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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-04-10, Page 16leisure, features and entertainment Crossroads Wednesday, April 10, 1985 Serving over 20,000 homes in Ontario's heartland. Guarding NATO'S North Flank.. by Marion I. Duke On the way to the briefing in the headquarters building at CFB Lahr, I collect my thoughts on the North Atlan- tic Treaty Organization, the reasons for its formation and for its continuation. It isn't idle thinking. If there wasn't any NATO, there would be no Canadian Forces in Europe, and I wouldn't be here. The North Atlantic Treaty Organi- zation (NATO) came into force on Aug. 24, 1949. The impetus for its formation was the fear of Soviet expansion by the nations of Western Europe. • As a counter measure to Soviet ad- vances,"Western European nations sought an alliance with North America to maintain a system of joint defence. While some will argue the threat to NATO countries from the Warsaw Pact was more evident in the past than it is today, members of the NATO alliance state categorically, the prime purpose of the organization is to act as a deter- rent to Soviet power. Almost any literature one can pick up on NATO stresses the organization is an "alliance for" peace", that it has pre- served peace for a third of a century, and that, "It remains the essential in- strument .for deterring aggression by means of a strong defence and :strengthening peace by means of con- structive dialogue." (NATO Infor- mation Service pamphlet January 1984) As constant threats to peace in Wes- tern Europe, NATO cites Soviet ideol- ogy which "continues to pursue the ex pansion•. of Communism worldwide", the build-up -of Soviet nuclear and con- ventional forces Won't what is neces- sary for its own defence, and the readi- ness on the part of the Soviet Union 'to use force to impose its will externally as 'was the case in Czechoslovakia and. more recently in Afghanistan. However, the NATO alliance also sees itself as an instrument of peace. As such the alliance has renounced the use of all forms of forte except in response. to attack: This is the second in a series of articles by Marion I. Duke, editor of The Listowel Ban- ner, who recently participated in a, Cana- dian Community Newspapers Association study tour of Canadian Forces in Europe, NATO's militMy headquarters, and the Ca- nadian embassy in Bonn. Furthermore, the affiance states it is actively involved in major efforts to bring about progress in arms control and disarmament. BRIEFING Entering the Canadian caserne (bar- racks) at Lahr,. Germany, or any other Canadian Forces base in Europe these days, one is confronted by guards at the gate toting submachine guns. "You wouldn't have seen this a few months ago," says our military escort officer, Capt. Philip Anido. "It's due to the present high state of alert." Since Christmas there have been numerous threats, including bombings, against NATO establishments and per- sonnel in Europe and security has been Stepped up. We are told the guard duty is taken in 12 -hour shifts by twQ soldiers who can split the hours any way they like. "Right now the Van Doos have it (guard duty)," says .our bus driver, Cpl. Leo Landry of Base Transport. We are on our way to be welcomed by Chief -of -Staff, Col. P. L. Spencer, andto receive 'a briefing on Canadian Forces Europe (CFE). It is just a few hours af- ter we have landed at Lahr and we pass through the gate without incident. On the way to the briefing room we pass by .assorted pictures of .military aircraft, the new military uniforms, and a sign on a bulletin board, "Give Peace a Chance- Please". Col. Spencer is tall, 811m,—has black hair, a relaxed manner of''speaking and appears as though he might be someone with a good Sense of humor. After delivering a brief welcome, he turns thebriefing over to Col. Willy Wil- son, but stays throughout the presen- ' tation, readily answering our questions. Most of what Col. Wilson has to tell us is contained in background papers we have received about a week ago in Canada. In southern Germany, Canadian. bases are located at Lahr and Baden- Soellingen near the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) area with approxi- mately two-thirds (5,400) of the com- mand at Lahr. Altogether more than 15,000 Cana- dians (servicemen and women, depen- dents and civilians) live in more. than 115 German communities near the bases. They are important to not only the de- fence of NATO's northern flank, but to the economy of southern Germany. Itis estimated Canadians spend $4 million=. (Canadian) dollars annually in Ger- many, including military budget, mili- tary and civilian pay and infrastructure payments. There are two major formations at Lahr and Baden-Soellingen, 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (4 CMBG), and 1 Canadian Air Group (1 CAG). The units of 4 CMBG formation in- clude: Headquarters and Signals Squadron; 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery equipped with M-109 self-pro- pelled 115mm howitzers; the Royal Ca- nadian Dragoons, equipped with Leo- pard tanks; ler bataillon, Royal 22e Regiment, a mechanized infantry bat- talion; The 2nd Princess Patricia's