European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 14, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a the stars and stripes saturday december 14,1991army rules altered to avoid Friendly fire by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a the army is changing training tactics and investing in new identification technology to try to avoid repeats of the a Friendly fire incidents that plagued . Ground forces in the War with Iraq officials said thursday. At a Pentagon news briefing maj. Gen. Wesley Clark of the army training and doctrine come said some new initiatives have already been adopted while others Are being studied. A the guiding principle behind our efforts is that the army cannot accept casualties that can be prevented by our own actions to improve identification in combat a said Clark who is heading the army a combat identification task Force that was formed to assess the Issue after the persian Gulf War. But he added eliminating fratricide is probably an unrealistic goal. A War is not a Zero defect operation Quot he said. A we can minimize fratricide but we have to recognize that we will never be Able to prevent  a Pentagon review found that 27 of the 35 my tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles destroyed or damaged in the War a 77 percent a were hit by other . Tanks ah-64 Apache helicopters and a-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft. Thirty five of the 148 . Combat deaths 24 percent were caused by Friendly fire the study found. On the training Side the army is working to ensure that units Are familiar with the locations of other Friendly forces Clark said. For example a at the National training Center at fort Irwin calif., for example Friendly targets appear once or twice in front of units making their training runs. A a a lost Friendly vehicles also Are being inserted into Battlefield simulations and intermingled with enemy forces. A participants in fratricide training incidents Are being vigorously debriefed afterwards not in a punitive sense but in an investigation Al sense to increase our understanding of the causes of frat i list of serious Friendly fire incidents by the stars and stripes the costliest . Friendly fire incident during the persian Gulf War occurred feb. 27, when five m1a1 tanks and five Bradley fighting vehicles battling enemy forces at night in poor weather were shot up by other m1a1 tanks. Six . Soldiers were killed and 25 others wounded. Other serious Friendly fire incidents were a four marines were killed Jan. 29 when their Light armoured vehicle was hit by a Tow anti tank missile fired from another Marine corps armoured vehicle. A seven marines were killed and two wounded Jan. 29 when an air Force a-10 Thunderbolt Jet fighter fired a Maverick missile that malfunctioned in flight and hit the marines Light armoured  two soldiers were killed and six others were wounded feb. 17 when an Apache ah-64 gunship blew up a Bradley with a he fifire missile. A three soldiers were killed and three others wounded feb. 26 when their armoured personnel Carrier was hit by machine gun fire from a . Tank. A two soldiers were killed and six were wounded feb. 26 when their Bradley took rounds from a . Tank. A two soldiers were killed and nine were wounded feb. 27 when three Bradley were fired upon by an m1a1. Cide a Clark said. The army already knows what caused Many of the Friendly fire incidents in the persian Gulf a Battles were fought at night in an environment that was often choked with dust smoke or rain. Eleven of the army a 12 Friendly fire incidents on the ground occurred at night in very poor visibility Clark said. To allow units to see one another better the army is developing several new identification devices said maj. Gen. Jerry Harrison chief of the army Laboratory come at Adelphi my. The devices most units had on hand for the persian Gulf War were rudimentary a reflective paint chemical lights and brightly coloured panels that could be Hung on vehicles. New devices include two types of infrared vehicle beacons that can be seen through night vision goggles and Thermal tape that can be picked up through Thermal targeting sights such As those used by the m1a1 tank. The army also plans to increase use of the global positioning system a device that can be carried on each vehicle so Crews know where they Are in relation to other Friendly forces at All times. More than 16,000 of the devices will be in the Field by the end of fiscal 1994, and All contingency units will be equipped with them by then. Also being developed is a laser warning receiver for ground vehicles that lets Crews know when a Friendly vehicle has locked a targeting laser on them so they can quickly identify themselves. A in general these devices would have been effective in reducing fratricide in the persian Gulf a Clark said. In the longer term army scientists will work to develop improved optics and targeting systems that will identify Friendly and enemy forces out to the maximum Range for a particular weapon system Harrison said. He conceded that the principal near term fixes a the infrared beacons a have problems. For one thing the beacons Are useless during the Day because their Light can be seen Only through the military a night vision goggles. More important the beams can also be seen by anyone on the Battlefield who has night vision equipment including the enemy. The iraqis did not have such devices but most Modem armies would be expected to have them. Clark and Harrison did not fully address questions of Why Middle East Battlefield conditions were not anticipated prior