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Daily Newt-Mintr. Fairbanks, Alaska. Monday. Nowmhf M. if 7S-3Carolina GIs invade Interior hillsBy CRAIG SMITHSUH WriterThe F-4 Phantom let dove sharply tod beaded for toe hilltop about 15 mik* north of Eklson AFB. The plane opened fire and the bursts from its cannons sent B»w spraying into the air In the large: area.FIRE I—Soldiers from the 82nd Airborn Divisionfrom Ft. Bragg, N.C., fire on a target of old carsand cardboard figures in the hills north of Eielson Air Force Base. The exercise was theculmination of arctic training for the troops.which are Division.”known as “America’s Ready(Staff photos by Crain Smith/“D—,n said an Army sergeant' major in a wishful tone. ‘Tbm ought to be a tbousad Communists up on that hUl.There was no one up on the hill nor on two other target hills Saturday as the Air Force jets and about 200 Army troops from the 82nd Airborne Division from FI. Bragg participated in a live-fire training m Islon.The llve-fire maneuver was the highlit of six weeks of arctic training the North Carolina troops have received since their spectacular parachute arrival at Ft. YVainwrlght Oct. I. The mure than 900 soldiers from the 82nd Division (not all participated in Saturday's exercise) will return to Ft. Brasg Friday.Saturday's exercise amounted to a variety show of Army weaponry and combat talent.The scenario was that the troops were to attack a suspected enemy tactical nuclear weaponsite. It was an exercise that hadbeen weeks in planning Tor safety’s sake although a similar mission could be organized within minutes In a war.CITY YEWS hFaulty electrical wiring blamed for fire which destroyed Roberts family homeThe tactical weapon site actually amounted to a few old car bodies, bunkers and cardboard human-lorm targets. Rut il the targets were makeshift, therewas nothing '•pretend about Ute weapons.The artillery opened up from about five miles away with M102,I OS mm howlltzers. Then the Air Force jets strafed the targets. An Army Cobra helicopter was the next act and It blasted away.Then up the hill flying low to the ground came four Army Huey helicopters with troops.Good, they are slaying low and out of sight like they should, said U. Col. * E.L. Stevens, commander of Ihe Ft. Bragg forces. The helicopters deposited their soldiers on the ground near the target area and the soldiers opened fire with rifles, mortars and machine guns. A larger Chinook helicopter brought more troops to the combat area.The troops fought their way closer to the objective, it was now time for a show-stopper, a ground-1 o-ground TWO Missile. The weapon, operated by three soldiers and about six feel long, was aimed with precision. With an enormous bang it was fired at an old automobile on a hill about a mile away. Il took the top off the car. The TWO Missile Is one of the Army’s newest weapons 'and ft’s range and penetration pow£r are classified. The B2nd Infantry has had the weapon for about two months, according to a captain. The weapon discharges n thin wire as it travels to the target.The artillery now resumed fire, but on another hill, one' not occupied by troops. The artillery shells whistled over the heads of ihc troops The soldiers, meanwhile, began a final firepower assault on the same hill the TWOMissile fired at a second lime. In an actual batik, this barrage of fire would be the firal step before moving In on Ihe enemy.Lt. Col. Stevens, who watched the exercise with fl. Walnwrlgh! commander Col. William Lee Martin, said be felt his troopsperformed web.The 82nd Airborne Div. Is called America's Ready Division because, as 1.1. Col.Stevens explained, We're readyto go anywhere in the world oc a minute’s notice and be ready Ufight.”Referring to the Alaskan training, li. Col. Stevens said, We've learned a great deal up here. . . U's something we’d never experienced before.” Many of the soldiers in the End are southerners to whom sub freezing temperatures are anovelty, lei alone lobxero weather. •The temperature waif a balmy(for Fairbanks} MoeOei. I vhea the 82nd parachuted into Ft Walnwrlfht. , The mercury plunged to mint* Jf (fcrtaf thdr stay. The aokliera learned to operate and survive in the extreme cold, but many of them didn’t seem enthralled by it and are anxious to return to their wives and the green hills of North Carolina.One captain dropped two reporter* off at FI. Walnwright after the exercise and said with a grin. I’m sure glad you guys like It up here.ADVERTISEMENTDEPttSSW Alt TlPublic Offered 1937 U.S. Gov’t Art PrintsWASHINGTON. D C. (SpecialI \ series uf rare coincidences has led to the hislorte discovery of several thousand sets of full color antique art prints that were lost since 1937. They arc row being offered lo the American public.K mm* MosfvcirBack in 1937. immediately following the depression years. Mrs.: Eleanor Roosevelt and a select group of a dozen nationallyprominent people formed avrlnntArv nalinnal rommilfpc for
Newspaper Details
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Fairbanks, Alaska, US
Mon, Nov 10, 1975
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Fairbanks S.
USA 14 Feb 2019
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