l)ershina Cable

February 1985

Vol. 22 No. 2

C UCVs arrive by rail for 56th Brigade

1

SIOI')' l,y Jucly A. MC1"lriM

AJ companies throughout die Neu Ulm nity and 2nd Lt. Karen Ba..,., OIC of that
commurury received dtnr new miliury operation, pvc a buic rundown of what
cargo vehicles, dtey found dte procedure wu needed a, complne the job.
was not as cuy u unloading dte vehicles
"Bravo u othCT 11ni11 of che SSch, inprofrom dte awaiting ~ cars.
cessed all die nnr vehicla for dte brigade.
UnloadinJ dte vehicles wu jun dte fim Here in Neu Ulm we completed work on
Step i.n * sen of work wh.ich wu needed to I07 new vehicles in a matter of two week,,"
make the vthicles fully combat ready.
Beavus said.
The SSth ~ntclWlct banalion wu re"This is jun one pan of the equipment
sponsible for inprouuing all new vdudcs u ~ e u,d we knew die vehicles would be
for the 54th Brigade. Workloads were hand- anwing since early October. A lot of work
led by Alpha company SSth for dte was needed on each vehicle a, make them
added.

1/41 F.A. and ocher units in Schwiibisch combat ready,"

Gmiind while Charlie SStb was in charge of
According a, Jlcavus up a, 90 ptl"Cfflt of
all ncw vehicle inprocasing for die l /M die vehicla required commurucationa equipF.A. in Heilbronn.
.
ment u weU u yellow safety lighta, TMP
Bravo 55th was in charge of all new vehic- numbers u,d other various electrical wiring.
ln coming through the Neu Ulm Commu- "We set goal of complning about 20 vc-

Mid-termer waiver available

A remlis~t waiver which became
effective u of January I, 198S a,ay be we:!
by commanders in order a, wart< up to 10
points of the GT ,core rcquimnent for
reenlin:ment.
This waiv<r only applies a, the mid-tam .
soldier, and was implaneoted after a ttYiew
of dit m.id-=
t:raioability requirement for
reenlisunent.
AccoNling ro Muter Sgt. Fred L. Hamilton, Senior Reuntioo NCO, 56th FF Bde,
in order for a soldier a, be eligible for the
waiver, he/she muit have sucasfully completed, BSEP U and have a GT score of 100.
"The waiver can be used for instance, if
the soldier m<Cts the BSEP rcquiremeou but
bu GT KOre of 90,' Harnikon .said. "The

hida each dar,. At fim the process went a

little slow 11nti.l our soldiCTS got inro die daily roucine, she CIJ)bined.
ud, vehicle roolr. about lO minuta a,
oac bour to complctc, which meant 12- ll
bour workdays for the solclien. Bravo company provided their Direct Suppon Unit
shop u,d tcu of their penoDJ1d a, work on
the trucks hile 1/81 F .A. ......;,1...1 about
lO of their mechanic ~ ~ ~ p k , e
the workload.
Overall m cargo vehicles arrived throughout the brigade which meant a lot of plmaing wu n.oeded a, ensure the proper ckli
vezy and processing proadura. The Ma~
rial Managa:neot Ccnttt, (MMq, was responsible for ordering all the pans that were
n...ded a, dcproc:aa the 'Vehicles "('QI! their

arrival in ~ z. The MMC ordered

$ SS,000 of equipment for the vehicles to include suriry chains, safety lighu, power
cables for the radio equipment and filra u
nits for the unbulam:es. MMC was also in
charge of die delivery of all the trucks on
rail cars: the first tun< S5tb Maim. Bn. hu
dtlivered vehicles by ~. according to Lt.
Col. Rober Hudfed, th 55dt Maint. Bn.
Commander.
A, 1 result of tbt overall o~ruion, which
wu comfltted widtour inc,dent, fivt soldiers rccerved awards. Capt. Randall Deavtr
received an ARCOM; Cai,t. Oa'Vld Smith,
Chief Watnnt Officer Hulan Hanson,
Sgt.IS. Ous KennC'th Bailty and Sgt. 1s.
Cius Roy Huuko, all of th< MMC, received Army Achicvemtnt Medals.

Inside this issue:

immediate general officer in the sol~

aonnal chain of coma,u,d or a conunander
Clftcising general COlltt martial convifflin&
authority may wain Uf a, 10 points of the
GT aeon requiJ'ement.
Also, according to Hamilton, after April
fim. com.awiden of banalions or baa&lion
aiz.ecl unitS may 1IP!)IOYC m.emioas of IOlclltn who ETS prior ro compleooa of BSEP
or scheduled reiesting.
"Enentiona may be approved up a, tbrcc
months, Hamilton said. "This sboulcl give
die soldier tiinc so compln.c tbe coune or

cake

retat..