to the War and Why existing technology was not made available to units be fore the fighting broke out. The Budd Light had been developed at least two years prior to the War yet was not distributed to units heading to the persian Gulf. The Darpa Light was developed within just a few weeks of the initial Field request from the Middle East a but that request came after the War started. Clark and Harrison said that while All the initiatives under development can help reduce fratricide there really is no single solution to the problem. A the use of identification devices entails risks a Clark said. A the Field commander has to weigh the risks of being identified by the enemy with the risks of fratricide. What we want to do is provide a a kit bag to the commander in the Field so that he has a number of options to use As the situation Calls  the army must walk a Fine line in dealing with this Issue by not reducing Battlefield effectiveness to the Point where . Forces might take greater losses from the enemy than they would save through fewer Friendly fire incidents he said. A we must balance caution against fratricide with the need to maintain our Battlefield Edge a he said. A we can to make soldiers timid. We must maintain our a first shot capability.�?�1st of two Al 11 units deactivates at Lakenheath Raf Lakenheath England a amps a the 495th tac fighter so went out of business Friday when it became the first of two f-111f fighter bomber squadrons to deactivate at this base. Before fridays ceremony at the Raf Lakenheath officers club the bases 48th fighter Wing had four squadrons off a 1 if aardvarks. All of the aircraft Are to leave the base to make Way for the f-i5e Eagle aircraft which Are due to arrive in Early 1992. Only two squadrons of the f-15es will be located at Lakenheath once the conversion is completed by sum Mer of 1993. The three remaining squadrons off Luis will be 492nd and 493rd fighter squadrons and the 494th tac fighter so. No decision has been made As to which one of the three will be the second Squadron to deactivate because of the conversion said base spokesman capt. Dave Cannon. The 495th tac fighter so had been nicknamed aardvark University because it was the Al 1 if replacement training Squadron. With the impending departure of the Al 1 if there is no longer a need for such a Squadron said Cannon. The Squadron comprised 33 f-111f aircrew members. Its aircraft have transferred to the remaining three flying squadrons Cannon said. The deactivation ceremony was followed by the dedication of a 495th tac fighter so Monument at the base flagpole in Liberty Park located Between the base Hospital and Exchange. A time capsule was buried. In a related matter approximately 1,100 military members will be Cut from the bases population once the f-15e conversion is completed. Figures released earlier had indicated about 800 slots would be Cut. The updated figures which appeared in an article in the base newspaper dec. 6, represent a loss of 907 maintenance and operation Manning slots and 165 base operating support slots. About 5,000 military personnel Are now stationed at Lakenheath Cannon  in Furth to offer household appliances the defense re utilization and marketing office in Germany has announced a Sale of household appliances in the Niernberg area on dec. 18. The Cash and carry Sale will be held from 10 . To 1 . In building 276 of Monteith Barracks in Furth. The Sale is open to anyone. Items for Sale include Large and Small refrigerators dryers washers electric ranges and some european appliances. All appliances Are wired for 220 volts 50 cycles. All purchases must be made in Cash Marks Only. Checks and . Dollars will not be accepted. Purchases must be removed by 4 . On the Day of the Sale. Haitian refugees growing restless Guantanamo Bay Cuba a signs of Strain Are showing As the population of haitian boat people grows at a makeshift refugee Camp on the . Naval base Here. A Melee broke out tuesday when a Rumor a went through the Camp like wildfire that cuban president Fidel Castro had Given orders to kill the haitians if they weren to off the Island in five Days Marine Brig. Gen. George h. Walls said thursday. The Rumor a which Walls stressed was false a began with several haitian refugees who told interpreters tuesday night that they had heard a cuban radio report saying Castro wanted them off the Island immediately. A they became very excited. They started running around the Camp singing and chanting. Its the kind of thing that if it happened on the streets of Miami somebody would have been gassed or shot a he said. Walls the head of joint . Military task Force operating the tent City at the base on the Southeastern tip of Cuba said no one was injured in the Brawl which was quickly quelled. Several reporters and photographers were taken thursday on a tour of the tent City that has swelled to 5,513 haitians intercepted by the . Coast guard As they risked the treacherous Ocean passage to the United states. On thursday the 11th . Circuit court of appeals in Atlanta heard arguments on the government s Appeal of a lower courts injunction blocking the haitians deportation to their Homeland. The panel has not indicated when it would Rule. The injunction issued this week by . District judge c. Clyde Atkins in Miami was the third blocking the haitians return. The . Government maintains that most of the haitians Are fleeing for economic not political reasons and therefore do not deserve Asylum. Furthermore solicitor general Kenneth Starr told the court that refugees stopped in International Waters do not have the Protection of . Laws