European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday january 11,1991 the stars and stripes a. I j u. -1i.uui a till crisis in the Gulf win Mission has division Corning and going by Joseph Owen Middle East Bureau Eastern saudi Arabia the caricature posted on the operations room Wall shows a smirking missile pointing an. Index Finger toward the viewer a scud wants you a the caption barks satirizing Uncle Sam in the famous recruiting poster. Such Gallows humor abounds at the persian Gulf seaport where 1st inf div fwd soldiers Are ushering other troops into the potential War zone. It reflects the startling dichotomy in the divisions Mission. After years of bracing for conflict in Germany some division units spent much of the fall preparing to deactivate. So the army a decision to Send them to saudi Arabia at the beginning of december to help co ordinate the biggest . Deployment in two decades a while continuing to deactivate a was a mild we already had the operation order change in our Mission and everything a said sgt. 1st class Oran l. Cox 36, of Chandler okla., who had been stationed with 2nd in 5th Field arty at Neu Ulm Germany. A i had orders for fort Sill okla a instead Cox is working with a temporary cadre of longshoremen Drivers plumbers lodging clerks and others helping thousands of newly arrived soldiers from Germany move their equipment from two cast coast saudi ports to tactical Assembly areas. Each ports 700-member reception committee should finish its work by the end of january he said. A the plan is for us to Complete our Mission Here in assisting Vii corps in its deployment then return and Complete our homeward bound Mission a said it. Col. Russel l. Lonore commander of 4th in 16th inf recut Cooke Barracks in gop a Pingen Germany. The. 43-Yearold Lakeland la., native said his units deactivation still is scheduled for May 1. Sgt. Daniel l. Robinson of co a 3rd in 34th Armor regt said his sudden deployment prompted his three Young daughters at Panzer Cavern in Bobingen a amps Joseph own pc. Robert Buhr he co 4th in 16th inf gets some midday rest after a night of work at a port in saudi Arabia. Germany to worry aloud about whether he was going to die in saudi Arabia. But the Short term nature of the assignment pleased his wife Gloria. A i think it went a lot easier smoother on her knowing i was coming Back a the St. Joseph mo., native said. Bit 1st sgt. Mark d. Kloenne of cod 4th in 16th inf has less Confidence in an Early departure. Kloenne of Sarasota fla., said other operation desert shield soldiers at least have the certainty of knowing they will be Here if War with Iraq occurs. A i think its worse for us because we done to know if we re going to leave a he said. The soldiers have Little time to let uncertainty gnaw at them though. Their original task in saudi Arabia was to unload trucks tanks howitzers and other equipment from the ships that berth at the ports. But for the Sake of efficiency they quickly moved into other areas. At one port they manage temporary billets in warehouses an apartment Complex and two tent cities. I Lonore said they named one of the tent cities a a Seaside to avoid disappointing new arrivals right away. A the smart ones will ask a is that tents or is it buildings a the tired ones will ask a of where is it?�?T.�?� i Lonore said. Division soldiers also build furniture from scrap lumber handle mail maintain temporary plywood latrines drive buses provide religious services and medical support and run a Large food service operation. They provide training for soldiers waiting to move to tactical Assembly areas. They even haul garbage to a Landfill a mile away for the 20,000 people in their care. A the local contractors found out they just could not handle the Large increase m the amount of garbage a Lonore said. Their Job is a 24-hour Effort and division soldiers sleep in shills in one of the warehouses while some of the work is going on in the same aim of getting the inbound units through the port As soon As possible imbues a eve 17 action with the Aura of transience. Cox stood at a training Booth adorned with a poster warning visitors not to ask the a top 10 questions we can to or wont Quot where do i turn in laundry awas no. 8. A tape player squealed and squeaked beside him copying a Barbara mandrel recording at double Speed. What was1 the Rush Why not copy it at a Normal Speed a because its his a cd pm said indicating a newly arrived Soldier standing nearby a and lie might have to take off out of Here any minute now a engineers not impressed by Vince Crawley Middle East Bureau Eastern saudi Arabia the iraqis have created a 200-mile-Long line of tank barriers mine Fields and artillery positions to slow Down a ground attack by the multinational forces. T. A to a not impressed a sgt. Jeffrey Wallace said. Wallace 30, is one of the army combat engineers who might be told to break through the line As Early As next week. It is the bulwark of iraqis defense plan. Soldiers from Wallace a unit the 37th engr in of the 20th engr brigade built what they said was a copy of iraqi defences so that they could show saudi and Bangladesh soldiers How to breach them. But first the americans practice doing it themselves. A we went through it in 26 minutes. We had vehicles rolling through in 50. Through this minefield a said Wallace who a from Hayes a. Then he repeated a i am not still it took some sweat. A i was tired afterwards Wallace said. A a in a be More than glad to just Roll Over and let the task Force take others however cautioned against too much optimism. A first it. Rob Bullard the executive officer of cob said its better to expect the worst. A you can breach pm but a mine is still a does he respect the iraqi obstacles a i do a answered Bullard 26. A a in la get Back to you after i hit capt. Guy Mallow commander of cob is expecting few surprises. Americans could get through iraqi defences in half a Day he predicted. A could be Quick As an hour a he said. A could be 20 minutes to actually have troops going through.�?�. Quot we went through it in 26 minutes. We had vehicles rolling through in 50. Through this mine . Jeffrey Wallace the obstacles Are a nothing we Haven to seen before a he said. A nothing we can to his battalion is assigned to the xviii airborne corps out of fort Bragg n.c., and Mallow said his men might not be the first to Blae a path through the iraqi defences. That Job would go to combat engineers from a front line division who would Cut a narrow passageway for the first wave of tanks and infantry assault vehicles. Then mallows unit would Likely be called up to Widen . -. The first people on the scene should find barbed wire minefields tank ditches and step Man made ridges called a berms a Mallow Are All common elements that american engineers routinely train to breach. A. They prefer to do their Job under cover of night fog or smoke he said. An unknown Factor Mallow said Are the so called fire ditches. These would be filled with crude Oil and set ablaze. And the line which now extends West of hair Al Batin also includes napalm traps. Combat engineers from the 24th inf div predicted that they might try to bypass the fire ditches. A simply put we re just going to have to go around them. If they re As Nasty As they say they Are a said capt. Ralph Corradi operations officer for the 3rd engr in. Pvt. Eric Mann 19, of Providence r.i., said he a been told that heat from the fire can reach 200 meters a and still Fry your butt. Ill stay away from but soldiers from the fort Bragg Engineer battalion said there wont be any detours because the defensive line runs unbroken for hundreds of Miles. Sgt. Kenny Barnhardt said that Saddam Hussein might feel a Little heat himself. Quot hopefully Baghdad la look like this in two weeks a he said monday at a blasted demolition Range where his outfit was training saudi engineers. �?o1 hey told us lies having a party a Barnhardt said of Saddam. A supposed to be a real blast. Well have to go see for then the sergeant who is from Charlotte n.c., added a Hope he son real Good terms with
