.

Vershina Cable
56th Field Artillery Brigade

Vol.17, No. 12

February 1981

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U.S. Army photo by Ed ThomH

Dome blown up on Bismarck Kaserne

Greg Allen
Alier delays caused by inclement weather. the comprcs
,or for an innatable dome gymnasium was turned on here
.01 the 56t h Field Artillery Brigade. Saturday, Jan. 10.
The dome will provide troops and family members sta,i.,ncd at Bismarck and Hardt kasernes with indoor ten
ni,. basketball. badminton. volleyball and shufncboard
courts.

According to MSgt James Crawford. NCOIC of Facili

ties Engineers here, heavy snows prevented the original
Dec. 8 completion date from being attained.
"We st ill have another six to eight weeks before the
project is completed," said Crawford.

''The court needs to be resurfaced, li&hting needs to be

installed and 1he baske1ball hoops n~ to be erected.
'"But at least these arc things that can be done inside
now," he added.
The dome. constructed of a high quality, name-resistant
fiber, is inOated by two solid blowers and hot air generators. Costs exceeded SI00.000 as most of the materials
were shipped from the United States.
The work was succasfully bid for and contracted by
Firm Heim. a German construction firm with offices here.
ka<I Heim was the chief supervisor for the German work
crew.
According to Crawford, both blowers work independent-

County Comml11lonef Dr. Dlethtlm Winter mNte 911d dltcu,_ upcoming

Chrl1tmn plan, with hi, two gunta, Sp4 Wff Pri~ and Sgt. 8ol> Fairhurtt.
The comml11ion met hi two gunt, during lnformlll diecuHloM with
Brig. Gen. Sidney Dawl,. (U.S. Army photo by Greg Allen). Editor':, Nou: Dr.
Winrtr Is currently recovering from injurits Incurred from an automobile accident
during the holiday season. We would like 10 wish rhe doctor a spudy recovery.

ly or each other with the main system operating on diesel

ruel while che backup unit runs on gasoline.
The backup system can operate IS hours without being
refueled.
The unit also has an emergency lighting system which
will provide illumination for up to three hours.
The dome is co be a temporary struccure according to
Crawford.
.
A more permanent structure will eventually be built in
its place. But, final approval and funding by the Department of the Army has pushed the construction date of the
proposed structure six or seven years into the future.

GNgAllen
"By the time I got 10 the train station to
For some soldiers stationed here, come back here, I was pretty bleary-eyed
Christmas was a bleak and depressing day. from the toasts," said Fairhurst.
He concluded by saying the clay was one
In spite or the hard work done by dining
facihty personnel in preparln:f. an excellent of the highlights of his tour in Germany.
Christmas dinner, it just wasn t home.
Many of the same comments were
Many soldiers j ust wandered aimlessly echoed by Sp4 Wes Price, 266th Chemical
around the kasenc or Slayed in their rooms Detachment.
"I really felt at home," said Price. "Next
and probably saw Christmas as just another
to beine back home, it was about the best
day to mark off their calendar.
But for more than 100 Pershing soldiers way I could have spent the day."
Not all servicemembers had to particifrom the Schwaebisch Gmuend area,
Christmas, 1980 was an experience to be pate in the program to spend the holidays
remembered. They spent their day with with families in the German community.
Sp4 Robert Outten, HHB 56th, spent the
hostina German families, relishing the experience of a holiday season jn another day with his landlord.
"They iet the table three different times
land.
They participated in the Christmas Visi- durin& the day and the venison they s.crved
was
superb," said Outten.
tation Program, which matched trOOJl$ from
For most soldiers the visitation program
the 56th FA Brigade with German families
from outlyina communities wishing to host was the best way to enjoy the holiday from
the barracks.
Americans for the holidays.
"It was outstanding." said Sgt. Bob
The program has been in effect for sever
Fairhurst, Training NCO for HHB 56th al years and more than two months were
fA Bde.
spent matching ramilies with servicememb"My ramily picked me up at the train ers.
station. drove me to Stuttgart where they
Guenther Schatz, Community Relations
Specialist, the Public Affairs Office ar,d the
live. and just treated me like a king."
Fairhurst said that his family gave him a Transportation Motor Pool had to coordi
guided tour around the area along with hol- nate efforts to provide families with soldiers
iday festivities ,.hich included dinner, ex and a means of getting them to the host
changing of presents and toasting the day.
family and back.

Februa,y 1981

Pershing Cable

Hustle., ..the name of the game

I CBS news crew films

"~ 3/84 during training
U.S. Army photo by Ed Thomas

A CBS producer, Leslie Cockburn Interviews A battery troops for an upcoming

television documentary

Sp4 Ronald FOl'd (left), PV2 Elwoood HIU (center) and Sp-I Jamee Graham
rpmove camollage nel from a Pershing missile.

CBS New9 Interviews 1st Lt. David Adams, first platoon leader of A Battery
3184 during a training evaluation.