the talon - defense technical information center from the last visit and any reported moves...

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e OPINION . . . . . . 2MAYOR . . . . . . 3ENCORE . . . . . . 4WALL . . . . 5ON TARGET . . . 6-7L I F T . . . . . . . . . 8CLOWN . . . . . . 11

Talonthe Friday, December 6, 1996Volume 2, No 47

Serving the soldiers of Task Force EagleOperation Joint Endeavor, Bosnia-Herzegovina

CAMP DOBOL — Soldiers here weretreated to a visit by Defense SecretaryWilliam J. Perry who attended anawards ceremony with Russian Gen-eral of the Army Vladimir M. Toporov,then settled down to enjoy Thanksgiv-ing dinner with soldiers at the campdining facility.

Also present at the festivities wereGen. George A. Joulwan, Supreme Al-lied Commander, Europe and NATOcommander in chief; Gen. William W.

By Cpl. LEN BUTLER100th MPAD

Perry praises forces

See SECDEF, page 12

55th Signal Company (Combat Camera)

Secretary of Defense William Perry talks to soldiers and the pressduring a Thanksgiving Day visit to Camp Dobol.

Crouch, commander of U.S. Army Eu-rope, Allied Land Forces Central Eu-rope and IFOR; Maj. Gen. William L.Nash, commander of 1st Armored Di-vision; and Maj. Gen. Montgomery C.Meigs, commander of 1st Infantry Di-vision and Task Force Eagle. Also inattendance were NATO Implementa-tion Force miltary leaders and an armyof journalists.

After a brief meeting with Toporovand other top military leaders, Perrytoured the facilities. Perry was given

Sgt. JACK SIEMIENIEC350th MPAD

Troops keepeye on sites

See SECDEF, page 12

Peacekeeping isn’t only rolling tanks, foot pa-trols and soaring helicopters. Sometimes it’salso meticulous recordkeeping and careful

counting. “We’re conducting declared weapons storage site

inspections in accordance with the Dayton PeaceAccord,” said 1st Lt. Nate Donahoe, intelligence of-ficer, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment.

Three weeks after they took control of the sectorfrom the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, TaskForce 1-18 is on the road covering its area of respon-sibility, enforcing the General Framework Agree-ment for Peace and the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Donahoe was rolling in a convoy towards the vil-lage of Bijela as he spoke.

The four vehicles carrying the lieutenant, a firesupport team and scouts as security, were on theirway to three sites maintained by the Croatian De-fense Council (HVO).

“It stipulates that the former warring factionscentralize and declare locations for all their mili-tary weapons, ammunition and explosives. Oncedeclared, we inspect them regularly, depending onthe type of weapon.

“Anything (weapons or munitions) 76 millime-ters or larger, we (the task force) classify as a heavysite. Anything else is a minor site,” Donahoe said.

Prior to leaving McGovern Base, the team as-sembled site information that included the invento-ry from the last visit and any reported moves per-taining to that equipment.

At the site, everything must balance out. The

The Talon Friday, December 6, 1996

The TALON is produced in the interest of the servicemembers of Task ForceEagle, headquartered at Eagle Base. The TALON is an Army-funded newspaperauthorized for members of the U.S. Army overseas, under the provision of AR360-81. Contents of The TALON are not necessarily the official views of, norendorsed by, the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, Department of theArmy or Task Force Eagle, commanded by Maj. Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs. TheTALON is published weekly by the 1st Infantry Division (Task Force Eagle) PublicAffairs Office, Eagle Base, Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina APO AE 09789, TelephoneMSE 551-5230.E-mail: [email protected]. Printed byPrintCom Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Circulation: 4,500.

The Talon1st Infantry Division Commander . . . Maj. Gen. Montgomery C. MeigsEditor in Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maj. William L. DuPont100th MPAD Commander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maj. Victoria D. WoodOIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Capt. Terry L. ConderNCOIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Staff Sgt. Patrick SummersEditor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spc. Daniel M. PaschallDesign Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sgt. 1st Class Stephen M. LumFeatures Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spc. Aaron Reed1st Infantry Division PA NCOIC . . . . . . . . . Sgt. Gregory W. BinfordReporter/T ranslator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arijana Salihbasic

CommandSgt. Maj.

James W. Laws1st Infantry

Division

LAYING DOWN THE LAWS

IN MY OPINION

For many soldiers of OperationJOINT ENDEAVOR, getting mail isthe highlight of their day.

This holiday season, soldiers canexpect an influx of mail from peoplethey have never met before. ThroughOperation Dear Abby and similarefforts, people in the United Statesare taking the time to send theirprayers and best wishes to service-members they have never met.

Most, I imagine, are driven by patri-otic duty — a sense of obligation andkindness to let their fellow citizens knowthat they are not forgotten.

Such an act of remembranceshould not go unacknowledged. If youfind yourself in receipt of a holidaycard or friendly letter from a sup-porter in the states, take the timeto send a reply.

A response is especially impor-

Proper respect and courtesy is thecornerstone of any successful mili-tary organization. The 1st InfantryDivision has a long, proud traditionof upholding the fine standards putforth by the U.S military.

Recently, however, it was broughtto my attention by a general officerthat soldiers of the Big Red One don’tseem to be showing respect and dem-onstrating military courtesy likethey used to do. I thought about thisand realized his observation had agreat deal of validity.

I remember when I first came intothe military, enlisted soldiers, uponencountering an officer would snapa crisp salute and sound off withtheir unit motto and/or greeting ofthe day. Now, it seems that soldierssometimes go out of their way toavoid saluting.

It seems that we have become soautomated and sophisticated thatsoldiers have forgotten the basics of

military courte-sy. Such an un-derstanding isfundamental tobuilding andmaintaining ahigh degree ofprofessional-ism and espritde corps.

