Pershing

able
Gls bowl-struck
By Rosalyn R. Colem~n
Pershing Cable Staff Wmer
The event is the Orange Bowl competition and
crowds of people >re gathered around their fa~orite
team, wondering which one will become the victors
ond walk away with the trophy at the end of the day.
No it isn't the famous Orange Bowl football game
that's 'played in Miami each year, but just ask any of
the 38th Signal Battalion soldiers that ha~~ h.ad the
chance to compete and they'll tell you, 1t s JUSt as
hard.
..
The Orange Bowl, signal-style, i~ a compem1on
that will be held once a quarter. In n, teams of soldiers compete against each other and are evaluated on
how "''ell they perform their jobs and maintain and
accoun1 for their equipmen!. .
.
.
The company with the winning team will ~ece1ve a
romini; trophy and a plaque for permanent display at
the unit level.
In addition rn the trophy, the winning team
members receive an impact Anny Achievement Medal and a four-day pass.
This month marked the first time the Orange Bowl
was held. No one won.
Capt. Kun Mueller, 38th Signal. Battalion's executive officer said, "This was the first of the Orange
bowl competitions and now the word is going to get
out cha'! this is not something that you can show up
for and expect to win.
"The only way that a team has a chance of getting
through the competition and commg away w11h the
trophy is by practicing good maintenance . and
practicing good team traini~g," Mueller explained.
"If those things aren't practiced they don't have a
chance of winning.
..
During the first phase of the compe1111on, the
teams go through a thorough exami~ation conducted
bv several sections within the banalion.
The battalion supply and logistics office (S-4),
checks the teams sub-hand receipts. This ensures that
all the equipment is properly signed for. The com"?unications electronics shop does a complete technical
inspection of the teams commu~ication.s shelter and
the motor pool does a thorough mspecuon of the team's vehicle, generators and trailer.
The teams are graded on how well they maintain
their equipment and its overall condition. .
For phase one, which i~ broken d.own mto three
catagories, a team can receive 100 points. The Army
Maintenance Management System. (TAM_MS) and
hand-receipts are both worth 25 pomts, while overall
condition is worth 50 points.
For each ddiciency, whether it's on DA For'!'
2408-14 or 2404, one point is deducted. However, !f
that deficiency deadlines the equipment, the team 1s
eliminated from competition.
If a team successfully gets over those particular
hurdles, Mueller said, they can advance to the last
ponion of the competition.
Phase two involves establishing their system on the
air. A team must achieve the time standards prescribed in Army Training and Evaluation Program 11-485
in order to remain in the competition. For each
minute below the time standards, additional
points can be awarded.
.
.
According to Mueller, the idea behind the compe1j1ion is 10 get the teams pumped up so we have com.
.
bat ready soldiers.
"It will take practice for someone to wm this com
petition," Mueller said. We're striving for combat

readiness and team excellence. The only way they're

going to get through the ~omp.etition is by practice
and by concentrating their trammg on team battle
skills and team maintenance."
.
"h's real easy to find a team that does well out in
the field, but their maintenance might be la~kadai_sical. You might find a team that keeps their equipment in excellent condition but they may not be
sharp communicators, Mueller said. But, this competition demands that they are good across the board,
that they know how to maintain their equipment and
they're well trained, he said.
The units will be ready for the second Orange
Bowl. Alpha Company's first Sergeant, Edward Lamar, whose company made it farthe~ than any oth~r
in the competition, said next time his company will
win the compe<ition.
.
.
"We're going to practice more on crew-drills, so
each team member knows what their job is and there
won't be anyone standing around, wondering what
to do next, Lamar explained.
.
The competition is open to all systems, to mclude
wrecker teams, 2 'h ton truck drivers who are assigned a cargo deuce, in addition to multichann~l v.ans,
single side band vans and other commumcauons
equipmem in the battalion.
.
Sgt. April McClain, .Bravo Company, ~~th Signal
Battalion team chief said that the compem1on was a
learning experience.
"The competition was difficult, but very helpful,"
she said. Ir showed me the areas that we, as a team,
are weak in. Now I know what areas I need to concentrate on in my training.~,
Even though no one won the tr?phy and t~e 4-d ay
pass, the communicators of 38th Signal Bauabon no w
know what the Orange Bowl standards are and what
it'll take to win.
No one won. But, to paraphrase a well-~own
Anny com!11er!cial, "When there's good training,
everyone wms.

Reclng against the clock, Spec. Earl Barber, of Alpha

Company, 38th Signal Battalion, quickly releases the
tledown straps on hla equipment during recfflt
Orange Bowl timed-test.

Vol.~. No. 5
S8ltl Flekl Artl1lery ComllNlnd
Flbnllry 1

Update FYI
Army's new theme
Secretary of the Army, John 0. Marsh, Chief of
Staff, Gen. Carl E. Vuono and SMAJulius W. Gates have acknowledged the importance of NCOs
in the Army by making 1989 "The Year of the
NCO".
In a joint statement, the three top Army leaders
said, "soldiers who wear NCO's chevrons on their
sleeves represent a unique. Army st.reng:th upon
which this year's theme will .focus. The l?rev1ous
yearly themes of Spirit of Victory, Physical Fitness Excellence, Families, Leadership, Values,
The' Constitution and Training all have Sj>ec.ial
bearing on NCOs, who have k_eY. respons1b1lmes
in accomplishing the Anny's m1mon.
"Throughout the history of our Army, ,he
NCO has played an indispensable role 1n the
warfighting readiness of our force.
"The NCO is both a leader and a role model.
NCOs provide the d~y-~o_-day lead.ership t.o our
soldiers. They ensure md1v1dual soldier~ ~ttam and
maintain the required standards o~ proficiency an.d
link soldiers performance 10 the1r m1sS1ons. It IS
the NCO who must be certain of the soldier's
.
.
ability to succeed in combat.
"NCOs have a long history of dedicated service
10 soldiers, units, the Army, and our Nation. We
acknowledge their unique .contr_ibutiOJ?S, past,
present, and future, in declaring this special Army
strength the 1989 Army theme, 'The Year of the
NCO'." (ARNEWS)

Uniform change
Soldiers can now wear their awards, badges and
decorations on the shirt of the Class B uniform.
Now authoriied for optional wear on ,he AG
415 green and AG 428 polywool_green sh.ins are:
- individual awards and decorations.
- unit awards and decorations.
- miniature (half-size) or full-size combat and
special badges.
- marksmanship, identification and foreign
badges.
.
. . . . . .
- regimental and infantry d1st1nc11ve 1ns1gn1a, as
well as airborne training.
Use the same guidelines of AR 670-1 ("We!r
and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia )
for placing items on the shirt that you would use
t0 put them on the jacket.
Many of the soldiers who were alrea~y
authorized to wear awards on the Class B s~m
have found that attaching the awards 10 so':1e kind
of backing inside the shirt prevents d~oppmg.
The new policy does not allow .soldiers to wear
distinctive unit insignia on the shm's epau.le,~. l.n
addition, no sew-on patches, badges or insignia
may be worn. Soldiers authorized to wea:r ra~ger
and special forces tabs may wear the metal replicas
as they normally would on the dress blue jacket.
Although the wear of these items with the Class
B uniform is optional to the soldier, commanders
may require the wear of t~e a"'.ards ar:id decorations only for parades, reviews, inspecuons, ~uneraJs, and ctremoniaJ or social occasions.
(ARNEWS)

Porshing Cabi.
February 1989

Parting Shota

Centers, Sgt. Cheryl Ragland, of the Schwiblsch Gmund Rockettea end Cpl. Brenda
Nixon, of the Gbpplngen RlldertttH, get tht game started with "jump ball," du
ring the Martin Luther King Day Basketball Tournament. The Rockettes who lead
throughout the game, went on to wln 5135.

Pvt. 2 Jeffrey McDonald, Decontamination Speclallst, check

hi heart to If ha'a atlll allve, whlla receiving flu ahOt from
Medlcal Speclellat, Spec. Robert Underwood. Both 1oldler1.,.
aaelgned to Headquarters end Headquarters B-ry.

_.,_
Stretching ecroas the finish llne after a gruellng
10K (6.2 mllH) run la $Sgt. Victor Acero, RHource
Management Office section chief. Acero competed
In the 56th Command Cross Country Championship
at Neu Ulm.
The last act In the deectlvatlon of Delta Battery, 2nd Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Is
the removal of the battery sign. Roland Deininger, electrlclan, Engineers Support
Division, removes the sign after Delta's color cHlng ceremony.