European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 14, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday september 14, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 3 despite difficulties multinational forces called Way of future by Ken Clauson staff writer Klinenberg Germany a two Hundred belgian Para commandos crouched in the dark at the Edge of a Field thursday night waiting to be extracted from an exercise certain shield Battle zone. Just past 10 ., two pairs of British at the level of battalions we Are not interchangeable. The philosophy of fighting is not identical a u. Col. Gunther Engel air Force Lynx helicopters briefly touched Down in the Field picking up the commandos reconnaissance teams. The rest of the waiting soldiers carrying heavy Field packs and weapons hustled aboard German and British helicopters that were Landing in pairs after the recon teams flew West to their Landing zone near Munster about 70 Miles to the West. During the ongoing nato training Maneu vers the belgian British and German soldiers As Well As some dutch troops Are ail part of the same unit a multinational air Mobile division that will be disbanded when the exercise ends next week. Two years ago a multinational Headquarters element was formed in York England to begin pulling together the unit that is now being tested As a nato operational Reserve Force according to division spokesman maj. Hans Joachim Oehler a German paratroop officer. The test division called mad represents a Large step toward creating a nato multinational rapid deployment Force. It contains a British air Mobile brigade belgian Para commando regiment and a German airborne brigade. The divisions anti tank and troop lift helicopters Are provided by British German and dutch army aviation units. Although the division was Able to Complete its assigned Mission of blocking and delaying an armoured attack by an opposing Force the exercise highlighted some major difficulties in bringing troops from several nations together into one unit in particular language and communications. But most of the soldiers accept the multinational concept As the Way of the future. A was a military officer asked to put together a Force its always going to be More effective if its purely National a said it. Col. Gunther Engel commander of the German airborne in 273. A but for political reasons and International cohesion we will have multinational most officers speak English the nato Standard language so at the command Levels face to face communication was not a problem he said. But the requirement that the units use Only their Standard equipment created some difficulties. A British signal regiment provided the communications connection Between the division Headquarters and the brigades but below that level Many units could not talk directly to each other because their radios were not compatible. A last night i had within my battalion area a belgian unit a Engel said. A but we Are not Able to mix our radios. We cannot have close Contact by radio with the battalion that is defending in front of me so i had to Send a lieutenant convard to coordinate with them. But i done to have enough staff to make a lot of Liaison reports to the division level commanders also had to be translated Engel noted. A the brigade has to Send All reports in English and it takes double time to do that and they done to have the these problems can be overcome with time he said but he does no to see units being mixed at lower Levels. A at the level of battalions we Are not interchangeable. The philosophy of fighting is not identical a Engel said. But the multinational concept can work at higher Levels he said. A i think it will be possible but with a common command and Only if you train throughout the year. If you cannot train several times a year you cannot have an effective fighting As an example he cited the experimental German French brigades that conduct business in German one week and French the next. The commander of the British 24 airmobile brigade Brig. Christopher Drewry said the problems he noted after the first week were a surprisingly a obviously we be been working on this for quite some time for More than a year. We re encouraged Overall by How Well its All gone a Drewry said. Corp. Udo Priebe a German army Light armoured vehicle Driver would like to see the multinational mix at a lower level. A a in a Only working in a German unit so in be had no Contact with other nations in the division a Priebe said. A for me this is a Normal exercise. It would be a lot better to make multinational training Down to the platoon level so we can get a look at other defense tactics the equipment of the other nations and get a better understanding of How they his vehicle commander sgt. Rico Sie fert also likes the multinational concept particularly for training. A it would be great to train with other nations because of their experience in real combat. For example the British in the falklands and the persian Gulf. They could pass their experience on to German troops who Only have experience from books and training As the military forces shrink throughout the Western Alliance multinational formations can make the most of what remains Oehler said. But he also sees such units representing highly visible political Burden sharing. A was germans a Oehler said a we feel we must have multinational forces for political reasons a to bring nato Forward and to bring Europe Luggage of five still unclaimed Offenbach Germany a warehouse personnel Are trying to match up service members and civilians in Europe with their unclaimed baggage a v corps spokesman said. Baggage left unclaimed after 300 Days is subject to disposal. No further storage is authorized. The following people should Contact the Offenbach warehouse Ito Box 44, Frankfurt military Community Apo 09710, or Call ets 320-5008 or 7309. The German civilian numbers Are 0691515008 or 069-1517309. Baggage unclaimed Attar 120 Daye Blaunt Clarence Quot Quot Britton Dinah Grear Stanley Mccary Wayne Sawyer Alexander in Era of closings army opens new Cavern near dutch Borde pet festival scheduled Giessen Germany a the third annual pet festival will be held 2 Oct. 20 on the Parade Field at Ayers Cavern in Kirch Gons. Trophies and ribbons will be award for such categories As longest Tail or Garfield look alike. Also scheduled is a trained dog demonstration. A veterinarian will be at the festival to give shots. Required preregistration begins oct. 1. For information Call 346-7129 or 0603381-7129. By Peggy Davidson Kaiserslautern Bureau Grefrath Germany a while Many army posts Are being closed the 21st theater army area come played Host thursday to a formal opening ceremony for Grefrath Cavern near the dutch Border. The Cavern at the former belgian Nike site owned by nato is now Home to nearly a dozen Small units that provide Central postal financial and recreational support to soldiers stationed at Remote Sites in the area As Well As Headquarters offices for some of the units. The army needs the Cavern to support the troops still assigned to that part of Germany said Sandy Goss a Public affairs spokesman with the Schinnen military Community in the Netherlands the Parent Community of Grefrath. A Grefrath is the right size for that support a Goss said. It. Gen. William s. Flynn commander of the 21st, said that because the Cavern is a nato facility there is no rent to pay. A this does not have to do with the draw Down a he said. A a it a mainly a Money saving place. We got this place for nothing. moving out of leased quarters in monchengladbach and the now closed Rei chel building in Sheinberg accounts for the $500,000 annual savings expected at Grefrath Flynn said. The new Cavern supports about 2,500 soldiers their families and department of the army civilians Goss said. Although the Cavern is Small it boasts an Exchange store a Chapel and a Library. Soldiers and their families can sign up for Tours through the morale welfare and recreation tour program there and the army Community service office features a lending closet. The closing of the Sheinberg facility last year saw the departure of More than 600 people from the area. Some who did no to leave were those who supported soldiers in the outlying Sites Flynn said. Rather than lease More buildings the Grefrath Cavern provided a Central location at no continuing Cost for the army. There were some one time costs associated with opening a new facility said maj. Chuck Yokom director of engineering and housing at Schinnen. Several people at Grefrath described the condition of the Cavern As a neglected a and the nearly 20 buildings on the Small Cavern needed repairs. It Cost $2.1 million for engineering and housing improvements Yokom Saia. Included in that Bill were the first years utilities All renovations and a Complete electrical upgrade of the Cavern Yokom said. Soldiers began moving into offices and Barracks rooms in March Yokom said. The army did no to sign the papers taking control of the Cavern until 1990, so repair and renovation contracts be made until january 1991, he said. Flynn said he feels that the Grefrath facility could probably realize More savings in the future but he wants the Cavern running smoothly before making More changes. A let me get them All working As a team a Flynn Sisil Iii in six months or a year and see if there s some savings we can make. The Cavern will be under army management for a quite some time a Goss said. Grefrath officials recently Learned that they have approval to build a commissary Annex on the Cavern. Goss said that decision alone indicates that the . Army Europe intends to maintain fac facility for a Lone time
