the

Pershing Cable
56th Field Artillery Brigade
May 1978

Vol. 1', No. S

Supporilag the l/4lsl, l/91SI. 3/MIII Fldd Artilleritt and tbe Z/4tb Infantry

Sec.
of
Army

visits
1/81

st

Specialist 4 Carnell Goode (left) and Secretary of the Army

Clifford Alexander Jr. square.off on the basketball court at Von
Steuben. Goode and Specialis.t 4 Andrew Thompson spen, about
10 mintues shooting baskets with Alexander during the
secretary's two hour visit to a Pershing battery. See story and::
additional photo on page 3. (Photo by SGT. Hutton)

May 1978

Pershing Cable

Page 3

Sec. of Army chats with Pershing EM

By SGT. Lucas Hutton
For Secretary of the Army Clifford Alexander Jr., his visit to the 56th FA Brigade was an opportunity to do what he
wanted most to do : talk 10 soldiers. For
two soldiers of Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 81st Field Artillery, the visit w11s their
opportunity to pl11y basketball with the Ar
my's number-one official .
Secretary Alexander spent about two
hours on May 3 at 1/81st FAs Von Steuben
site . Duri ng his visit, the $0A toured the
site and Its facllitles, but spent most of his
time chatting casually with the lowerranking enlisted personnel.
While making the rounds of the motor
pool area, Secretary Alexander spotte<I
the basketball court and challenged the
sold iers to a little sport. Specialists 4 C11rnell Goode and Andrew Thompson accepted the chal lenge and spent about 10
minute-s shooting baskets with the man
from Wash i ngton .
Goode, of Clarksville, VA, ls a field wireman; and Thompson, of Cheyenne, WY, is
a stock control specialist. Both men are
members of the battery basketball team .

,t'Soldiers complete
last HS class
The Schwablsch Gmund Education Center graduated Its last on-duty hl9h school
completion class on Thursday, May "
Twenty graduates received certificates of
completion from Mrs. Nancy Travis, the
class t eac her.
The on-duty high school completion program ended in December, but students al ready participating In the program were
permit led to complete their studies.
Diplomas will be Issued by Big Bend Community College of Moses Lake, Washington,
. "hic h conducted the program through the
l.,,,..'.lucatlon Center . The diplomas will be
presen1ed to the soldiers by thel r respective
battery con,n,anders.
Mr. George Burns, director of the Schwablsch GmOnd Education Center, says that
although on-duty high school completion is
no longer available, soldiers can still work
toward a high school diploma by attending

Secretc1ry Alexender wraps up his visit to Von Steuben by chatting with a group of Pershing missile
crewmen. The Army's number-one Official spent most of his time at the site discussing Army Ille with
individual lower-ranking soldiers. ( Photo by Sgt . Hutton)
courses during their off-duty time.
The soldiers who received certificates
were as follows:
HHB, 56th Bde
SGT Arthur J. Collins, SP4 Jonnie P.
Haro, PFC Irving White

1/41stFA
PFC David Bland ino, SP4 Jose Casanova,
SP4 Howard Chan, PFC Donald L. Delane,
PFC Paul R. Dowie, SP4 John E. Foreman,
PFC Carey A. Lindsay, SP4 Curtis
Lyles
Jr., SP4 Woodrow D . Massa, SP4 Arnaldo
Morales, PFC Jeffrey Muetz, SP4 Frederick B. Palmer, PFC Mark M . Pearce, PFC
V ictor Sanchez, SGT Randy E. White and
PFC Mark w i llianis

o.

CO. B, 385th MP Co.

SP4 Bradford R. Dudley

Brigadier General, Rebert 8 . Hankins, Commander, 56th Field Artillery Bri gade, presents Charne Battery, Third Platoon, 1st Battalion, 81st Field Artillery, the zero count plaQue, In recogni tion of their zero count. CSP4 Couey)

Alcohol-related accidents result In some 28.000 deaths

each year. a bigger problem than homicide. which was the
cause of 18,491 falalltles In 1977.
A!lcohol, however, Is nol the only drug under whose
inOuence it is dangerous to drive.
There is now evidence both from the laboratory and
from the analysis of ac1ual driving behavior tha1
marijuana In typical social doses seriously impair.; driving
ability.
While " high." the dTiver is nor only likely 10 have
anenllon lapses bu1 also Is likely to miss Important visual
cues especially In his or her peripheral vision.
The Alcohol, Drug Abuse. and Mental Health
Admlnlstratlon says that psychotropic drugs, such as
tranqullliiers. can also impair c;Jrivlng ability by: (1)
causing sleepiness, or numbness, or other side effects; (2)
changing the personality either through intoxication from
the drug or through difficulties experienced In the inlllal
abstinence period after taking the drug for a long time:
and especially, (3) increasing the effects of alcohol
consumed during the same time period as the other drugs,
Researchers point out thal alcohol as well as other
drugs when used In combinations may have more serious
consequences than w~n used alone. Barbiturates and
alcohol as well as marijuana and alcohol may Impair
prefonnance far more than either used alone.
Such over-the-counter medications as the
antihistamines that are part of common cold remedies
may Induce Increased drowsiness. especially when used
with alcohol or other sedative drugs.
Drugs. drinking and driving don't mix. And even more
deadly, combinations of such dNgs may have far more
serious consequences for performance than when used
singly.