European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 12, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                44 Gifu a Day in the life of the Aimy Grafen Waht training  Ron Jensen staff writer beneath the red safety Light inside the Tower on the Grafe Wohr training Range. It. James Sharp s knee is bouncing like the head of a sewing machine. He fidgets bites his nails and scoots about so much on the folding chair he threatens to Wear a Hole in the seat of his bus. Hidden in the darkness Are the Bradley of Sharps 2nd platoon of which he is the Leader. One by one the fighting vehicles shoot move shoot move and shoot again at targets that pop up Here and there in the bavarian night. A video screen with night vision capability lets Sharp in on the fun. Quot target Quot the voice explodes from the speaker linked to the Bradley on the Range. On the screen a vague Shadow appears among the Black and Gray contrasts. Within two seconds the Bradley Crew is sending a Shell toward the target. Sharp can see its arc on the screen and his body English helps guide it to the target. A hit. Sharp cheers. Quot How bout that great shooting Quot nervous lieutenant Quot More than when i went Down the Range myself Quot he says. Quot because i can t pull the trigger for them Quot this Crew needs no help. Five times targets pop up on the screen. Five times the soldiers put at least three shells through them the minimum required to record a kill. They rumble off the Range with a perfect score. Quot i m very proud of them Quot says Sharp. Quot this is when being a platoon Leader is  the Grafe Wohr training Range has been welcoming soldiers of various loyalties and with weapons of expanding technologies for most of this Century. For the past few weeks and until the end of february it is the 3rd inf dives Range. A a Guy is going to do in combat Only what he does in training Quot says major Jim Carafano of 3rd inf div arty. Carafano is overseeing a training test called operation fire starter. It is a new concept for the Range known As Graf. Usually soldiers come Here simply to fire weapons. Carafano has soldiers on the Range who Are not firing but practising their techniques for getting that fire on target effectively. Quot they need to Man Euver. They need to plan. They need to coordinate with company commanders Quot says it. Col. Michael Hayes it had been an inviting Day at Graf. The Winter afternoon sky was Clear and Blue. The Sunshine bordered on warm. All in All it was a Good Day to be a Soldier in the Field. Quot its the Only time we get to fire live at-4s, live dragons Quot said first sgt. Jeffrey Davis of b company 1st in 15th inf. Quot we get to fire All our weapon  the at-4 is a lightweight Multi purpose weapon fired from the shoulder. The dragon is a Small guided missile. But Davis had other thoughts on his mind. Back Home was a 2-week old girl named Alysha. Quot nine pounds. She a a  standing in the speckled Sunshine that fell through the Trees spec Paul Peck of Hub 3rd div arty discussed the differences Between Graf and saudi Arabia where he served for four months supporting Vii corps during operation desert storm i Quot i was totally opposite in the Gulf a he says. Quot there were real bullets there. You had real Mars multiple launch rocket systems flying Over your  . But soldiers do in combat Only what they do in training the major had said. Quot i never look Forward to coming to Graf no Quot says Peck. Quot i Don t consider this fun. Quot but it pays off. It definitely pays  staff sgt. Glenn e. Polite free at Popup targets on the m-16 qualification Range. Pfc. Benjamin Cardenas prepares to Load an m-249 automatic weapon at Range no. 312. Training at Grafe Wohr varies from Small arms to armoured vehicles Page 16 the stars and stripes wednesday. February 12. 1992 army 155mm howitzers on the move at Grafen Wuhr which has been a military training area for most of this Century. It. Col. Michael Hayes left and a. Jim Carafano review a Sand training map. First sgt. Jeffrey Davis Sas photos by Gus Schuettler a Bradley fighting vehicle opens up during night firing exercises. The stars and stripes a