A renewedfocus on propersaluting proce-dures is not

hard and it is not labor intensive. Butsuch an effort will go a long way to-wards maintaining a strong, respect-ful military organization.

The bottom line is that I want allsoldiers to respect each other andremember always to hold their mili-tary bearing. Be proud of your asso-ciation with your organization, unit,and Task Force. Big Red One sol-diers take pride in themselves.

Beslagic t

tant to the children back home whohave taken the time to write.

Whether it be a wide-eyed secondgrader who has scrawled a messageon her Big Chief writing tablet or a16-year old Eagle Scout who has or-ganized the mailing of hundreds ofcare packages to the troops over here,they all deserve a response.

Imagine what impact a returnedletter from an actual U.S. soldierwould have for the youth who havewritten.

Children are fascinated by themystery and aura of hearing back froma real live soldier in a faraway land.

Such a friendly response wouldvalidate their good efforts and furtherreinforce a sense of community andcitizenship.

People, no matter what their ageor gender, should be thanked for sup-porting and remembering us.

Task Force Eagle soldiers maketime to write back.

By Staff Sgt. Patrick Summers100th MPAD

“When I make a decision,like the decision to deployour troops to carry out thepeace mission in Bosnia, it’sa family decision, it affectsfamilies, and I am very mind-ful of that . . . Especially atChristmas time.”— President Bill Clinton, Dec.2, 1995

“When hatred wins and warbegins, something is lostforever, something that noteven a new peace will everbe able to revive.”— Prime Minister Antonio Gu-

terres of Portugal, on the necessity toprevent conflicts like the one in Bosnia,Dec. 2, 1996

“It destroyed me. It killed me. I sim-ply thought that my life was worth-less after that.”— Drazen Erdemovic, first person con-victed of crimes against humanity bythe International War Crimes Tribunalfor the Former Yugoslavia, on his feel-ings after being forced to take part inthe massacre of civilians in Srebreni-ca last year.

“There is a self-confidence there,but certainly not a cockiness.They understand the difficulties ofthe mission, but they have confi-dence in their training, their lead-ership and their equipment.”— Secretary of Defense William Per-ry on the 1st Infantry Division cover-ing force troops, Nov. 29, 1996

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The TalonFriday, December 6, 1996

News briefs

Weekly weather forecast HIGH/LOW PRECIPITATIONToday 43/34 LowSat 50/38 LowSun 45/35 LowMon 41/32 LowTue 40/32 ModerateWed 41/30 ModerateThur 38/32 ModerateProvided Dec. 4 by Internet Access Weather

Q Tell me your feelings about the Trans-fer of Authority ceremony.

A It was a rare honor to be present at aceremony like this where you can feel andsee both the tradition and strengthof IFOR soldiers. Quite simply, Ifound this ceremony very im-pressive and very profession-al.

Q Do you think thingswill change muchnow that the cov-ering force is inplace?

A In the mili-tary sense I ex-pect everythingwill be the same.

I’m surethey willm a i n t a i np r o f e s -s i o n a lstandards.

In my conversations with the new peo-ple I will bring up the things that were notfinished by the last mandate. My biggestcriticism is the fact that soldiers cannotvisit Tuzla on their free time.

Q How do you feel about NATO’s decisionto extend the mission in Bosnia-Herzegov-ina?

A I think that was the only possibility. Ialways believed the mission would contin-ue; I never doubted it. I think it would be acatastrophe to withdraw forces before com-plete implementation of the Dayton agree-ment.

Q How do you feel about the reopening ofTuzla’s airport to civilian traffic?

A I have wanted this ever since IFOR camehere. I hope IFOR will have good intentionsand reopen the airport for civilian travelsoon. I will be satisfied when that happens.

Q What do you think about the conflictsthat have flared up around the country re-cently?

A The Dayton Agreement gave a very good

foundation for the reintegration of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The agreement gave peoplethe right to return to their homes. At firstwe weren’t ready for that.The agreement requires people to register.The registrations should be respected. Allsides should respect the process. In the ZOS,IFOR is like the head of the household. It isresponsible for what happens there.

If houses are mined, people are fighting,or people are moving into the ZOS illegally,IFOR should act. IFOR must do its part,but civilians must do their part too.

Q Tell me your feelings about Americansvisiting Tuzla during off duty hours.

A The first troops here did not knowwhat to expect.General Nash told me, “It is my re-sponsibility to bring my soldiersback to their mothers,” and

I accept that. When Ameri-cans first came, it was a dan-gerous time. But before IFORcame, we had UNPOFORand they could come to Tu-zla any time they wanted.

Americansm a d ethe deci-sion notto allowsoldiersto visitTuzla ont h e i r

free time. It was a military decision, andwe have to respect it.

Those first soldiers did a big job. Thewar stopped, and they made conditions inour country better.

With such good conditions now, soldiersshould be allowed to visit Tuzla. It wouldbe pretty sad to be here for a year and notsee anything.

The best thing about this situation isthe good friendships and good contacts wehave made with Americans.

We have learned that Americans are notso different from us. We are grateful to thefirst troops here. They brought us some-thing very important: peace.

Those soldiers never got to travel aroundTuzla, but they made it possible for the newtroops to do that.

Q Is there anything you would like to sayto the U.S. troops?

A They have done a great job. I only wishthey were here in 1992.

It was a pleasure to interview the mayor. Heis very down to earth and approachable.Under his leadership, Tuzla is beginning toprosper again. - AS

talks the issues

The redeployment of the 1st Ar-mored Division was completed asCompanies D and C of the 7-227 Avia-tion and Companies A and D of the 2-227 Aviation left the Task Force Eaglearea of operation for Slavonski Brod,Croatia. Blackhawk and Apache pi-lots, crew members and mainte-nance personnel departed Eagle Baseearly December. They were the lastunits of the 1st AD to leave Bosnia-Herzegovina concluding their suc-cessful involvement in OperationJOINT ENDEAVOR.

