the pershing cable (jul 1987)
TRANSCRIPT
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8/17/2019 The Pershing Cable (Jul 1987)
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Yol. 25, No. 5
56th Field Artillery Command
July 1987
USAREUR. Comm1nder, Gen. G
lenn
K. Otis h1ng1 the Superior Unit Aw1rd 1tr11mer
on
the Comm1nd Colors H the Com1n1nd8f
of the
56th Fl1ld Artillery Comm1n
d
BG Raymond E Hlddock, end the former Chief of Stall of the Germen Army. Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Meinhard Ol1nz look on. An AFN tellvl1lon crew wH on hend to
re
cord
the hl1torlc event which
took
piece
on July 1.
(Photo
by
Randy Yecklet)
Disci Jline
and performance aised
uperior unit awarded
by John K. D'Amato
NCOlC Public Affairs
The Superior Unit Award
was
prtsent«l
10 the S6th
Field
Artillery Command (Per•
shing) by USAREUR Commander, Gen.
Glenn K. Olis, in a ceremony
he
ld on the
Comm and parado ground >t Hardt Kuerne,
July I in Schw:Obisch GmUnd.
The
Superior Unit A •ard was given in
recog
nition of the long hours, hard work
and personal sacri
fi
ce of thousands of Per
shing soldiers durinc tho years 1983 throu~h
1986.
During those
y ors
Pershing ,oldicrs
were challenged with the mission of fielding
the Pershinx II missile synem. They
w
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8/17/2019 The Pershing Cable (Jul 1987)
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Pershing able
July 987
Training
uper troops make their mark
The S6th Field Anillery Brigade (Pershing), consisting
of
Headquarters a.nd Headquaners Battery; 1st B,ttalion, 41
st
Fidd Artillery; lsc Battali
on,
81st Field AniUery; ld Batta·
lion, 84th Field Anmery; 2d Battalion,
4ch
Infantry;
55ch
M•incenance B•tt•lion; and
chc
266ch Chemical Detach
ment (Deconmnination), performed with great distinction
during the period November
1983 to
Dccembcr 1985 by
succcufuUy fielding the Pershing II weapon sysccm.
The fielding
of
the Pershing II played a
vita.I
role in fur
thering che national interests of the United Smes of Amer
ic. and in strengthening the NATO AUianec.
The fielding of the Pershing II w u accomplished in spite
of unprecen.dcntcd challenges faced by the Brigade and its
soldiers. The 56th Field Anillery Brigade (Pmhing)
mec
chese and other challenges he•d-
on
and accomp~shcd ,Jl
deployment milesconcs on schedule.
The first Pershing II missiles arrived in the Bri~ade on 27
November 1983 ond
che
fielding got underw•y 1n eameSt.
On 1 S December 1983 che first Pmhing II battery (Batt
ery A, lsr B•ttali
on,
41st Field Artillery) became operatio
nal.
The complete integmion
of
the first Pershing II banery
into brigade operations wu accomplished in ihon order
despite a mvriad of challenges. From the time of receiving
the Pershing II musiles in December 1983 until April 1984
Battery
A
1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery underwent
four tesu under the Army Training and Evaluation Prog•
nm.
The unit wts tlso evaluated
on
four sep•me occ.sions
by Nude.r Weapons Technical Inspectors (NWT ) under
Nucl-ear Surety Inspection (NS ) cmeria.
In addition to challenges faced by any unit involved with
fielding a new system, Battery A was faced with severe ad
vcrs~ weather conditions, with up to
rwo
feet
of snow
on
che ground •nd extremely cold temperatures, throughout
its field
mining .
Addi,ionally, demonstutor activity throughout this pt ·
riod required the unit 10 perform deuiled coordination
with supportinghost nation police agencies far beyond that
requiredof other units. Battery A faced every ch•llenge and
began performanly its musion on schedule.
Fielding of the new Pershing II missile followed in the
rem,in.ing ,hree firing batteries of the
In
B,ualion, 41st
Field Artillery. The focus of training shifted from indivi
du,J battery operations
to
integrated battalion Pershing II
operations.
As banaJion exercises increased so too did
dc:monst
ator
activity. Convoys were routinely di,ruptcd by the demon
strators who threw objects .such a,s .,crow's feet" under vc•
hides in tn •ttempt to d:unage tires.
The first Pershing II battalion fielding and training exer
cises were co
nd
ucted in a •g
old
fish
bowl atmosphtrc
with the attention of the highest levels focused on the bat
talion.
The intense training by the 1st Battalion, 41st Field Ar
tillery culminated in a battalion
level
NATO Tactical Eva
luation in September 1984. Bec•use of the high level int