For more information conceming this

waiver, conllet your local reuntion oco.

SIIA retums to

Black History Month

Pershing, p. 4

Kaleidoscope, p. 5

Double
SMA visits 56th Brigade soldiers
by Joyce Arrington
Army Sgt. Maj. Gltnn E. Morrell calked
with soldiers from all units of the 56th Bdc.
during bis visit ro Schwiibiscb Gmiind Feb.
6.
Morrell had previously visited the brigade
May 10, last year, wbtn be stopped briefly
in Gmiind and toured brigade sis in HeilbroM.
Morrell wu given a tour of the brigade's
site at Mutlangen by USAREUR Command
Sgt. Maj. James B. Craft, 56th Brigade Command Sgt. Maj. T. A. Jackson, and 1- 41
Command Sgt. Maj. Malachi Mitchell Jr.
Morrell spoke ro soldiers there, inquiring
about their food and quarters, and answering some of their questions.
Enlisted soldiers representing all brigade
units talked with Morrell at the Rodman
Theater before lunch, and NCO call was
held in the afternoon.
In response to questions about the condition of qumers and other facilitie,, Morrell
said ,ha, renovation, arc being made both
oversea, and swe,ide. Money bas been earmarked specifically for construction, and be
saw no way that the money could be shihcd
for some other purpose.
"h i.s not going as fut a, I would like, he
$aid, '"but if we do screw up, at l~ast w
eu

pear into the wild blue yonder.

According ro Morrell, the position of the
Department of the Anny is to continue oth
er prognms such a, retirement, commissary,
post ach:ange, !"cdical and dental care, and
pay raises. However, he also said be wants
the Dept. of Anny Inspector General ro investigate the current CHAMPUS system,
which Morrell described u a bucket of
wonns.

"Soldiers end up paying mon,ey out of

dieir own pockets ro get medical care they
were promised when dtey came in the
Army.
Wc have to take a bard-line stance at Dcpartmtnl of Army level, and quit letting
people reeolirt for present duty assignment
m overm:enl(lb MOS.
Morrell also said be is trying to do away
with the restricted file, saying that it allows
individuib ro hide things that eventually
come out when the individual reaches senior
NCO rmks. "We do not need that and we
never did. need it, Morell said. An NCO's
record sbould be open ro God and everybody ro look at if they so desire, and tbcn
we will M selecting the right leadership."
"Criteria for s12ying in the Anny is going
to get tougher and rougher," Morell said.

"We need to lock in on SQT scores. Why

do we promote someone ro the rank of E-5
and they do not pass their SQT? How can
they tnin, lead, maintain and care for soldim out there? They cannot do that.
we can reenlist soldier today wbo i&
not eligible ro be promoted tomorrow, and
we can promote a soldier today who i, not
eligible to be rcen.listed two yean down the
road, so we ue looking at putting that inro
one regulation and trying ro get that locked
in ro where it really means sometmng.
Speaking during the NCO calf, Morrell
reminded them that the criteria for suying
in the Anny and getting promoted arc established "by the sundards, policies and regwa
tiOGJ we have, and you and I are charged
with the responsibility ro make sure people
comply. So why have we bad to put people
out of the Army at 10, 12 or 16 years of service?
Because they -..ork for us, and we have
seen them day in and day out but we did not
make than comply, and 'hold their feet to
the fire' in accordance with the standards,
policies and regulations we bave. "Some of
our own peers we did not do that ro, and we
have seen them disappear because they could
not meet the weight requiremen~ we have in

!have a chance ro evaluate everything. Mor-

rell also said that while renovation in the

works now might not be finished by the
time some soldiers PCS, those soldiers will
sec the improvements in their new duty sta

Dons.
One area where Morrell is opposed to
changes is uniform items. After the new
BOUs become available, Morrell said, be
would oppose any attempt ro chani;c the
clothing bag. However, be did mcnnon an
improved combat boot, which be called
"bener than any boo, the Army ha.s ever
had; and said it should be available in
clothing sales stores in both regular and insulated styles for those that want them.
Morrell also said that he would prefer that
clothing allowances be paid at the beginning
of the year in one lump sum, which could be
slightly larger than the present allowance.
Another topic Morrell covered wu the GI
bill, which expires Dec. 31, 1989. The new
biU rakes effect in July, but Morrell said
"there is a catcb-22 in thai - if you arc eligible for the Vietnam era GI bill, you have
to serve three years under the new bill before getting the benefiu. He said that be i,
trying to get automatic eligibility for the
new bill. Morrell said under the new bill,
soldiers lose six months of education and
2500 dollars, "But at lea,t i, did not disap-