Tuzla Mayor Selim Beslagicgoverns one of the most ethnical-ly-diverse cities in Bosnia-Herze-govina. Beslagic also is consid-ered a hero by many Tuzla resi-dents for his efforts during thewar.

Do you have an opinion or a storyyou would like to tell? Talon readersjust might want to hear about it.

The Talon is currently acceptingwritten submissions from individualsparticipating in Operation JOINT EN-DEAVOR. Make sure your voice isheard.

Our mailing address:The Talon100th MPAD-JIBOperation JOINT ENDEAVORAPO AE 09789

Viewpoints wanted

Mayor welcomes troops

Big Red Turkey TrotOvercoming a one-day post-

ponement and race-day snow flur-ries, runners in the Danger ForwardTurkey Trot 5K enjoyed a morningof fun and prizes.

Cindy Hazel from Headquarters,Headquarters Company, 2nd Bri-gade won the race with a time of22:39.

Volunteers who made the race asuccess included: Candace Teeland Kelly Mitchell from 101st MIBn. and Gilbert Villarreal and Twa-na Johnson from the 529th Ord-nance Company.

A Jingle Bell Jog is scheduled forDec. 22. Information is available atthe 21 Club.

Redeployment complete

Arijana Salihbasic

Selim Beslagic, mayor of Tuzla

Interview by Arijana Salihbasic


One year after crossing the floodedSava River, a few soldiers remain.They have not been in Bosnia-

Herzegovina the entire time, but have re-turned for their second rotation.

They possess memories of those initialexperiences that give them a unique view ofOperation JOINT ENDEAVOR.

Command Sgt. Maj. Robert P. Seiler,62nd Engineer Battalion, and Spc. MalachiK. West, 293rd Military Police Company,recall some of their most poignant memo-ries of that incredibly difficult winter.

Images of that historical crossing of theriver, following all the hardships encounteredby the bridge companies, will certainly re-main with anyone who witnessed it.

Seiler, 48, of Albuquerque, N.M., believesthat those first initial weeks along the rivergenerated both his most disheartening yetuplifting experiences.

“When we crossed over the first dike on

Staff Sgt. Brenda Benner

Spc. Malachi K. West, 293rd Military Police Company, is here in Bosnia-Herzegovina for his second rotation, and his second Christmas.

the Croatian side of the river and viewed theresults of the flood, it was certainly a demor-alizing sight,” said Seiler.

West agrees that he felt bad for thosecaught on the river’s banks.

“Lots of soldiers lost most everything theyhad,” West said. “All we could see were thetent tops sticking out of the water, and lotsof equipment and gear floating around. Theriver was so flooded that the original bridgepieces only reached halfway across the wa-ter.”

There was no way to hide the overwhelm-ing pride Seiler felt for those soldiers oncethey beat the river. It was one of the high-lights of his first deployment. He gave thema pep talk that he will always remember.

“I told them they should pull their chinsoff their chest, that this was a great feat theyhad accomplished. People were coming hereto see the river crossing—it made history. Ididn’t want the incoming soldiers crossingthe bridge to look at them and feel sorry forthem, but to feel proud of what they had done.They could hold their heads up high.”

Since they’ve entered Bosnia-Herzegovi-na a second time, both West and Seiler havenoticed differences in the sights and soundsof the country and its people.

West, 21, from Berkeley, Calif., remem-bers what it was like as he patrolled theroads.

“In some of the towns we went through,such as Brcko or Gradacac, we didn’t seemany people outside their homes,” West said.“The people we did encounter walking abouthad guns, and the police officers carried ri-fles. There were soldiers still in their bun-kers along the roadsides.”

West remembers that it was commonpractice for civilians to join his convoys forsafety as they traveled from village to vil-lage. “They figured they wouldn’t get shot,mugged, or car-jacked while with us,” he said.

After one year of IFOR’s presence, com-munities are beginning to experience previ-ous levels of social and commercial activity.

Upon his recent return, Seiler, a veteranof both Vietnam and Operation DESERTSTORM, immediately noticed the difference.

“It looks really different here the secondtime around,” Seiler said. “There’s a lot moretraffic on the roads; horse carts, tractors, andpedestrians. It’s noticeable that they havetried to fix up their houses, but someone hasgone back in there and blown them up. It’sreally sad to see all this destruction.”

With the holiday season here, West an-ticipates that this Christmas will be moreenjoyable than his last. This year he hasholiday mail, hot meals, and a less stress-ful, more stable environment.

“Last Christmas was stressful,” saidWest.

“We heard lots of gunfire, and watchedtracers fly up along the roadsides. We didn’tknow why they were shooting; it scared us.Now we know it was their way of celebrat-ing. Other than that, it was a miserable daylike all the others. This second deploymentis not bad. At least this year I won’t be trudg-ing through three feet of mud all day.”

Both West and Seiler seem relieved asthey look ahead to their second Balkans tour,for they need only to look back to realize howfar they’ve come.

By Staff Sgt.. BRENDA BENNER100TH MPAD

Soldiers make encore performance

So you want to get away from this place?With the extension of Task Force Eagle’s Fighter Management Pass and

Rest and Recuperation Programs, such anescape might be possible.

The pass program is designed for allTFE soldiers and Department of DefenseCivilians. There are two options for thepass. Participants can either go to Budap-est or to the Life Support Area at the Inter-mediate Staging Base at Taszar, Hungary.Transportation is provided for participants

to either location. However, participantscan expect to pay for their own meals, lodg-ing, and tours while in Budapest. The costof lodging in Budapest varies on whetherthe participant chooses a single or doubleoccupancy room. Soldiers may bring theirfamilies to Budapest, though not the ISB,at their own expense.

