European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 09, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday april 9, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 3 in the Gulf is Hammer out Home away from Home by John Millar Middle East Bureau North Central saudi Arabia the Small town of Cottonville saudi Arabia began its meteoric Rise a week ago and before Long it will be a bustling Community of 1,000 Germany based soldiers. In two months it will be a ghost town. So it goes in the saudi desert where tent towns Are popping up All Over to serve As temporary stopovers for soldiers soon to be pulled out of occupied Iraq the tent City is taking shape in the Dusty unbaked desert of North Central saudi Arabia. Townsfolk in the form of 76 soldiers Are hammering and sawing to prepare for the arrival of nearly 1,000 troops who were stationed in Aschaffenbur Germany before their deployment. Cottonville a founders Are with the 3rd inf dives 1st in 7th inf. They Call themselves a Cotton balers a a nickname the 3rd inf div unit picked up in the War of 1812 when its soldiers fired on British troops from behind Cotton Bales during the Battle of new Orleans. Today a Cotton balers fought Saddam Hussein a Republican guard in the Flat open deserts in the Battle to free Kuwait. And when they leave their current positions in Iraq move on to Cottonville said master sgt. Melvin Carson the battalion operations no. Cottonville will be More than just another tent City Way station on the journey to Aschaffenbur Carson said. Rather the 76 soldiers Are trying to make it More like a Home through such projects As laying wooden floors in every tent. Wood left Over from the construction of showers and floors is being used to build weight benches picnic tables outdoor furniture and dressers. A your main objective is to get this done so the Guys who come Back from Iraq wont have to do anything especially if they come at night a said sgt. Jerome Mcknight a unit Supply sergeant helping to build Cottonville. A a a. A a Quot a a a a a a a a. A a v a. A a master sgt. Thomas Brothers the first sergeant of the construction Crew said the aim is to make Cottonville less desert Liker we want to a fake it a Little Niobe Homey for the Guys since they be been Here so Long without seeing any Trees or anything. That san ambitious undertaking considering that the tent town lies on an arid featureless Plain and the builders Are soldiers by Trade not carpenters or plumbers. But like Early settlers they Are making the Best of raw materials and what Carson Calls a Yankee a. A Quot. A most of the soldiers turned craftsmen Are infantrymen cavalry scouts and communications specialists. A a we be always got a few Guys in the service that have worked with Wood before and they pass on their skills a Carson said. The rest he added is a trial and a a a a a a. A a a a v a a a a a a. A a we picked it up pretty Quick a said Mcknight As he worked on a wooden floor inside a Large tent. Mcknight said some prefabricated tent floors were provided but Many were warped and uneven. They built their own by nailing plywood to two by fours. A this gets their feet out of the dirt a Mcknight said. A a they be been standing in that for a dressers were crafted from wooden tent boxes and reclining Lawn chairs from sandbags and scrap Wood. There Are even a few Rock gardens. Cottonville Isnit an isolated Retreat. Nearby Are other towns that will be Home for More units in the divisions 3rd brigade. The brigade Headquarters is just Down a Dusty Road from Cottonville. It does no to have a name yet but construction is Well along. Soldiers Are putting the finishing touches on a Shower building. Unlike most Shower Sites it is completely enclosed. When finished the building will have 13 showers 16 sinks and a Washer and dryer. A this was wasteland before we got Here a said spec. Ron Weiss As he worked on the brigade showers. A fall we have left now to do is build a swimming Carson said the next task at Cottonville is to create a basketball court Complete with a wooden floor. Cottonville and the neighbouring tent communities will have Short life spans perhaps a month or two but that Hasni to fazed those building them a a it a better than sitting in Iraq doing nothing a said spec. Donnie Jeffery of he co 3rd brigade. And Weiss said hell do whatever it takes to get Back to Aschaffenbur. A a in a build a condominium if i got to leave a he said. Specs. Ron Weiss left and Donnie Jeffery hold a Board As pfc. Nathan win Gardner hammers it int position. They re building a Shower House