European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 21, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                U.s., British tanks Gulf conflict slims Friday june.21, 1991 a / the stars and stripes by Vince Crawley Nairn Borg Bureau or  we a or Germany a Amer ican and British Crews were noticeably absent from this years Canadian army trophy Competition called the a super bowl of nato tank gunnery which tin shed wednesday at the Grafe Wohr training area. A a ,. A. Although they originally had planned to Send teams., the United states and United kingdom pulled out of the International meet last autumn because of the persian Gulf crisis n Ato officers said. Instead most would be american contestants ended up seeing combat against. Iraqis Republican guard. The  coalitions stunning Victory in the persian Gulf was partly because of multinational events such As the Canadian army trophy Competition said German army Gen. Hans Henning von Sandr Art commander of Allied forces Central Europe. Speaking at a press conference before the awards ceremony wednesday von Sandr Art also cited nato Pilot training and the Boselager Competition for cavalry scouts such events prepare soldiers and airmen for the a Complex coalition a environments of modern War he said. A a we re not Happy that the americans Are not competing but everybody understands a said maj. Gen. Richard b. Grif fits a . Army officer and chairman of the International competitions control committee. The tank shootout was staged at Grafen Wohr a computerized Range 301. British soldiers told a similar Story. A the reason we re not involved is the same As the americans a both have been Busy on other things a said col. . Nowers a British officer who works for natos Allied forces Central Europe. The match held every two years tests precision shooting and teamwork among a platoon of four tanks. Countries that. Were traditionally involved in defending Germany during the cold War were in Vitco to Send platoons to the match. These form two International teams natos Northern army group Conri petes against the Central army group. In a timed 20-minute course the tank a. A amps Vinco crawly tanks from Germany a 153rd Panzer in take part in the Canadian army trophy Competition this week at Grafe Wohr. Crews shoot standing still shoot on the move and fire machine guns. In one instance Griffitts said Crews had to aim at a target 1 meter High from a distance of 1,490 meters nearly a mile. A that a he said a is not a big  once All the platoons have fired the army group with the highest average team score gets to keep the Canadian army trophy  tank Model cast in Silver until the next Competition. The Northern army group 1989�?Ts Winner came out on top again this year with an average 16,076.2 per team. _ a trophy is also awarded to the highest scoring platoon. This years Winner was a German platoon from Luneburg a s4th tank in which scored 20,225 Points out of a possible 22,600. Jhc next closest score was nearly 3,000 Points lower made by the German 153rd Panzer in from Koblenz. The United states traditionally sends three platoons to the event and the British army of the Rhine has often sent one or two platoons in the past. This year however the shootout was limited to tank Crews from Belgium Canada Germany and the Netherlands. A Nowers the British officer said that the French routinely decline invitations to attend. But Competition officials Hope that they will show up in the future with their new Leclerc tank. The International tank trophy began with the Canadian army in 1963, and its purpose is a to compete not against each other but with each other a said von Sandr Art the German general who oversaw the awards ceremony. With the political changes in the former Warsaw pact countries von Sandr Art said it is possible that soviet t-64, t-72 and t-80 tanks might also compete alongside the nato models one Day. Because the american and British tanks went to War this years competitors All fired German built Leopard 1 and Leonard 2 tanks. Although the americans did no to have a team firing about 200 to 300 of them still helped set up and run the event said army maj. Charles Stibrany an american officer on the control committee. Americans behind the firing line included Cooks. Drivers military police Range controllers and Competition judges said air i a orce maj. Roger Overturf a spokesman for the event. There was a Bright Side to the absence of american and British competitors Stibrany said. The length of the shootout was Cut from five Days to 21/�?T, and nighttime firing was dropped because the older tanks used by the belgians and canadians done to have night sights. In these Days of shrinking military budgets Stibrany said the cuts helped keep Down costs. 2 of his top Mili Baghdad Iraq apr Saddam Hussein has dismissed his military chief of staff and military intelligence chief in the fourth major shakeup of his High command since november diplomatic sources and published reports  government run Alef Baa weekly said it. Gen. Hussein Rashid who was named chief of staff on nov. 8, was replaced by it Gen. Iyad Futi Yeh Al Rawi commander of the Republican guard. Rashid negotiated the iraqi capitulation in the per is an Gulf War. A the weekly gave no reason for the shuffle and did not say whether Rashid was Given another Post. The Alef Baa disclosure came As diplomatic sources confirmed reports that Saddam had already dismissed his chief of military intelligence maj. Gen. Wafiq Jassim Sam Mari who was appointed Only two. Months ago. Allied military officers and senior kurdish rebels i Northern Iraq reported on saturday that Sam Mari and other senior officers had been arrested for unspecified anti regime  the sources said the new chief of military intelligence is Brig. Gen. Abdul Khader Salman Khamis a i ormer iraqi military attache in London. There has been no formal government announcement of the command changes. One knowledgeable source speaking on condition of Anonym it said Sammario a arrest was seen As part of Saddam s efforts to Quot reorganize the system because of the military and political results of the War and their effects on the  he did not elaborate. There has been no visible sign of dissent within the military  Wake of iraqis defeat in the War Over Kuwait. A Al Rawi like Rashid is a hero of the 1980-88 War with  is a staunch Saddam loyalist and was Given command of the Republican guard Saddam Stop combat Force in 1987, succeeding Rashid. Since the Gulf crisis began 10 months ago Saddam has changed his defense minister three times and his chief of staff twice. There have been unconfirmed reports of several purges of his officer corps amid speculation that Many senior commanders Are critical of Saddam a decision to invade Kuwait and dig in a despite the buildup of  forces Bent on forcing him to withdraw. Since he took Power in 1979, Saddam has regularly purged senior officers to prevent coups or get rid of commanders he considered were becoming too popular and could Challenge his Rule. Iraqis state run newspapers say Saddam a held a closed door conference tuesday with the commanders of the army a seven corps. The dailies gave no details of the meeting the first of its kind for some time. It was held As Saddam reorganizes the remnants of his armed forces. His million Man army has been reduced to Between 300,000 and 400,000 men according to estimates by diplomats and Western  rules out foreign bases in Egypt Cairo Egypt up a president Hosni Mubarak on thursday rejected the idea of Egypt hosting foreign military bases and said his country would refuse to stockpile weapons for a foreign Power. A we reject any foreign military bases on our territory a Mubarak told reporters accompanying him on recent visits to Kuwait and Bahrain. His remarks were published in egyptian newspapers thursday. A we also reject the idea of stockpiling weapons in our country a he said. Mubarak was replying to questions on whether Egypt would accept the establishment of . Bases in the country to Deal with any future military threat to the United states allies in the Region. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney disclosed earlier this month that the United states was stockpiling weapons in Israel. Egypt a relations with the United states improved sharply after Egypt offered full support for the  coalition that dislodged iraqi troops from Kuwait in february. Egypt Syria and the six nation Gulf cooperation Council Are working out a plan whereby egyptian and syrian troops will spearhead a pan Arab peacekeeping Force in the Gulf in return for Aid. Press reports said an avowed preference from Gulf Arab states for Western rather than Arab peacekeeping troops for the volatile Region angered Mubarak and prompted him to announce full w withdrawal of egyptian troops from the Gulf Region w Here they were deployed to fight against Iraq