Allocations for the pass program areavailable through each individual’s unit.The names of participants and other per-sonal information is due to the personnel

section, 1st Infantry Division (Forward) nolater than seven days prior to the pass date.

The R&R program is a two-week leaveperiod that must be taken in one block. Onlythose personnel on orders for 180 or moreconsecutive days are eligible for the R&Rprogram. The program returns those whoqualify to either the Continental UnitedStates or Central Region.

The point of contact for both these pro-grams is Sgt. 1st Class Crotzer at MSE553-3511 or IPN 7032.

Pass, R&R program extended for soldiers


CAMP DOBOL — It’s not the Great Wall ofChina, but it provides great protection —force protection, and it is being built by themembers of Company B, 9th Engineer Bat-talion.

The Schweinfurt, Germany-based unitcame well prepared and trained to take onthe mission of constructing bunkers, retain-ing walls or anything else needed to protectthe troops from harm.

Staff Sgt. Paul A. Baggett, 29, fromMemphis, Tenn., said, “The morale is highbecause we’re out here improving the camp.We’re here for a reason, not just force pro-tection, but for the overall mission (ofIFOR).”

The engineers are building the wall sosoldiers are not exposed to potential gun-fire and cannot be observed as they go abouttheir daily activities. Eventually the wallwill encircle the camp. For now though, theirmain goal is to secure the area facing theroad.

Sgt. Jose A. Nuñez, 24, explained thatthe ground has to be leveled and then theHesco Bastion wall baskets making up thewall are filled with dirt. The four feet byfour feet baskets are supplied by Brown andRoot and are comprised of wire and cloth.

The engineers employ heavy equipmentsuch as the M9 Armor Combat Earth Mov-er which acts like a bulldozer but looks like

W hen an explosionripped through a res-taurant frequented

by Americans in the movie,Good Morning Vietnam, an armyjournalist who witnessed thecarnage rushed to his studio,flipped on his microphone andstarted describing what he justsaw.

He said many Americanswere killed and wounded. Hesaid a fire had broken out. Hesaid the area was chaotic. Hesaid emergency personnel andsecurity forces were racing tothe scene.

Suddenly his microphonewent dead. His noncommis-sioned officer in charge had cuthim off the air.

Why?Because the journalist was

providing an accurate, timely,detailed battle damage as-sessment for anyone who hada radio. Armies spend mil-lions of dollars and risk livestrying to get BDAs, but in themovie, the young journalistwas giving information away.

“Everyone in the militaryhas important informationthat is unique to their job,”said Chief Warrant OfficerWilliam J. Tucker, a counterintelligence technician withHeadquarters Company, 1stInfantry Division.

“Cooks know how many sol-diers are in an area by theamount of food they have toprepare. Mechanics in the mo-torpool know the conditionand readiness of vehicles. Op-

erations security is everyone’sresponsibility.”

Operation JOINT EN-DEAVOR has been a huge suc-cess. Soldiers in the counter-intelligence security sectionsometimes worry that toomuch success can lead to afalse sense of security.

“We haven’t had many bul-lets fly, but that doesn’t meanwe should change the way wedo business,” Tucker said.“OPSEC is the same whetherwe’re involved in operationsother than war or armed con-flict.”

Danger Forward’s CI sec-tion would like to see unitsconcentrate on four areas ofsecurity: physical, personnel,information and communica-tion.

“Our basic concern is pro-

tecting soldiers,” Tucker said.“We want leaders to have goodforce protection plans imple-mented.

“We want to see the rightpeople in the right job. Wewant people to protect infor-mation, and we want soldiersto think about what they sayon the radio, the phone, or ine-mail messages.”

Tucker compared militaryoperations to a football game.“There are only so many playsan army can run,” he said. “Ifthe other side knows whatyou’re going to do or if they findout your weaknesses, you’regoing to be in trouble.”

After making the analogy,Tucker quickly added, “Butmake no mistake about it.What we’re doing here in Bos-nia is no game.”

By Spc. J. CRAIG PICKETT350th MPAD

a tank with tracks and heavy armor plat-ing. They also use the Small EmplacementExcavator that has a 3/4 yard capacity frontbucket and a small back hoe on the rear.The excavator also has hydraulic operatedchain saws and jack hammers.

Cpl. Christopher A. Miller, 26, fromCarlisle, Pa., and Spc. Jonathan H. Young,26, from Baltimore, Md. agreed that theexcavator saves them hours of back break-ing shoveling. Each wall basket holds about

six buckets of dirt which the soldiers wouldnormally have to fill by hand, but this ver-satile piece of equipment makes short workof the long wall.

“Force protection is what we are here todo,” said Nuñez, from Palm Dale, Calif.

Although combat engineers typicallylay mines and deal with explosives, put-ting up a great wall of protection is nogreat feat for them. Just another day onthe job.

Engineerswall Dobol

Counter-intelligence: knowledge is power

Spc. Brien S. Nelson of Company B, 9th Engineer Battalion, operates thebackhoe on a small emplacement excavator as Cpl. Christopher A. Miller andSpc. Jonathan H. Young guide him to the retaining wall around Camp Dobol.

Spc. J. Craig Pickett

By Capt. TERRY L. CONDER100th MPAD


Steel ontarget

Steel ontarget

Sgt. Jack Siemieniec

Gun 8's crew, from left, Pfc. Luke Foster, Pfc. William Proctor,Staff Sgt. Victor Sangoyele and Pvt.2 Jeffery Gartrell.(right) 2nd Platoon gunnery sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Jose Rivera-Olivo, shouts a reading back to gun 8 as they bring the howitzeron the azimuth of fire, a daily ritual to re-verify their aimingsettings.


says. “I find I can get more out of themwhen I need to if they’re more relaxed.”

But the mood shifts as the crew givesa short demonstration of what they needto do to fire the weapon.