for the 3rd inf dives 3rd brigade Headquarters in saudi Arabia. Metal rain broke iraqi troops will to fight by John Millar Middle East Bureau Southern Iraq the three soldiers had their multiple launch rocket system in posit Iori and ready to fire in the opening hours of the ground War against Iraq. Then waiting for the order to flip the firing switch they prayed. A i prayed for the strength to do it and for forgiveness for doing it a staff sgt. Rick Bulman said. Bulman along with sgt. Michael Bradford and pfc. Timothy Walters did no to know they a be the first Vii corps artillerymen to fire the rocket system in the persian Gulf War. But the Btry a 94th Field arty soldiers from Erlanger Germany did know that flipping the switch meant delivering Long distance death to enemy troops they would never see. A you know what kind of destruction your system will do a Bradford said. The three fired 24 rockets that night and each projectile released 644 bomb lets Over the unseen iraqi targets. Later captured enemy soldiers would Call the effects of the bomb carrying rockets a Metal Vii corps artillery units made it rain a lot during the 100-hour War. They showered the enemy with 8,000 rounds from 155mm howitzers and 1,000 shells from 8-Inch guns. But it was the rocket system which fired More than 1,200 rockets and rained More than 780,000 bomb lets on enemy positions that led enemy troops to nickname the american storm of fire. Col. Vollney Corn the commander of the 1st army div arty said the Long Range Mars was the primary weapon used against enemy artillery. The divisions Mars used a fire it met i v r a a a a ,. 4 it a. A amps John Millar a multiple launch rocket system left and 155mm self propelled howitzer from the 1st army div arty remain in position in the Southern iraqi desert. Strikes to target enemy guns Corn said. The rocket batteries unleashed 36 missiles during each fire strike he said and there were Many of them. It was the fire strikes that earned the rocket system its grim iraqi nickname Corn said. For example a fire strike was called on the Republican guards Medina div after the enemy unit delivered heavy fire on the divisions Apache helicopters Corn said. After the first wave of missiles the artillery moved Forward about a a Miles and delivered another strike to which 8-Inch howitzer fire was added. When the division moved ahead again Corn said the enemy a gave up in the divisions 155mm howitzers firing shells similar to Mars rockets also proved effective Corn said. Called dual purpose improved conventional munitions the shells release 88 bomb lets after reaching target area. A it does no to bust bunkers very Well but anything above the ground it decimates a a Corn said. The artillery got help in locating iraqi artillery units from the division fire finder radar systems according to artillery staff officers. The radar continuously scans for incoming shells according to chief warrant officer 2 Dennis sinning the Divi Sion a maintenance chief for the radar system. As an enemy artillery Shell enters radar View the fire finder plots the shells course in reverse to find its origin he said. Sgt Steve Gardner a fire finder operator said he can provide coordinates of firing enemy guns a in just a few the 8-Inch howitzers were often left out of the action Corn said because the big guns keep up with the rate of fire capable from the Mars and 155mm How. Pitzer. A a a a a a a a a a the High explosive Shell fired by the 8-� Inch a is a heavy Bunker busting kind of munition a Corn said. But he said the howitzer does no to fit into the modern Battlefield. Its Crew for exam pie works on top of the system whereas the Mars Crew operates from within a closed armoured compartment. Eight Inch guns Are Able to fire Only one round every two minutes Corn said. An Mars Crew can fire-12 rockets in a minute a and can be on the move almost before the last rocket the army has been replacing the big guns with the Mars. A i think that a the right answer a Corn said. A Walters who was on the Crew that fired first said he is bothered sometimes by the cold efficiency with which his Mars kills. A i think about it every night when i go to bed. But i try not to dwell on it. A a it a kind of like that old saying a survival of the this unit and the United states army is definitely the fittest. I done to think anyone out there really has the guts or the stupidity to go up against the . Army and most definitely not against the multiple launch rocket system a he said. A if they do they re going to find out Why the iraqis Call us the a Metal a
