going to fight this Battle. They pass the Intel intelligence Back to our higher  the four soldiers bathed in the Garish Green glow of chemical Light Sticks talked As they sat on fold out army cots. From time to time a meteor dropped from the huge Star packed sky to steal everyone a attention. A a we re going to fight this Guy a Stark said of iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein. A i have no doubt in my  spec. Miguel Gomez wishes that Day would come soon. A i was going to get married in september a said the 22-year-old aviation operations specialist and assistant Driver. Desert shield put his wedding plans on hold. A Brief Lull in the conversation produced an eerie silence. There was an electric element of danger in being so close to the front. A it was the same Way in Vietnam at night a said sgt. Maj. Dean Bentheimer a soft spoken 42-year-old. A amps Randy Pruitt soldiers footprints near the kuwaiti Border interrupt Ripples that wind made in the Sand. A a you a hear crickets and the next minute there was shooting and occasionally rocket  but in this War it Isnit the night that worries them daytime employment is their biggest threat against a massive iraqi tank Force. The ah-64 copter can Rule both sky and ground in the darkness the soldiers said. A it has a top line night vision system on Board. We can see the targets at our maximum Range a Stark said. However one other problem also concerns the helicopter unit which is part of the 12th aviation brigade soviet made tanks manned by the iraqis also Are used by syrians and egyptians. A a tank looks like a tank when its built by the same people Quot Stark said. A you ainu to going to see paint on the Side saying this ones Friendly and this one ainu to. A a there a going to have to be some Good coordination or there a going to be a lot of people killed that done to need to be  Bentheimer fiddled with a tiny radio until he located a Baghdad  in Good English Bob whose female counterpart is known to americans As a Baghdad Betty a belittled operation desert shield before signing off As a the voice of peace in  a they play some Good music a Bentheimer said giving the station its due. The station spins Many records from the �?T50s and �?T60s. A i like those songs a Ridgely said after it played an Everly Brothers tune. He and Gomez got up to Shine flashlights inside the observation Post and around the campsite looking for snakes and other creatures of the night. It was almost time for sleep. The desert that is often almost suffocating was suddenly Chilly a a it a 55 or 60 degrees and we think its cold a Gomez said. A if we were in Germany wed be wearing shorts right  in the far distance White dots could be seen moving through the blackness. Auto traffic where there Are no roads. Rough Teeth rattling terrain. In the desert people make their own roads. A i wish a ufos would come Down a someone said just before climbing into a sleeping bag. It would have been the perfect time the perfect  sending Hospital support unit to Gulf by Peggy Davidson Kaiserslautern Bureau Kaiserslautern Germany a the first of two deployable hospitals at the 8th combat equipment co in Kaiserslautern was pulled from storage saturday in preparation for its trip to saudi Arabia. Soldiers assigned to the 128th combat support Hospital from Elligen Barracks in Stuttgart began taking inventory of the hospitals contents. When the inventory has been completed the soldiers will repack the equipment be issued additional supplies and head for operation desert shield. The Hospital consists of 27 containers which Are As Large As trailer sized military vans. The containers Are used As Hospital rooms and include two surgical boxes that expand into four operating rooms As Well As a pharmacy minimal care units recon election officials can fax ballots to troops in Gulf Washington a the Federal voting assistance program has arranged for High Speed electronic transmission of Absentee ballots to military personnel in operation desert shield. In cooperation with at amp to local election officials May fax ballots to military personnel in the Middle East. Local election officials will be Able to fax election materials to a Central 800 number where the transmissions will be routed through the at amp to desert fax service to the Middle East. The faxed materials then will be placed in specially marked envelopes and delivered by military mail to the addressees. Election officials have been told to use the fax service if they believe the regular Absentee ballot cannot be received completed and returned in time to be counted. Military personnel receiving faxed Absentee ballots will use the official Federal write in Absentee ballot Security envelopes and transmittal envelopes to return the completed ballots by mail to the local election officials. Ery rooms and 208 Beds for patients. The units preparations provide another sign that the . Military is expecting casualties in the persian Gulf. Recently air Force officials said four contingency hospitals in England and Germany Are also being prepared to handle casualties in a Gulf War. On saturday civilians assigned to the combat equipment company used forklifts and other heavy equipment to unload crates from the containers. Inside a humidity controlled warehouse the civilians lined up each sections supplies from the crates in roped off areas. Medics for those areas a minimal care intensive care pharmacy and others a opened the crates and inventoried the supplies they contained. A it should take 10 to 15 Days to Complete the inventory Well know As we go a said sgt. 1st class Patricia Smith a licensed practical nurse in the unit. Other soldiers were making bets on How Long it would take to do the inventory of certain sections. A i say we can be done by the end of today a said sgt. Mark Aytch a licensed practical nurse who will be in charge of the hospitals minimal care Ward. A the said it will take until tomorrow a Aytch added pointing to a Soldier unpacking a nearby crate. A the minimal care crates included such supplies As menus pyjamas surgical stockinette catheters and Gauze. Each minimal care unit had 16 crates that had to be inventoried. Some of the crates Are empty said capt. Stephen Mcgurk a Supply officer at the site. Those crates will be filled with such supplies As drugs and oxygen which have specific shelf lives. These items Are already on their Way. Troops from a second combat support medical unit Are scheduled to pick up another Hospital when the 128th combat support Hospital deploys for the Gulf. The Date the unit leaves is classified but officials said it would be soon. Ca amps Lyntis �?z8t Stephen Marquez of the 128th combat i Hospital prepares an operating room tactical is Kaiserslautern for shipment to saudi Arabia