Pfc. Luke Foster, the gunner, shiftsthe turret to a specified quadrant offire. Gartrell is in the assistant gun-ner spot, cross-training. He has to setthe deflection – raising or loweringthe tube.

To the untrained eye, it seems to goquickly and smoothly, but not smoothenough for Sangoyele.

He’s on his soldiers, telling themwhat they need to do and how they needto do it.

“All of them should be able to do eachother’s job. We’re always cross-train-ing,” the staff sergeant says.

“I’m glad I came with this section,”says Gartrell. “Chief ... he keeps youmotivated.”

The fourth crew member, Pfc. Will-iam Proctor, from Gaffney, S.C., is nor-mally the assistant gunner, but that’snot his primary job.

“I’m with the advance party. One per-son from each section goes out with thegunnery sergeant and sweeps the area.Then he guides in his gun to where thegunnery sergeant places it,” Proctorsays.

Again, continually training his peo-ple, Sangoyele finishes off the explana-tion.

“They look for solid ground and clear-ings to fire from. The advance party pre-pares the next place for occupation.”

Now a call comes in from fire direc-tion control to shift the 155 to anothertarget. The crew has to re-aim the biggun to a different direction, supportinga mission.

Proctor is in his normal assistantgunner spot and the crew moves fluidlyto set the howitzer correctly. ButSangoyele is always there, double-checking each setting.

Thus far on the deployment, the sol-diers haven’t seen anything they havenot trained for.

Since July, they have worked as ateam through rotations at Hohenfelsand Grafenweor, Germany.

“The people here before us (C Bat-tery, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field ArtilleryRegiment) told us it would be prettyquiet,” Sangoyele says.

But when one of the soldiers says it’sboring, the chief talks a little about hisGulf War experience.

“We had 30 targets and had ordersto hit each one with between five to 10rounds.” Then as he shakes his head,his voice lowers, “I just felt sorry forthem.”

His comment and reaction harks backto something he said earlier in the shift.

“I’ve never been on a peace missionbefore. It’s better than war.”

Meet the “hot gun.” It’s a self-propelled 155mm howitzerand it’s ready to put steel on

target within minutes of notification ofa fire mission. It’s always there, andit’s always ready – thanks to the troopswho man it.

Working six-hour shifts, the soldiersof A Battery, 1st Battalion, 7th FieldArtillery, are there 24 hours a day, sev-en days a week, making sure Task Force1-18 is protected with the fire supportit needs.

The battery, from Schweinfurt, Ger-many, has been in Bosnia and Herze-govina for about one month.

Staff Sgt. Victor Sangoyele is a sec-tion chief of Alpha Battery’s gun eightat McGovern.

A 12-year Army veteran who saw ac-tion on a howitzer during the Gulf War,he is not only responsible for the 155,but also for the CAT ( Carrier Ammuni-tion Track) that is always alongside hisgun, providing the powder and shells tokeep him in business.

Each howitzer and its CAT are a sec-tion. So a field artillery battery — theequivalent of an infantry company – haseight sections, each with its own chief.In addition, the battery platoon has agunnery sergeant, in charge of four guns,and a platoon sergeant.

The three soldiers in the hot gun withSangoyele for daily their shift are all ontheir first enlistment. But, he worksdaily to mold them into a tight knitgroup.

“What’s the rate of fire?” he asks asthe four huddle inside the howitzer.

There is an open training manual onthe lap of one of the soldiers as all fourdiscuss the correct answer.

Sangoyele explains the gun tube getsso hot, if used to frequent it would causethe powder to explode on contact withthe metal barrel.

There is a lot of training — a lot ofquestions and answers — as Sangoyelegoes back to the manual several timesto look up the information and show itto his soldiers.

“I try to pass on my knowledge andshare my experiences ... let them knowthe things to expect,” Sangoyele says.

“Chief (Sangoyele) told us exactlywhat it was going to be like,” says Pvt.Jeffrey Gartrell, the gun’s driver fromLincolnton, Ga. “Most everything hesaid was true.”

The crew likes to kid each other inthe track as the time passes. WhileSangoyele is from New York City, theother three are from small towns andgentle ribbing shoots back and forthfaster than their artillery rounds canfly downrange in a fight.

“I like to keep them loose,” Sangoyele

By Sgt. JACK SIEMIENIEC350th MPAD


EAGLE BASE — The littlestairman on Tuzla recently wona bench press competition bybenching 186 percent of hisbody weight.

Airman 1st Class HernanB. Grajeda stands 5 feet 5inches tall and weighs 148pounds; however, his lift of275 pounds out did the larg-er competitors when calcu-lat ing the rat io o f bodyweight to pounds lifted.

Grajeda used to l i f tweights during high school.

It was a sport he had giv-en up until recently, when hedeployed in support of Op-eration JOINT ENDEAV-OR.

When he arrived in Tu-zla in July, he want-ed to do some-thing to keepin shape.

H eh a d

By Sgt. Gregory W. Binford1st ID PAO

his answer when Air Force1st Lt. Steve Jacque orga-nized a weight lifting com-petition.

Jacque said the benchpress competition was de-signed to boost morale andshow the airmen that theyhadn’t been slacking off inphysical training.

“Our people are workinga lot of hours, but they arestill finding time for exer-cise. I’m proud of the factthat almost all of the com-petitors greatly increasedtheir max bench press sincewe began getting ready forthis.”

He also said that he can’tbegin to take all the credit;he had help from about 10airmen who assisted with

the transporta-t ion o f

weights

and a bench from the Club21.

The actual set up and op-eration of the contest was acombined ef fort of manypeople.

“I am really pleased bythe turn out. We only haveabout 220 airmen on Tuzlaand we sti l l managed tofield five teams of five peo-ple,” Jacque said.

Grajeda began gearing upfor the contest about fourweeks before the event.

These efforts also helpedhis team win the competi-tion. His team captain, AirForce 1stL t .

