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Warriors in Peace Operations - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

Warriors in Peace Operations - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

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the USAREUR staff was thought up and implemented,<br />

requir<strong>in</strong>g us to execute as soon as possible, of course. We<br />

were all conv<strong>in</strong>ced that the sooner we deployed, the better<br />

off we would be. Thanksgiv<strong>in</strong>g came with visits from our<br />

new Command<strong>in</strong>g General, Brigadier General Robert L.<br />

Nabors, as well as a visit from the 21st TACOM<br />

Commander, Major General James Wright, who told us that<br />

he had been travel<strong>in</strong>g throughout Hungary look<strong>in</strong>g for a<br />

place to stage the U.S. National Support Element, with no<br />

luck so far. So the plann<strong>in</strong>g cont<strong>in</strong>ued. We were still without<br />

“eyes on ground.” Mission assignments with<strong>in</strong> the brigade<br />

were f<strong>in</strong>ally solidified: the 72nd would provide NATO<br />

support, and the 44th would support U.S. forces. Task Force<br />

72nd Signal was slowly be<strong>in</strong>g formed. We were hav<strong>in</strong>g<br />

regular mission briefs with extensive reviews of personnel<br />

assignments; each person’s qualifications and state of<br />

tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g were <strong>in</strong>tensely scrut<strong>in</strong>ized. We were also hav<strong>in</strong>g<br />

soldiers packed out at this time; their private vehicles<br />

(POVs) were <strong>in</strong>terned <strong>in</strong>to special covered warehouses at<br />

Sp<strong>in</strong>elli Kaserne.<br />

When were the tra<strong>in</strong>s com<strong>in</strong>g? Everyth<strong>in</strong>g was l<strong>in</strong>ed up<br />

<strong>in</strong> the motor park and ready to go. Fortunately, we had an<br />

extra area where we could post the different vehicle serials<br />

dependent upon their mission area. We cont<strong>in</strong>ued to work<br />

through the Thanksgiv<strong>in</strong>g weekend. Then we got word that<br />

rail cars were be<strong>in</strong>g posted for us out at Coleman Barracks.<br />

USAREUR Forward was try<strong>in</strong>g to get out at the same time.<br />

So it turned out to be a bit of a race to see who would load the<br />

first tra<strong>in</strong>s. This was quite a turnaround, s<strong>in</strong>ce the previous<br />

estimate was that the 44th, provid<strong>in</strong>g U.S. national<br />

communications support, would deploy to theater first<br />

because the peace treaty agreements were still be<strong>in</strong>g<br />

worked, and U.S. troops were not supposed to enter the box<br />

until there was complete executive approval. Well, we<br />

started mov<strong>in</strong>g the MilVans to Coleman Barracks amidst<br />

tremendous press coverage. CNN, Reuters, and all our local<br />

publications <strong>in</strong>terviewed us. The troops handled the press<br />

superbly.<br />

10

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