Loading...
The Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-05-15, Page 18Serving over 20,000 homes in Ontario's heartland eisure, eatures and entertainment Crossroads Wednesday, May 15, 1985 'Things are looking u With the 2 PPCLI BY Marion 1. Duke This is the sixth in a series of articles by Marion 1. Duke, editor of The Listo- wel Banner, who recently participated in a Canadian Community Newspapers Association tour of Canadian Forces in Europe, the Canadian embassy at Bonn, Germany, and NATO military. headquarters at Mons, Belgium. Back on the bus after checking out of Hotel zum Lowen the decision is to skip lunch and .head directly for Canadian Forces Base Baden-Soellingen. There we are scheduled to start a visit with the Second . Battalion Princess Patri- ' cia's Canadian Light Infantry (2 PP - CLI) at 1330 hours (1:30 p.m. ). Glancing at his watch, our escort offi- cer, Capt. Philip Anido, says we will probably have time to grab a sandwich at the base before our briefing. This short trip up to Baden-Soellingen provides us with our first experience of traveling on the autobahn. It doesn't look to be anything special. It's like any divided four -laver in Cana- da and the driving is on the right, same as back home. But there is an impor- tant difference. There is no speed limit on the autobahn. It keeps one alert. Our driver, Cpl. Leo Landry, sticks to the slow lane except when it becomes necessary to pass a transport truck. He says he shouldn't go over 80 kmh, but his boss has given him permission to go 90. And he can't cheat,.even if he wanted to. As is the case with many profession- ally driven vehicles in Canada these days, this Canadian Forces Mercedes minibus is equipped with a tachometer card which not only details speed tra- velled, but stops and starts. I had first seen a tach card about four or five years ago when a brother who drives pulp trucks for Great Lakes out of Dryden, Ont., had shown me one off his cards. This kind off computerization also keeps one alert. Germany's road network now com- prises something in excess of 486,000 km, including approximately. 7,$00 km of motorways; or autobahns. The length of the network is second only to the United States. As the exotic machinery flashes by on the left, the talk turns to cars. Cpl. Lan - Besides moving an entire bat'tali'on from Winnipeg to Canadian Forces Base Baden-Soellingen, Germany, last summer, the Second. Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (2 PPCLI) has decorated its new bar- racks with cherished mementoes such as this old gun and scout car. . dry notes the ffour-cylinder Ford Opal "over here" is a different vehicle than it is back home. "It will go up to 200 kmh," he says. "I've had one up to 190. At 160 they sit real good." GATE WAIT Unlike the expressways in Canada where one seldom spots any kind of wildlife, along the autobahnit iscom- mon to see a variety of hawks and other birds beside the road. Shortly after setting out I see a pheasant. The corporal has seen it too. "We're allowed to hunt on the base — pheasant, rabbits, that kind of thing. It helps to keep the birds away from the airfield,. On base there's a rod and gun club, archery, and a skeet range. There's good fishing around too." A short time later I see a hawk per- ched in an apple tree just off the shoul- der of the road. Cpl. Landry says it's a goshawk. "One time I was driving up here I got a good picture of one getting .a rabbit. Once they're fixed on something like a rabbit, they won't move." It's now 1 p.m. and the CBC newscast. on this Monday, March 11, is filled with reports of the death of the Soviet leader Chernenko. Talk on the bus turns to speculation -regarding his successor. I say I'm ready to bet it will be Gor- bachev this time, but all I get is a lot of strange looks and nobody else comes up with a name. So much for our collective knowledge of things. Russian. Passing through a village, Capt Anido points to a building and says it is reputed to have been Hitler's favorite restaurant. We're now getting close to Base Baden-Sollingen and we're told it's about the same size as CFB Lahr, but boasts "a nice 18 -hole golf course". Cpl. "Landry knows the base well. "We do our anti-terrorist driving course here," he says. It's about 1:15 p.m. and Capt. Anido says there shouldn't be any delay at the gate, because the commanding officer of the Patricias is expecting us. Capt. Anido is wrong. After he has told the guard who we are and why we're here and we have flashed our yellow courtesy cards which we have been issued for CFXE facilities, we are told to pull over and wait. The captain looks annoyed. We are dealing; he says, with "some little guard" who has been