Canad'ap' Light Infantry (2PPCLI), a meth- nized infantry battalion and the only brigade unit garrisonned at Baden- Soellingen; 4 --Service . Battalion;,;_ Tactical Helicopter Squads equipped with Kiowa helicopters; 4 Combat Engineer Regiment; 4 Field Ambulance; and 4 CMBG Military Po- lice Platoon. The other formation; 1 Canadian Air Group, consists:of three tactical fighter Squadrons: 421, 439 and 441 based at A GRANDMOTHER—keeps an eye on two children who have paused for a rest - and a bit of sunshine -near Lahr's historic Stork tower. The bonnet worn by the child on the right is typical headgear for young German children. • MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL CANADIAN DRAGOONS—demonstrate the Leopard tank at CF Base Lahr, Germany. The Leopard Mk 1 wasdevelopedin the 1960s and its present cost is approximately $1 million. It carries a crew of four. 412RNE EEDY--.-of Marys, Ont. S ALAN WILLIS—of Settler, Alta., anif Peter Schierbeck Of Fairview, Alta. chat with Cpl. Leo Landry. Baden-Soellingen and a headquarters at Lahr. This 800 -man air group is eagerly awaiting the delivery of the CF -18 Hor- net this summer and fall'. • - COMMAND Col. Wilson explains in peacetime, Canadian Forces Europe is a national force under national command; direc- tly responsible to the Chief of Defence Staff in Ottawa. The present CFE com- mander is Maj. -Gen. Wightman. In time of war, however, command of CFE would become a NATO responsi- bility, and more specifically the re- sponsibility of the Supreme Allied Com- mander Europe (SACEUR). The pre- sent SACEUR is Gen. Bernard W. Rogers (US Army). The briefing room is warmand fol- lowing a slide presentation the lighting is dim. I'm just beginning to think how easy it would be -tom fall-asieep-and look around at my fellow CCNA (this busi- ness of abbreviations is catching) re- presentatives.'' Not bad. Most of us have eyes like road maps, but so far no one has dozed off. By now all of us have been awake for nearly 30 hours. I keep taking notes, forcing myself to concentrate. A Major weakness. .in. the NATO de- fence system, compared to the Warsaw Pact situation, is essentially a matter of geography. While reinforcements for NATO must - travel 6000 km from North 'America, Warsaw Pact reinforcements are 650 . km from the, western borders of the USSR. I.t has been estimated it would take about a week to reinforce CFE with • troops from home. Given the fact Cana- dian military men have repeatedly re- quested additional troops in Europe, Col.. Spencer is asked if he is satisfied with presentarrangements. Noting that it isn't up to him to say what is appropriate for Canada, "That is a political question, and rightly so," Col. Spencer replies, "Every military man wants more, equipment more quickly." On the whole though, he says he's • satisfied with the system and I, for one, get the impression he isn't just saying it because it's a safe answer. "We're happy with the whole sys- tem," he says. "It takes longer but it also takes big bucks. I have no hang-ups over that. I think our system is a good system and I think the experts at NATO defence headquarters are very confi- dent of our capabilities." .In reply to a- question regarding ITU - clear armaments, Col. Spencer said that while Canadian equipment has nu- clear capabilities there is no policy for the deployment.of nuclear weapons to Canadians. • The same thing goes for the new CF- 18 fighter jets, he said. "Presently there are no plans to in- corporate nuclear warheads. We train for it defensively of course but that's it." In response to mention of criticism of the choice of the CF -18 over the CF -16 fighter jet, Col. Spencer says emphati- cally, "We're delighted with the CF - 18." Initially, he said, there had been a concern spare parts for the aircraft could be a problem. Iceland NATO and Warsaw Pact countries in Europe and Soviet military districts Warsaw Pact NATO "But now we have learned Spain will also acquire the CF -18, so that won't be a problem. Canada won't be the only nation with the CF -18." The new aircraft, he said, will be pro- tected with reinforced hangars upon ar- rival in Germany.. While Col.. Spencer said he is gener- ally satisfied with the state of Canadian Forces in Europe, "some of our equip- ment is not up to scratch." "But," he said, "it's getting better. And the attitude toward the military nowis certainly better than it was 10 years ago,...les .a welcome change." Before leaving the briefing we are in- formed of the well-equipped 68-becPhos- pital at Lahr, the 17 -bed facility at Baden-Soellingen and the eight schools in the Lahr -Baden area. The French - language school is based on the Quebec provincial system and the English-lan- guage school Onffitio curricu- lum. Taxes 'for Canadians outside Canada :are based on Ontario rates and anyone connected with CFE getting into trou- ble is tried by amilitary tribunal. Col. 'Spencer acknowledged the ilew Constitution could have an effect on the National Defence Act. A NARROW ESCAPE After leaving the briefing we are taken to meet the man responsible for the organization of this visit, Chief of Public Information for CFE, Lt. -Col. Leonard Dent. continued on pg. 11 iberia.• VM �Y. antral Asia: