Page 8/The BattalionATuesday, July 19, 1988
Civilians catch glimpse of soldiers’ lives
Program educates officials
By Alan Sembera
Staff Writer
Members of the community were
given a first-hand look Wednesday
at the annual training exercises of
the Texas Army National Guard and
U.S Army Reserves at Fort Hood.
About 25 representatives, includ
ing officials from Texas A&M and
Bryan-College Station, toured the
military base as part of a statewide
program to educate employers and
government officials about the pur
pose of the National Guard and
Army Reserve programs.
Lt. Col. Larry Lippke, a National
Guard officer who also works as an
economist with the Texas Agricultu
ral Extension Service, said the tour is
designed to get the support of em
ployers who have guardsmen and
reservists working for them.
He said he wants the public to
know the training that is going on is
serious and that the two weeks the
soldiers take off each summer are
not spent having fun.
The group was flown to the base
in a military helicopter and spent the
day observing different aspects of
the two-week training exercise.
Live Howitzer and machine gun
exercises were the highlights of the
tour, and the group viewed class
rooms set up to train soldiers in the
field.
Since the tour was designed to
give the representatives a better idea
of what the soldiers go through dur
ing training, the group ate what sol
diers eat — freeze-dried meals in a
bag.
The “meals ready to eat,” called
MREs, included items such as beef
stew, crackers, peaches, cake, cheese
and cocoa.
Most members of the group
weren’t thrilled with the food, but
many said eating it helped demos-
trate the sacrifices being made by the
part-time soldiers.
Although one member of the
group said the officers sounded
“war happy,” practically all of the
others came away from the expedi
tion with favorable impression.
An A&M represenative on the
tour, Frank Shannon, assistant di
rector of the Development Founda
tion, said he has a better opinion of
the National Guard and Army Re
serves after seeing the training exer
cise.
“A lack of knowledge doesn’t
really give you a very good opinion,”
Shannon said, “but when you come
out and see what they do and see the
hard work that they put in, it im
proves your image of them.”
Another participant in the tour,
Bryan Police Chief Bryan Phelps,
said several of his officers are reserv
ists. The tour gave him a better un
derstanding of what his of ficers do
when they take off two weeks in the
summer, he said.
“It’s sometimes very easy to get
the feeling that the two weeks is time
that they could be spending on the
job instead of out, as a lot of people
say, ‘playing soldier,’ ” Phelps said.
“It was better explained to us that,
should there be a war or whatever,
then we would know the role these
people play,” he said.
Of the more than 17,000 soldiers
training at Fort Hood, 10,000 are
part of the 49th Armored Division
of the Texas Army National Guard.
More than 2,600 members of the
Kentucky Army National Guard also
are training at the 339 square-mile
base. Most of the other soldiers
training there are members of the
Army Reserve from all parts of the
United States.
The soldiers are training around
the clock under simulated combat
conditions using tanks, armored
personnel carriers, helicopters and
artillery pieces.
The training is part of the require
ments for guardsmen and reservists.
The only other requirements for the
part-time soldiers is that they train
one weekend per month with their
unit.
The soldiers can be called for duty
in case of a natural disaster or na
tional emergency. They have to at
tend basic training and advanced in
dividual training just like regular
soldiers.
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Photos by Jay ^ 'j 11
TOP: A guardsman from the 49th armored division protects his ears ^
from the near deafening blasts of the howitzer. The howitzer isa $ out
cannon shorter than a gun of the same caliber, which is employedto ce | e |
fire projectiles at relatively high angles at a target, such as opposing j ena
forces behind a ridge. p , J
MIDDLE LEFT: Dorothy Mallett, Bryan City Secretary, eats a dried
pear that was part of the military meal given at the trip. Everyoneon ^
the trip was fed the ‘meals ready to eat,’ or MRE’s, for lunch. MRE’s j
are served to all the guardsmen for lunch everyday.
MIDDLE RIGHT: Lt. Col. Larry Lippke, a National Guard officer
who also works as an economist with the Texas Agricultural Extem ,
sion Service, explains some of the terminology associated within 5 va j'"
j° b - . . , [tea i
LEFT: B-CS businessmen, city officials, and A&M faculty members V( | '
exit a chinook. The group was flown to various locations around F 1, j
Hood in the helicopter. [ e <u
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