told to keep stran- gers out of the.base•. Members of the Canadian Community Newspapers Association spent an afternoon 'with .the 2 PPCLI at CFB Baden=Soellingen during a study tour of Canadian Forces in Europe. The Patriciag replaced the Third Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment (3 RCR) last summer at the German base. Above, two members of the newspaper group, Allan Willis of Stealer, Alta., (back to camera, second from left) and Peter Schierbeck .of Fair- view, Alta., ate shown an Armoured Personnel Carrier by Infantrymen. "This kind of hassle has only hap- pened since this security thing has come up." I really don't know why this attempt at tighter gate control should be consi- dered a hassle. Having followed the ter- rorist attacks on NATO installations in Europe since Christmas, I was expect ing a passport inspection at every turn. While we're waiting a staff car goes through with flags flying, but with only the driver in the vehicle. This causes some comment between the captain and the corporal. For security reasons, the captain says, many staff cars don't fly flags now. Cpl. Landry notes if the staff car is being driven by the officer himself, "he shouldn't have the flags up." "That's right," responds the captain. "What would you do in that case? Would you salute it or not?" "I'd salute it.anyway, just to be on the safe side," replies Cpl. Landry, "but I'd feel kind of stupid doing it. If he's driv- ing on his own, he shouldn't have the flags up." I'm just thinking this is one side of the army I `can'tget too excited about, when the guard comes back and asks the captain to go with -him to the guard- house at the gate. Looking decidedly annoyed the cap- tain gets out of the bus, saying, "This shouldn't take too long." About 10 minutes later he returns, looking downright angry. "Start it up Leo," he says, "we're going." Cpl. Landry looks somewhat dubious as the guard rushes over to ask Capt. Anido his name. Rolling down his window, the captain'' looks at the guard. "There's my ID card," he says handing the identity to. the guard. "Start it up, Leo." The guard has no sooner handed back the ID card, than we're on the move. No one on the bus is saying anything. "There's no need for this," Capt... Anido says. "He (the guard) is. going beyond what his orders are." One thing is certain, we can forget about lunch. . • A BIG MOVE In the briefing, room at 2 PPCLI head- quarters, we are invited to help our- selves to coffee .before being addressed by Capt. Bob Aska, the second in com- mand, and by the commanding officer, Lt. -Col. Ian Gray. Unlike the other briefing rooms we. • have been in with their heavy drapery and stark walls, this room has°a nice feel about it. • Not only is it cozy on this damp.day with its chilling wind, but this room is filled with plaques, flags, carvings, pic- tures — more than there is esthetically room for. - Soine might even call it cluttered. But I like it because it makes me think this is one unit where people come first, tak- ing precedent over somebody's idea of what.a briefing room should look like.. It turns out there's a reason why not only this room, but this garrison, is chock-full of battalion memorabilia. Rather than rotate approximately 20 per cent of personnel `yearly as is the case with the two units we visited at CFB Lahr, a decision was made back in the spring of 1982 to rotate the entire English-speaking infantry battalion at CFB Baden-Soellingen. It was decided that after a 10 -year stay in Germany, the 3rd Battalion, Ro- yal Canadian Regiment (3 RCR) would rotate back to Canada, to be replaced by the 2 PPCLI, stationed at Kapyong Barracks, Winnipeg. In other words, the two battalions would swap barracks. "It was the first time in 15 years," said Lt. -Col. Gray, "a decision was made to use a man per man rotation — to lift up a whole infantry battalion." In° the commanding officer's opinion, it was a good decision. Not only did it allow rotation without destroying the fabric of an organization, he said, but it was the most cost efficient way of doing things. Besides; "Unless they got posted here, one-third of the infantry never got exposed to the NATO scene." ' Training, he said, is more interesting in Germany. "We now have up to 12 different bases in Germany and France at which to Pte. Rick Vander Sur, 21, of London, Ont., and Pte. John Seyler, 22, of the Kitchener area have both been in the 2 PPCLI for two years and came to Germany with the battalion last summer. An -infantryman at CFB Baden-Soellingen demonstrates the use of a night vision scope rifle and is the subject of a photo opportunity for Lorne Eedy of St. Marys and Peter Schierbeck of Fairview, Alta. Besides the 2 PPCLI, the three tactical fighter squadrons of 1 Canadian Air Group, 421, 439 and 441, are based at Baden-Soellingen. train. It's quite different than it bout' west in Canada." Serious planning for the big move started in October 1983 and the rotation took place between June 15 and July 16, 1984. In six major CF flights, the Patricias, comprising 470 officers and men, and with them some 220 wives, 350 depen- dent children and 62 pets off various na- ture, moved from Kapyong Barracks, Winnipeg to Baden-Soellingen. In the same number of flights, the 3 RCR moved to Winnipeg with 600 offi- cers and men, 200 wives, 350 dependent children and 60 pets. "Our people," said Lt. -Col. 