Pat Floyd said the SecurityPolice who comprised theteam had set certain goalswhich helped them becomevictors.

“When we began trainingand preparing for this, ourteam set the goal of eachmember being able to lift atleast 100 pounds over hisbody weight. We met thatgoal and I’m sure it helpedto ensure our win.”

Grajeda said he really en-joyed lifting weights.

“It is a great way to main-tain a toned body. I work outtwo hours every night tokeep in shape, and I feel

great that even thoughI’m the smallest guy

here I st i l l wonagainst the big-

ger guys.”

LIFT: Pound for pound, littlebig man proves strongest

Sgt. Gregory W. Binford

Airman 1st ClassHernan B. Grajeda

practices for anotherweighlifting competition.


GUARDIAN BASE — Soldiers of the 299thForward Support Battalion fought to havea good time this Thanksgiving, luckily forthem, they wore gloves.

Fists flew as the screaming crowd cheeredthe fighters. Benches cracked and splinteredunder the weight of the excited, jumpingfight fans.

Soldiers from the 212th Mobile ArmySurgical Hospital; 1st Battalion, 7th Artil-lery Regiment; and 62nd Engineer Battal-ion, also joined the fun.

1st Lt. Mark E. “Jack- ’em-up” Johnson,28, of Cheshire, Conn., excited at the chanceto get into the ring, felt confident on the eveof his first and only fight.

“I love the competition and the fun of get-ting out there and punching each otheraround,” said Johnson, the battalion’s in-telligence officer.

The battalion’s first “boxing smoker” isthe ingenious result of Capt. Thomas H.Roselius’s sudden inspiration as he watchedtwo soldiers joking around with boxinggloves weeks before.

Roselius, the commander of Company A,agrees it was just a spur of the moment idea.

“The more punches they threw, the big-ger the crowd got,” he said. “I thought a box-ing event would be a good idea for morale.During these last three weeks I put out fli-

By Staff Sgt. BRENDA BENNER100th MPAD

ers and people started signing up.”Winners of the two-round matches earn-

ing bragging rights and a 3-day pass toTaszar, Hungary.

“I thought it would be something fun todo for Thanksgiving,” said Pfc. Abel C. Me-lendrez, of service battery, 1st Bn, 7th Artil-lery. “I signed up even before I found out therewas a prize. I don’t know who I’m fighting,they just match us up by weight. My strate-gy is to get inthere andbox it out.I’m going into have fun,not to tearsomeone ’ shead off.”

The morn-ing’s firstbout broughtofficers toe to toe. Johnson and his managerentered the venue “Tyson and King” style,waving a fake world title belt in the air. Rose-lius “Kid Rosie” followed with his entourage.

Everyone in the audience knew at thatinstant that they had a laughter-filledThanksgiving Day ahead of them.

“I’ve never boxed before,” Roselius, ofWausau, Wis. said. “I felt that since I putthis together, I should jump in the ring withboth feet. I’ve practiced the past few daysbecause I don’t want a broken nose.”

“We’ve mostly talked a lot of hype, trying

to psyche each other out,” Johnson said.The Boxing Smoker offered a dozen match-

es, including two female bouts and a sur-prise finale.

As with many sporting events, the mostcrowd thrilling moments are the impulsiveevents.

Sgt. Lisa Scianneaux, 24, of South Hamp-ton, England, quickly overpowered her oppo-

nent.The crowd, disappointed by

the abrupt ending, supportedthe search for an impromptuchallenger.

The screaming, whooping,and whistling reached an in-credible level as Pvt. Deona Q.Miller, 21, of Salina, Kan.,stood up to take the challenge.Her Co. B, 62nd Engineersworked most everyone into a

frenzy.The fast and furious action was almost

more than the crowd could take. In a displayof sportsmanship, both Miller and Scian-neaux were declared winners by the judgingpanel after the referee called it quits in thefirst of two rounds.

The finale featured battalion command-er Lt. Col. Kenneth “The Killer” Dowd facinga surprise guest from the North Pole. SantaClaus came out aggressively, but Dowd feltit wasn’t in his best interest to knock himout with Christmas rapidly approaching.

Staff Sgt. Brenda Benner

Capt. Thomas H. Roselius (left) and 1st Lt. Mark E. Johnson, both from the 299th Forward Support Battalion, battle itout during the battalion's first Boxing Smoker, Thanksgiving Day. Johnson outpunched Roselius, winning the firstbout of the day.

Peace enforcers fight in “the box”

“I’ve practiced the pastfew days because I don’twant a broken nose. ”

— Capt. Thomas H. “KidRosie” Roselius


By Sgt. JANET S. PETERS350th MPAD

give the children of this country thechance for a better future.

“Apache units are pretty much stan-dardized in training, techniques and air-craft equipment,” Garnto said. “Thatgave us a big advantage when we camehere. We unplugged in Texas andplugged-in here at 2nd Bn., 227th Avia-tion. We’re doing great.”

During their deployment, pilots of the227th have flown reconnaissance andsurveillance missions, provided rapid re-action to disturbances and escortedcommanding officers — all to enforce theDayton Peace Accord. Since the Apacheis an attack helicopter, it has been diffi-cult for some aviators to readjust to apeacekeeping mission.

“You have to adapt and compromise,”Garnto said. “We started training for

this type of operation over a year ago—escort, dealing with the media and na-tive indigenous personnel, terrorism, sur-veillance and reconnaissance. Peace-keeping is a lot quieter than war. I’veenjoyed this.”

Having been in the Texas Guard for23 years, this is Garnto’s first deploy-ment as a guardsman. However, he firstjoined the active duty Army in 1969 atage 20, and served in Vietnam.

“I don’t have the foggiest idea why Ijoined,” he said.

“None of my friends were doing it. Ididn’t know the front end from the backend of a helicopter, but I went to warrantofficer flight training school. I figured,why walk when you can ride and why ridewhen you can fly?”

