European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday december 19. 1990 the stars and stripes Al Ini ii Lei Inisi Iii iirirn>1tirtiii Randy Pruitt a you have to problem,1 the saudi said studying the tear in the rear rubber bumper of the rental car that his son had just rammed. A you have no problem. I will pay All he was a Nice Man an Aranco employee who wrote Down , who insisted on showing me where he lived. Later would learn he had studied in Tulsa. Okla., my Hometown. For now he admitted that his son was at fault and again assured me a you have no 1 a no problem Quot words i was to hear throughout the afternoon and late into the evening at the Damman police station. The Many a son a driving alone a had rear ended the car at an intersection in an affluent neighbourhood. Damage appeared minor but rental car agreements Are strict report All accidents or risk being personally liable for All damages. A police report and a paper authorizing repair Are required. I explained this to the father. A no problem a he said. Minutes later vye stood inside police Headquarters where i soon began to wonder about those two words. Two policemen sat in Pitt behind a desk cluttered with Accident reports. Eight men made a half Circle around the officers. All vied for attention. The police would be engrossed in one Case exchanging comments with the parties involved when someone in a separate Accident would break in. Suddenly the focus would shift until someone else interrupted with yet a different Case. A ringing Telephone and conversation of passing officers added to the pandemonium. The father finally got the attention of a policeman who looked like a Cross Between Jackie Gleason and Charles Bronson. Briefly he told him what happened. The policeman scowled and shouted at the father the son was Only 15. The Legal driving age in saudi Arabia is 16. The father turned to me. A you do not have a problem a he said. Quot my son does riot have a problem. 1 have the the father held the floor Only a few moments before someone tossed a fresh Case into the Arena. Suddenly the Mournful sounds of the the faithful to prayer drifted through the air. It was 5 ., the fourth of the Days five prayer Calls. A i will Pray and come Back the father announced. Others left too even the policemen. The room was a deserted except for a Lone floor pacing reporter. A mosque stood on the police station grounds. All the men took their shoes off entered and Knelt in the direction of Mecca the Muslim holy City. The entire scene visible from the police station driveway was filled with incongruity. Men involved in accidents together now prayed together policemen Knelt in stocking feet but kept guns strapped to their hips. Twenty minutes later they were All Back business As usual. Without warning the big policeman ordered the Man to go get. His son. A kuwaiti waiting to get his Accident Case resolved explained that the policeman wanted to give the boy a Stern lecture. A the just wants to teach him a lesson a he said one hour later the Man returned with his Sonin Tow. The boy wore the traditional Long White shirt Over his Western clothes a red and White headdress tied around his head. He looked scared dejected. He said nothing. A the has an exam tomorrow a his father explained a the was coming Buck from the Library at the time of the Accident a time dragged. We stood around the desk watching other men argue and sometimes laugh. The father got out Only one sentence. The big cop looked at me said a you have no at 6 25 A familiar sound rang out. Prayer time again. Ninety minutes lapsed before they came Back it would be nearly 10 When they let us go. All. Matters on my car would need to be handled by the rental Agency they said the boy went Home to study while the father and drove to the neighbouring City of Dhahran to the Auto rental company. A clerk informed us the matter be settled until morning. 1 took the father Back to Damman to his car. We Shook hands. He apologized. A no problem a i said. The Star and Stripe. 6 Pogo 3 crisis in the Gull _. A a a a a a. A few ass Otiewa Fowler a Soldier with 4th so 2nd army inv regt from Feucht Tim Nanny waives an mini Lank off a ship in saudi Arabia. Assault from Page 1sources say bad weather in Europe has Hamstrung flight schedules causing delays throughout the logistical pipeline senior Vii corps officers insist however that their timetable remains undisturbed. A a the deployment is pretty much on schedule a said Vii corps logistics chief Brig. Gen. Robert Mcfarlin a a it a not easy but we re keeping to it. A Lotof people arc pitching in testimony Friday before the House armed services committee Gen. Colin Powell chairman of the joint chiefs of staff indicated that it could be As late As mid february before . Forces in the Region would have full capability to launch an offensive against iraqi forces. Quot our offensive capability is not where we would want it to be yet a Powell said. President Bush ordered the second stage buildup on nov. 8. It is designed to raise the number of . Soldiers in the persian Gulf from approximately 240,000 to 430,000 and to give . Forces the ability to mount an offensive War against entrenched iraqi positions in occupied Kuwait and in Iraq itself. Mid january emerged As a deadline Only on nov 29, when the . Security Council authorized military a Tiomir if Iraq failed to withdraw from Kuwait by Jan. 15. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney told the House committee last week that Iraq has More than 500,000 soldiers deployed in Kuwait and Southern Iraq. . And Allied forces total approximately 480,000 men and women. The whether the United states will have completed its second stage deployment by Jan. 15 and thus lie Able to fight an offensive War against Iraq remains unclear a As indicated by Powell a congressional testimony. Army Mai. Gen William a a Gus Pagonis desert Shields chief of logistics repeatedly ducked the question in a recent interview saying Only that a i have a timetable and vye will do everything in our Power to meet a and array Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf commander of . Forces in the persian Gulf also declined to name a Date but told the Reuters news Agency that a it would be foolish if i even tried to say to you that 1 Wasny to focusing on Jan. 15 As a very very important Date when 1 darn sure want to be the air Force which now has about 650 combat planes in the Region is expected to add about 300 More to its Force including additional stealth f-117 bombers. The Navy is doubling the number of aircraft carriers in the Region to six Carrier Battle groups with More than 400 fighters and bombers and is adding a second battleship the Missouri to its Fleet. Of the new carriers Only the Ranger bused in san Diego has left port Navy spokesmen in saudi Arabia said. The Navy currently has three Carrier Battle groups in the red sea the Gulf of Oman and the Eastern Mediterranean. The battleship Wisconsin and an amphibious assault group carrying a Marine brigade Are in the persian Gulf of the four services Only corps has said categorically that it intends to be in place and ready for Battle by Jan. 15, four ships loaded with enough equipment to outfit an entire. 16,000-member brigade for 30 Days arrived in Eastern saudi Arabia last week and began Dis gorging m6q tanks artillery troop carrying vehicles and containers filled with everything from toilet paper to bandages. A your objective is to meet this Jun. 15 Lime Frame a said col. Gary Dockendorff chief of the Marine Advance party charged with unloading the ships. A figure seven to eight Days to put everything together another two to three Days to see that everything works. In 10 Days we want to he Able to say a i can fight with a v the marines who began arriving last week Are forming the 2nd Marine div most of whose components Are based in Camp Lej Cutie , Ever since desert shield began in August the marines have enjoyed an advantage in Quick deployment because of the brigade sized sets of equipment unit have been repositioned aboard ships who Cut remain at sea awaiting deployment. The vessels that arrived dec. 13 were under Way off the Atlantic coast when the second stage buildup was. Announced. The equipment was first loaded in 1984 and has Heen periodically unpacked examined and tested to ensure that everything is in Good repair maintenance personnel have rigid arty changed gaskets turned Turbine drive shafts and replaced outdated medicines a for the army however moving has proved More com pics. Lacking ready to use spare sets of gear the deploy tent of Vii corps has become part of the vast Supply train moving front the United slates Ami Europe to the persian Gull. A Goisis who runs the saudi end of this colossus with a 25,000-Mcmbcr logistics command is handling at least four different types of cargo at present food arid equipment for the set vice members already in the Region special seasonal loads such As the Christmas mail that is pouring in at the Rale of 5cimnj9to 6 <j,0 1 pounds per Day equipment for the new arrivals and the new arrivals themselves. A -. Advance parties from Vii corps have been Iii saudi Arabia fur the past two weeks and sortie Vii corps a Mofid division troops have even claimed their tanks. Hut the inflow of soldiers from Europe has been slow up to now. A. A a a a a nevertheless said col de Simpson Vii corps Deputy chief of staff a Weye on or ahead of schedule and we Are about to reach the Takeoff Point very soon its going to be coming fast and furious around Here a on saturday the Vii corps unfurled its colors in a private ceremony in saudi Arabia not wanting to draw attention to itself As the new kids on the Block. The unfurling officially moved the corps from Germany Whereat served As the armoured spearhead of nato forces facing off against the soviet bloc on the Plains of Central Europe a. A a a a a a a a. Besides the 1st and 3rd army dive its two Basic units in saudi Arabia vol corps will be beefed up by the 1st inf div based at fort Riley kan., As Well As other Germany based infantry and artillery units. With three full tank it divisions Vii corps is a classic armoured corps and differs significantly from the Xvi airborne corps the one no tonal command that incorporates All the army fighting units currently in the persian Gulf Region. The Xvi airborne includes two tank divisions and two airborne Light infantry divisions the Shock troops who arrived in saudi Arabia in August to deter mounting an immediate invasion of saudi Arabia. The presence of Vii corps demonstrates . Willingness to match Armor with the iraqis underscoring the deepening offensive orientation of , forces in the Gulf. Moving from the Cool forests of Europe to the arabian desert terrain said vol corps Simpson will present no significant difficulties since a the Basic skills Are there a but it Wilt necessitate some adjustments. A a Germany a a Little place. There you look at a map Sheet and you la see roads Rivers a its easy to get around a Simpson said. A this is an enormous area. Here. You look at a map Sheet and you in see Brown. Anything we need inthe dese Twe Bette take with