'Gray, "were in their new accommodation three hours after arriving in Europe." Ten days after arriving, the soldiers were off for training in the hinterland, leaving their newly settled families to - cope. "Then they were back for 12 days be- fore they disappeared for another month. We had no problems with the fa- milies," Lt. -Col. ;Gray said. "The whole rotation went extremely well. We've been here eight months now and we feel like old hands." Asked what kinds of problems are most frequently encountered with per- sonnel in Europe, the commanding offi- cer said the problems weren't much different than those experienced back home. "Drunk driving, illegal possession of firearms, AWL, discipline — that kind Of thing." . The biggest problem of all units in Europe, he said, is, drinking and driv- ing. "We've had six (men charged) in the past week." ' What kinds of penalties are assessed? "Fines of $450 to $500, confined to barracks — they can get up to90 days in ' jail," Lt. -Col. Gray replies. "With a population of 620, it's an ongoing thing." SNOWBALL As a member of 4 Canadian Mecha- nized Brigade Group (4 CMBG), the x PPCLI carries out an intensive training program at all formation levels throughout the year to maintain com- bat readiness. The training program includes parti- cipation in major exercises of other NATO nations. The biggest such acti- vity is known as the Fall Exercises. Lt.=Col. Gray describes the unit's past Fall Exercises • as having been "trouble free". .Part of routine training is the prac-. tice, of alert ;procedure; code-named "Snowball". "We can muster 70 per cent. within two hours — be off base and down the road in two hours," Lt. -Col. Gray said. Asked about the criticism that Cana- dian organization is "too far back" for adequate support, the commanding of- • ficer replied, "Most plans here are not based on a surprise attack." A surprise attack, he said, would be 48 hours: "And we'd be gone. At least the ground force would be gone in that'll time." However; Lt. -Col. Gray is a plain - talking military man and he makes no bones about the fact the.infantry is bad- , ly out -numbered — four or five to one, he says. ,The commanding officer speaks bit- terly of the political decision back in 1970 which resulted in the brigade being reduced tof half its former personnel strength. The brigade, he says, is from 58 per cent to 40 per cent below wartime strength. Forces in Europe would have to wait for that 40 per cent to be flown in from Canada. Once units in Canada "get the word", he said, they can be on the airplane in 24 hours. But given the kinds of political decisions which must be made, "the word" could take up to two weeks: "I would be a heck of a lot happier if they were here," Lt. -Col. Gray,said. But, he adds, perhaps the personnel. problem in Europe is to be remedied. "You people probably ' know more about that than"! do." We don't know what he's talking" about. ANNOUNCEMENT Lt. -Col. Gray tells us he's been ad- vised to listen for an important news bulletin that evening. He has been told it will have something to say about troop force in Europe. That 'is all he knows. No, he can't tell us "the exact tithe of the broadcast. It , could be the six o'clock news, or later. We are astounded. The state of com- munications between Canada and Ca- nadian Forces Europe, we have de- cided, is deplorable. • Were it `not for the CBC news pro gram, The World at Six, and other brief CBC radio newscasts throughout the day, Forces personnel and their fami- lies would be weeks behind in Canadian news. Television 'programs, including the nightly newsprograms, The National, and The Journal, are seen in Germany two weeks after telecast in Canad• And we haven't been able to buy a si gle Canadian daily newspaper in La Not even the caserne (barracks.) has one. Now, we are being told a command- ing officer has to wait for a regular news broadcast to find out about some- thing as important to Om as an in- crease in troop strength. (Continued on Page 2)