Vershina Cable

Vol. 21

No. 8

56111 Fleld Artlllery Brigade

August 1984

Double

Gls praise PII

Story and photos by Jim Cramblet

SOMEWHERE, WEST GERMANY At 2:20 a. m., a <:onvoy of 30 vehicles sna

ked through the pre-dawn chill 10 deliver
the fim Peohing lls 10 the soldiers ol the
56th FA Bdc.
In the late fall of 1983 the trucks, under
heavy military a.nd German police guard,
delivered the first missiles to be fielded in
Germany under the NATO Twin Track agreement off 1979.
Tea.ms staned the immediate off loading
of the ea.rgo and ,he process of mating the
first P Us.
Missile crews of the 56th FA Bdc had
bun training a long time for this moment,
and they arc still training. Training covers ,
lot of areas. Mccbanics arc taugh, 10 care for
the new M A N trucks, drivers arc trained
to drive them - missilt crews arc attending
schools in the uucs and training in the field
here.
It ist not a simple task to field an improved system such as ,he Pershing JI.
MAN Training

Special schools have been set up for the

mechanics of the 56th FA Bde. that will
keep ,he new trucks on the road. The schoolin~ is being conducted by M A N at one of
1.hc1.r training centers. The three week course
teaches theory as. well as hands on.
According to Spec. 4 Michael Mitchell,
mechanic, "If they had this kind of training
in AIT, AIT would be a lot longer but you
would learn faster and with hands on while
you learn."

STANDING TALL - A PII with dummy w1melld It raised In 1 !reining exercl" 11

brlglde training -

Page 6

Mechanic, Pvt. 2 Donald R. Hanson, added, "I'm really surprised at how much of
the American cuhurc th.-v (M A N insrructors) know and how welf they spc,k. How
well they understand our job ,nd ho... to relate the craining to it."
The instructors ire cxccllcnl."' Sgt. l st
Class Larry D. Ditgcn said. "They not only
teach the principle of operation, but ,he
theory 100.
Field Training

"PII is a lot simpler ,han Pia, Spec. 4

Roger A. Pershing, mi,.il crewman. said.
we can set it up a lot quicker than we
could the old system.
Before a system such as Pll can be u kcn
to the fi,ld, soldiers must b trained. N<"'
soldiers just arriving in country have .1lrt.1d y
received their training 0111 the system during
AIT, but Pia soldiers have h,d 10 return to
the states to receive some of the tn.ining lhat
is ncc.t ssary.

Soldim of the 56th FA Bde are in"ol"ed

in three sta~es of training 10 insure that the
PII system u implemented correctly and ready 10 go.
Platoon Sergeant, Sgt. l II Class Bobbi
Hester cyplained that crews needed du,
room and hands-on traiming in a controlled
environment. From there, New Equipment
Training to familiarize the soldiers wi,h the
equipment and finally, field mining.
A platoon netds cobesi,.eness ro oixrate," he said, '"and for that it needs trai-

ning."
Hester added that fielding Pershing II was
a team cffon, not only o-f the missile ere"

Herr Adolf Sammer, MAN lnttl'\IC1or, 1111kt tbout the tr1nemletlon and drlvellne ay11111111 ol the M A N Tranaport.. to clu1 ol brigade aoldlera.

A119utt 1984

Perahh

feature
members, but of .. (he infamrv, commo, engineers~ mechanics and many more ,o,orking

1ogeth.cr, helping each other.

The brigade soldi,rs art considered trained and the sysrem ready, "Basically when
the pl:atoon c,m move shoot and communicate, according to Hester.
The System
All in ,II though, Pershing soldiers believe
that the improved PII is a much simpler system chan Pia.
1 think Pll is a lot easier," Pfc. Scott D.
Fitzg<rald said. "Not too much equipment,
not too much hassle.
hems such as the: reduction in the number

of cables to operate the system, the new

crane system, ,nd the leveling ,ystem on the
ELs make it much easier to work with in
the field according to various soldiers.

One soldier described the new M A N

truck as "built for the driver's comfort and
the mechanic's ease.'"
Pershing II requires a higher grade sol-

dier, possessing more knowledge and skill

and trained far better than any before him.
The kind of soldier that makes up the
56th FA Bde.
Spec. 4 Richard G. Goeddu (right) end Pfc. Victor O. Hardison lock en electric jack In place

on 1n erector-launcher.

Herr Werner Schwrz expllna the Afety feeturee of the M A N huba.

'
-......,

~-~

-* ~~

.. .

. ...

Pfc. Jamea P. Schlitz jr. sweeps training area for mlnea prior to the errlval of
convoy.
g Cable

Pfc:. John E. Hergrove finds the Credle cover 11 good, dry place to greb some

ZZZZ while In the field.

August 1984