Wife
visits
too

--.--,

Both tn11118d and NCO. were lll>le to air gripes and uk q ~ during Amry Sgt.
MIJ. Glenn E. MorNll'I vlalt to the 51th Flelcl Attlllary fll1gllde.

by M. It. Diamond
The quality' of life at the ,6th Field Artillery Brigade wa, the main focus of the
U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major's
wife K.artn Morrell on their recent visit to
Europe.
Since the quality of life concepts revolve
around Army families and the difficulties
involved in being a family in the service,
Mrs. Morrell started her day with a visit to
the Child Care Center and Hardt Elemm
tary School. After her tour of the school,
she visitcd the Army Community Service
Center and the Red Cross which were
hi~h on her list of priorities. Here she met
with ACS director Nancy Slade and her
staff. Mrs. Morrell, hdd an impromlU
symposium with the ACS staff and Red
Cross si.ation manager Kenneth Gosso.

"If everyone here iuck ro their job

description," ;be said, nothing would get
done. That's -why we're bett; to help each
other, the service member and their fami
lies."
And the reuon I'm here i.s to help you.
T al.k to me. Tell me your problems."
The group did not need much prompting. Within five minus after her arrival it
was dear that tbc lines of communication
were: open.
Although there wett no immediate solutions ro any of the problems Morrell heard
on her visit here she gave ber word that
SM would take everything she beard up
her chain of command, lieginning with her
bu,band.
"Today there :arc not only Army wives,
but Army husbands, and they all have a

Pershing Cable

the Army. That weight standard bas been

around for a long time. So we must make
sun we do the identifu:ariou, selection, training, and continue to enforce that wherever
we .may be assigned."
In closing, Morrell c:a!Jed today's Army
better than any we lu.u previously bad,
a.dcliug. "We have a good Army .today, and
it's getting bctt.cr all the time."
Things that Morrell is uying to change arc
assignment and ETS procedures. "Nobody
knows wbett th,ey are going until they get
thett, &0d with all the modemiution and
the smart people we hae in the Army, we
should be able ro assign a soldier to at least
bmalion level." Another change in the
works is to let soldien E1'S from where they
arc assigned. we should have looked into
that a long time ago."
Morrell nressed the need for a good
NCO corps in tbe Arrn7. He empbuizcd
the imporuuce of linking schools with promotions and retention, saying that he would
like to make graduating from PLDC mandatory before promotion to E-S, and sucussfully completing BNOC. PCT or BCT before E-6.
Morrell said that soldiers in combat arms
rpecia.lties spend 45 to 50 weeks in school
during a 20 to 30 year caner, while combat
suppon and service suppon spend so to 81
weeks during their career. Stating that th
average for an enlisted soldier at NCO level
is 62 weeks, Morrell said. tt is a small price
ro pay for the mileage .,... get out of our
NCO corps."
Morrell said he hopes to get a badly-need
ed OPS/INTEL course on-line by late next
year, which would round off the Army
school syttcm. He stated he is not lobbying
for more schools, saying we have got good
schools right now, all we need to do is continue to improve them."
Morrell stressed the imporuuce of a good
NCO corps, soying "You are the ones who
should be able to identify ,be sbortcomin~s
tha1 a soldier we wan, t.o retain bu within
nine months that they work for you. And if
you cannot do that within nine months then
you have a problem.
"You arc just Jetting a soldier up to be a
failure, because it i.s roo late at 30 months if
they arc on a three-year cnlistmtnt, and i, is
to0 late ac o months if they arc on a fouryear enlistment."
Morrcll's other main topics were _promotion and retention. Hl- said that cu1off scor~

will remain high in overstrength specialties,

adding "We have good soldiers that cannot
get promoted because we mi,managed the
force and we have got to get a handle on
tha1.

chain of command. The problem is, they

arc not all awvc of it. I think we need to
do a better job of disscmcnating information to family members.
Elaborating, with an anecdote, sbe said,
t remember when Glenn made first ser
geant. All of a suddtn J wu cxpttted 10
know everything about the Army. Well I
didn't; and I still don't, but at lt2St I know
where I can go to get :answers."

In addition to wbett she can go for answers to her questions, more than 28 years
u an NCO's wife has taught Morrell what
she can accomplish on her own. "Today an
Army wife can set her mind to do ing
something and work miracles. Ten years
ago she would have been a meddling female. And in 10 more years 1 think she
will have an even greater influence."

Fetiruary 1985