Garnto was sent to Bien Hoa, Viet-nam in 1971 and flew combat assaultsin UH-1 Iroquois and CH-47 Chinook he-licopters.

“I couldn’t even guess how many mis-sions I flew,” Garnto said. “I had a fewclose calls and lost a few friends. Therewere times when I got in the cockpit thatI was scared, but I felt invulnerable then.I had a “bulletproof” t-shirt that I woreon flights.”

Twenty-five years later in Bosnia,Garnto still has that raggedy, green good-luck charm.

“I’m perfectly happy flying around do-ing what we’re doing. I’m trying to spendas much time as I can on this side of thedirt,” he said. “These kids are a new breednow — a lot more informed and indepen-dent, not as gullible as we were. But theystill think they are invincible. They’llstop a bullet just as quick now as theydid back then.”

Though the soldiers here may complainof boredom from the lack of “real” action,Garnto feels they should be careful ofwhat they wish for.

“Someone once said that the last onewho wants to fight is a soldier,” Garntosaid. “There are some things you don’twant to experience first hand. If you likeliving on adrenaline 24 hours a day, waris okay, but it takes a while to get over it.

There are a lot of things I rememberabout Vietnam that I don’t want to —friends lost, a beautiful country torn up,lovely people in the wrong place at thewrong time.

“I’m glad to be here preventing whathappened there. I like seeing houses be-ing rebuilt, lights coming on around thecountryside, mothers pushing their chil-dren in strollers.

“And in all likelihood, everybody that’shere will return home to their familiesno worse for the wear. I’m thankful forthat.”

Chief Warrant Officer Donald R. Garnto, of Alvin, Texas prepares to leave ona mission from Eagle Base, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Grandfather flies Balkan peace mission

During this holiday season, soldiers’thoughts turn to family, friends and gratitude. As one helicopter

pilot at Eagle Base contrasts his peace-keeping mission here in Bosnia-Herzegov-ina to his experiences in Vietnam, he isespecially thankful.

Chief Warrant Officer Donald R. Garn-to, an Apache instructor pilot and safetyofficer with 1st Battalion, 149th AviationBrigade, volunteered to come to Bosnia-Herzegovina in June.

As a National Guard soldier, he wascurious as to whether his training wasup to par with his active duty counter-parts.

As a grandfather, he wanted to help

Sgt. Janet S. Peters


He didn’t pull any rabbits out of hishat or make a beautiful womandisappear, nonetheless, Charley

the Magician amazed his audiences wher-ever he went on Eagle Base. Terry Wenhamof Atlanta, came to entertain the childrenof Bosnia-Herzegovina last month and de-cided to spend his last two days in countrywith the troops.

“Charley tried to come to Bosnia a yearago,” said Ghassan Husni of Mercy Inter-national USA. “He contacted our headquar-ters in Michigan via Internet. He felt thatafter four years of war, the children neededto smile.”

Ghassan escorted Charley for 23 daysas he traveled to Tuzla, Sarajevo, and Zen-ica, making contacts and securing accom-modations for him.

The two visited over 10,000 children in50 different locations including schools, col-lective centers and orphanages. Charleycame to Eagle Base to entertain the sol-diers, Nov. 27 and 28.

Charley, or Terry as he is called withoutthe big red nose, was born in London, En-gland. An engineer/manager, he came to theUnited States 16 years ago when the Ca-nadian company he worked for built anew facility in Atlanta.

“I started performing magic when I wasseven years old,” Wenham said. “It has al-ways been a big hobby. Ten years ago I start-ed doing it semiprofessionally and was verysuccessful. When my company asked me torelocate to North Carolina five years ago Ididn’t want to go, so I went into magic fulltime.”

Most of Wenham’s customers are largecorporations who hire Charley to perform

Clown puzzles Tuzla troopsBy Sgt. JANET PETERS350th MPAD

at hospitality suites or employee functions.As part of the Atlanta Olympic GamesCommittee, Charley performed for businessleaders, celebrities and politicians includ-ing Al Gore’s White House staff and sever-al senators. In addition he performs at chil-dren’s parties and birthday celebrations inAtlanta, and has traveled to London, Mex-ico, Canada and the Caribbean. Once, Char-ley performed at 17 parties in one week-end.

“It would be hard to find anyone busierthan I am,” Wenham said.

“But I was very upset by news of the warand families being destroyed, so once theDayton Peace Accord was signed, I just tooktime off. I knew I could contribute some-thing to their healing, especially the chil-dren.

“Humor is wonderful medicine, an inter-national language,” he said.

His trip overlapped the Thanksgivingholiday, so Wenham felt it would be nice tolet the soldiers see an American entertain-er up close.

The soldiers were a little skeptical whenthey heard Charley was coming, but quick-ly warmed up to the idea when they foundhe could change a 100 deutsche mark billinto a U.S. $100 bill.

AAFES assistant manager James W.Laws Jr. agreed, “It was amazing,” he said.“It was nice of him to come over and sup-port the troops. Not many people wouldwant to come here in this cold weather.”

“I wanted to say ‘thank-you’ and recog-nize that if not for their presence, the chil-dren would not have the glimmer of peacethey have at the moment,” Wenham said.“Bringing peace and joy to the children isan objective myself and the troops share.We’re both participating in the developmentof a new Bosnian society.”

Sgt. 1st Class James T. Lowery

Terry Wenham, aka Charley the Magician, shows his slight of hand tricks asMaster Sgt.(P) Joseph E. Parvin, 422nd Civil Affair Battalion, tries to figure outhow Charley makes the handkerchief reappear.

The 1st Infantry Division’s newhome page has taken off thanks toinitial design work by Air Force StaffSgt. Robert Pucci. He brought theweb site on line Sunday and is offer-ing the world a look at what the 1stID is all about... and more.

