European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 20, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse N the Road again convoys make comeback stories and photos by Vince Crawley Nurnberg Bureau a a military Convoy of More than 700 vehicles wound through Bavaria on the German autobahn one night last week and pvt. 2 Jason Andersen a drove one of the Bradley fighting vehicles. A a a a Quot smoothest ride i Ever had Quot said Andersen a 8-year a old infantryman he s from big Timber mont., and arrived a at his 3rd inf div unit in Schweinfurt Germany near the end of february. A v -7. A a Quot when you first Start driving you la swear you hear bom a to be wild playing in the background Quot Andersen told his Relief Driver referring to the old motorcycling Anthem. ,. Quot Only. Instead of harleys we got . Andersen s smooth ride might be almost a thing of Thea Post. A .1 a. A Hitler built the autobahn the world s first superhighway. Network in the 1930s to Speed up his own military traffic a. Plans after world War ii american tanks replaced Quot a. German panzers on autobahn commutes Between motor pools and the Grafe Wohr Hohenfels training areas in northeastern Bavaria. A however convoys measuring in the hundreds have. Become a rare sight on the crowded roadways of the 1990s. Most military take the train and from the training areas. A. A a. A Quot a. Although he did t have any hard numbers it. Col John Siemer. The executive officer of the 3rd inf div s 1st a brigade said that last week s 700-vehicle Convoy division s largest Quot in recent a. Big nato req never exercises called Quot Reorg or Quot by the troops used to be a Way for colonels and privates to. Accumulate Over the Road Ning mileage now with the cutback of Relo Rgers in recent years Bagade size size unit Seldom get. A Chance to move All at once under their own Power said Siemer who a 41 and comes from Sparta . A a a. And big Road convoys he said will become More important to nato forces of the Luuie As the. Conventional forges in Europe cafe agreements get put into action,.the soviet and former Warsaw pact armies Are shrinking much faster than nato s. The goal is for both to end up roughly equal in size. ,. The old tactic was to stand and hold ground when outnumbered 3-to-1. By an attacking soviet Force. But if infantrymen like pvt. Andersen get mixed up in a future european War Siemer said they ii have the option to move around. Y a a a Quot a Quot with hordes coming Over the Border Quot he said v. Quot mobility was t necessarily important. Now you have the. Option to take them on the ground that a favourable to you As opposed to where he hits . Mobility a is becoming increasingly important Quot he said. With numerically equal forces the Winner is Quot the Guy who can react the quickest.�?�. I. 1 in fact Siemer said that his division s officers stole a Quot some of their Convoy ideas from the russian army. Such mobility missions Are Quot a critical task for the soviets Quot he said Quot and getting More critical As we get into . A. I the scenario for the american commanders was to pretend they were regrouping to the Northwest after a successful defense. V a however there was a Quot considerable amount of give. And take Quot Between the americans and the bavarian state government Over the March route Siemer said the a germans agreed to let the 3rd inf div use a 200-mile autobahn route Between Hohenfels and Schweinfurt but. The number of m-1 tanks had to be limited to about 50, roughly half the amount in Siemer s inventory a a about 150 Bradley also lined up for the overnight drive. At 25 Mph each Crew s journey was scheduled to last nine hours including rest stops ,. Trucks arid lighter tracked vehicles followed a straighter 100-mile path that included some Back roads. An exercise of this size was not without danger. Before the vehicles roiled Siemer mentioned the hectic traffic on a autobahn 6 Between Nurnberg and Stuttgart a main route for German truckers. , two tractor frailer rigs hit. Tanks in separate accidents killing two germans. A preliminary investigations said that the american tank Crews had done nothing wrong. A Bradley fighting vehicles from co a 5th in 15th inf regt Convoy Down the autobahn heading Home from the Hohenfels training from Schweinfurt wait to move out on the autobahn in their Bradley. They Are from front clockwise spec. Cristopher Gill Pic. Richard Huffman staff sgt. Clifton Rushing pvt. 2 Jason Andersen in Hatch and Pic. Robert Green. A a this is the infantry., anything could happen when he came Back from the War spec. A a. A a Cristopher Gill spent 2 a Days at Home with his wife and then headed out for nearly a month of Field duty at the Hohenfels training area in Germany. It was a Welcome Back Don t unpack a Quot said Gill a 22-year-old a a infantry team Leader out of. Schweinfurt Germany his Hometown is Silver Springs Nev. A a this is the infantry Quot he said in a. Way that did t sound like a. A complaining Quot anything could Quot vhf. Happen a a a. ,. Some of the soldiers in Gills unit a c co 5th in 15th inf regt a a were suddenly called to saudi. Arabia one week before the ground War. Started they were supposed to be combat replacements but the War ended before they were needed. Quot we got told to go wednesday and moved out that saturday Quot said staff sgt. Clilton Rushing 29, from. Beaumont Texas. He a in the same outfit which belongs to the 3rd inf however the orders sending them into the combat zone did t come Asa Complete Surprise. Quot once to got whispers we were going we were. Ready Quot Rushing said. They stayed a month As part of what Rushing called the weapons system replacement program then were sent Back to Germany and found out their unit was still pulling Field duty in Hohenfels where it had been since before they left. So they did t unpack their duffle bags. Rushing said that after men got to saudi Arabia on feb. 17, they did some last minute combat training had a Day off then were rushed up to log base Echo a resupply depot near the iraqi kuwaiti Border. Once they got there however Quot the War was about Over Quot Rushing said. Quot one Day left Quot. After the temporary cease fire they waited around to see if it would become permanent and got sent. Back to Germany on March 15-. Quot our Job in saudi was to sit around and wait Quot Gill said. Quot nobody wants to fight but there was a Little bit of. Disappointment. That s what you train to do. Train to . A a. Even though he did t see action Gill said he would be glad to Wear a combat Patch if one s Given to him. Quot everybody had to do Over there whether it was pulling the trigger or waiting pfc. David Mousett 21, from East Orange ., is another saudi a Veteran in Rushing s Section. When he came Back from the War he spent less than two Days with his German a Girlfriend. Alexandra before being whisked off to Field duty in Hohenfels however he a taking her Home to a july 4th family reunion Anc they. Plan to get married in the Stales a. A a not everyone wont to the desert. Pfc. Roberi Green 22. From. Greenville s.c., got assigned to the company on feb. 17, the Day Gill. Mollett and Rushing left. A Quot when i got Here i was two Days a shy of going to saudi Quot Green said., Quot wish i could have gone. us a. A instead they All went to Hohenfels last week they finally got to go Home but first they had to drive their Bradley fighting vehicles Down 200 Miles of autobahn to get there Quot if i had a Choice Quot Gill said Quot i d take the train. It s . A. Still he did t sound like . Complaining it s just that in the. Infantry anything can happen. Pc. Staff sgt. Clifton Rushing on top o f his Bradley. Page 14 a the stars and stripes saturday april 20, 199-j the stars and stripes a Page 15