The curious internet surfer canget a description of the 1st ID’s mis-sion for Task Force Eagle, read thehistory of the Big Red One, or evenfind out what weapons systems arebeing used by the different units ofthe 1st ID.

Want to know who commandsthe various units down to the battal-ion and brigade level? 1st ID’s HomePage has it.

It can also link you to the ArmyHome Page, BosniaLink (where you’llfind the latest Talon), the TFE weath-er page or Fort Riley’s web site (the1st Brigade, 1st ID is stationed atFort Riley, Kan.).

To access the new web site, yourcomputer must be connected to thenetwork and have some type of in-ternet software. The Internet ad-dress is http://www.1id.army.mil .

All information contained on thehome page is approved by the 1st IDPAO.

The P.O.C. for questions or com-ments about the page is Chief War-rant Officer Kathleen Grote at G-6AMO. Her MSE phone is 552-1107 ore-mail her at [email protected].

Big Red One website

For soldiers not eligible for theR&R program who were deployedduring Christmas 1995, there will beseven separate flights returning sol-diers to Central Region through theholiday period. The 98th ASG will pro-vide shuttle services between Ram-stein and Schweinfurt/Wurzburg atminimum cost to each soldier. Thepass period includes 2 days traveland 3 days pass. The pass dates in-clude: 15-19 Dec. ’96, 19-23 Dec.’96, 23-27 Dec ’96, 27-31 Dec ’96, 31Dec. ’96 - 4 Jan. ’97, 4-8 Jan ’97, and8-12 Jan ’97. Soldiers will be bookedthrough their chain of command ona first-come, first-serve basis bycontacting the personnel office, TFE.Family members should know thisprogram has not yet received fund-ing and transportation requests areworking with the Air Force. TaskForce Eagle is working hard to makethe program a reality.

Christmas passprogram to Germany


an operations brief by Capt. Brian K. Cop-persmith, Company C, 1st Battalion, 26thInfantry’s commander.

“In order to maintain a proper balanceof our objectives, we have to emphasize theimportance of monitoring the actions of theBosnian Serb police,as well as the move-ments of the refu-gees,” Coppersmithsaid.

“Relations withMuslim and BosnianSerbs are good. CivilAffairs teams havemade great contactwith the local leadersin our area,” Copper-smith said. “We arecontinuing to build on our positive relation-ships to further improve cooperation witheveryone involved.”

Outside the tents, in freezing rain, Per-ry spoke to troops. “You should be proud ofyour sacrifice, and what you’re doing here,”Perry said.

Perry told the troops that dedicationand professionalism has made him andthe United States proud.

“You are the best trained group of sol-diers we have to do this particular kindof mission.

SECDEF from page 1“I am proud to be your Secretary, and

you should be proud for what you are ca-pable of,” Perry said.

Perry said the IFOR operation is wind-ing down, ceasing to exist on Dec. 20. “Itwas a tremendous success,” Perry said.“Meantime, we will have a new force, astabilization force, and your job will be

to continue to im-plement the suc-cesses we haveachieved so far.”

Perry was thenescorted to anawards ceremony,where Meigs, Nashand Toporov ex-changed mementossignifying a year ofcooperation andfriendship.

Toporov said inaddition to the success of IFOR, the part-nership between the Russian and Amer-ican troops has brought down the skepti-cism that was prevalent when IFOR be-gan almost a year ago.

“The decision to open the second phaseof our operation here gives us the oppor-tunity to work shoulder to shoulder withour American friends, building on the mu-tual respect we have for each other,” To-porov said.

Perry spoke of the Stabilization Force

INSPECT from page 1

that will be implemented Dec. 20 at theconclusion of IFOR. He said the missionwill focus on using the force as a deter-rent to hostilities.

“Our primary task within the Stabili-zation Force is to maintain a secure en-vironment, so that the civilian organiza-tions can carry out their own missionsfor peace and stability in the region,”Perry said.

Perry said he expects the civilian agen-cies to gather momentum and make moreprogress to include the economic recov-ery of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“Ultimately sustaining peace here de-pends on the success of civilian opera-tions,” Perry said. “We will assist withthe civilian implementation regardingthese capabilities.”

At the conclusion of the ceremony andpress conference Perry was escorted tothe dining facility and to the Thanksgiv-ing feast.

Perry said he doesn’t especially enjoybeing away from his home and family onThanksgiving.

He feels right at home being withAmerican troops who would also ratherbe home with family and friends.

“I spent last Thanksgiving with ourtroops in Macedonia, and before that,with our troops in Haiti,” Perry said. “Ourtroops here are giving a lot, and with thatit makes me very proud.”

teams are looking for discrep-ancies, either more or less thanwhat should be there.

The task force has severalteams doing inspections. Inaddition to the one comingfrom 1-18 battalion head-quarters, the 519th MilitaryPolice Battalion and A Com-pany, 1st Battalion, 77th Ar-mor Regiment, also have siteinspection teams.

We do inspections continuous-ly, rather than bunching them atintervals. This allows them toabsorb interruptions and delayswhen other events may throwthem off their schedule.

“We’re planning to visit threesites today, but if there’s a dis-crepancy from the inventory atone of the sites, it may take allday to resolve,” he said.

Donahoe said they usuallynotify the people in advance of avisit to alleviate delays, such asfinding keys to gain entry at asite, etc.

But, he added, they also tryto keep about 10 percent unan-nounced, as insurance againstunreported shuffling of weaponsfrom site to site.

Spc. J. Craig Pickett

Soldiers at Camp Demi start their Thanksgiving Day morning off with a 5K "TurkeyTrot". The fun run consisted of 14 laps in the snow, and was met with muchenthusiasm.

“Our primary task withinthe Stabilization Force isto maintain a secureenvironment. ”

— Defense SecretaryWilliam J. Perry

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