MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, July 3/98 Index: ANNOUNCEMENTS; Email Address Changes, MAY-JUNE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN; By Bill Howard HUMOR; *********************************************** ANNOUNCEMENTS; Email Address Changes, Ralph Hogan's work email address has been experiencing troubles sence last Friday. If you have tried to contact him in regard to the emailing of inverter schematics, or manual copies. Use his home address of . The company Pete McCollum works for has been purchased by Compac. Compac has a strict rule about using company facilities for personal use. As a result he can no longer use his work email account. As a temporary measure, he is using his old Juno account at . Dennis *********************************************** MAY-JUNE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN; By Bill Howard Vol. 3 No. 3 May-Jun 1998 A non-profit publication about the veterans of Technical Intelligence in war and peace, the current operations of the National Ground Intelligence Center, the Technical Intelligence Unit at Aberdeen Proving Ground and news items of interest to the technical intelligence community Changes in the 203rd M.I. Bn Major Steve Cloum, the S3, is the new Bn XO effective 7 May 1998. MAJ Chris Winne will be in Florida, with SOUTHCOM. His home will be in Pembroke Pines, FL 33028 No e-mail address there yet. Captain Scott Janzen, of the C Detachment at Fort Irwin will be PCSing to the Arlington area this August to start language training for Urdu at the State Dept. language school (Urdu is not offered at DLI). Following about a year of this, he will pack up and go to Pakistan to attend the Pakistani Army Staff College for 12-15 months. He is very excited about this. It’s an interesting assignment where he can be accompanied with his family AND drawing hostile fire pay at the same time! He was accepted into the foreign area officer (FAO) functional area and assigned South Asia as his regional specialty, so he will likely spend the rest of his career bouncing around India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the DC area. SFC Rebecca Oliver (former C Det Intell NCOIC) is moving to Tampa in early June. She will be with CENTCOM. Look forward to our new Florida residents visiting the museum. Major Scott StCyr is now at McDill with CENTCOM, and has been for about 10 months now. He lives in Valrico, Florida. He was the 203rd M.I. Bn’s S3 in 94-95 and XO 95-96. He is currently in charge of Plans and Traning for the Intelligence Section. Received the following from Jim Turner of the 519th M.I. Bn Association MOSCOW - Russia accused the United States of making ``a fatal mistake'' Thursday by ratifying NATO's expansion to Eastern Europe, saying the decision could threaten the START II treaty. The unusually blunt statement followed a week of virtual silence from Russia regarding the U.S. Senate's NATO vote last week. On Monday, Poland's foreign minister said the lack of official reaction from Moscow was a sign of ``silent approval and understanding.'' WASHINGTON - Intelligence information available to U.S. commanders in the most recent crisis with Iraq was inadequate to support a military campaign, lawmakers said Thursday. Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, cited "serious shortfalls" in what U.S. intelligence needed to know as the chances of conflict with Iraq appeared likely. "Earlier this year, the United States came to the brink of military confrontation with Saddam Hussein," Goss said. "Yet we did so without all of the information necessary to support a serious campaign." Goss' remarks came as the House by voice vote passed the 1999 national intelligence authorization bill. The proposed budget for national intelligence is classified, but knowledgeable officials said it is slightly larger than this year's $26.7 billion. T. I. B.Vol. 3 No. 3 May-June 1998 Page 2 Panel Ties NSA Funds To Changes at Agency Report Urges Strategic,Business Planning (Washington Post, 7 May 1998) The House intelligence committee threatened yesterday to withhold funds from the $4 billion National Security Agency (NSA) unless the worldwide eavesdropping organization makes "very large changes" in its "culture and methods of operation." "Fences have been placed on portions of the [NSA] budget with the prospect that a considerable amount of money could be programmed for other intelligence community needs if NSA does not develop strategic and business planning," the House panel said in its report on the fiscal 1999 Intelligence Authorization Act released yesterday. The panel is chaired by Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.), a former CIA case officer. OLD SOLDIERS I was having a discussion with LTC John Baker about “old Tech Intel People” when the subject of Lt.Gen. Medaris came up. John reminded me that: LTG Bruce Medaris, former CG, Army Ordnance Missile Cmd & WW II Bn Co of whatever Ord Bn was attached to the Armored Div that went into N. Africa. He"pioneered" the battlefield recovery, at nite & under fire, of damaged US &German equipment. According to the official US Army history, some of his recovery units had to out maneuver & outfight the German battlefield recovery units to accomplish their mission. My recollection is that, upon retirement, he became CEO of the parent corporation of Lionel Trains & upon his second retirement, went into the ministry. So, more than likely, he is the Episcopal Priest, whom you read about. Br, jb Medaris had the formal blessing of Ordnance T.O & E. Units. George Jarrett was really the first in the area of battlefield Recovery.WLH Received a letter from former Lt. Fozman, now with the 902nd M.I. Group at Fort Meade. On 1 June she was promoted to Captain. Congratulations to her. She spent several weeks in Korea as part of the annual Reception,Staging, Onward-Movement and Integration exercise. Do not think there is any danger of Korea becoming her favorite place. Three new books on weapons are in the mill. they are by Gordon Rottman, This is the description that he sent me. “I'm completing three books you might be interested in. They are not yet finished. The below descriptions are from my book list.” Treacherous Weapons: German and Japanese World War II Booby Traps The use of booby traps by enemy forces in World War II have long intrigued many due to their ingenuity and impact on the moral of Allied forces. This book provides historical information on the employment of booby traps by the German Army (and Waffen - SS and Luftwaffe ground combat units) and the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. The information it contains was extracted from Allied intelligence documents. These reports and briefings served to alert Allied troops of new types of booby traps, booby trapping techniques employed by the enemy, the materials used in their construction, and how to avoid, detect, or neutralize booby traps. It is especially useful to those interested in the tactical aspects of warfighting, writers, reenactors, and military and law enforcement explosive ordnance disposal personnel. 86 pages, 94 line drawings, illustrations, and photographs $14.95 T. I. B.Vol. 3 No. 3 May-June 1998 Page 3 Pocket Artillery: Second World War Hand and Rifle Grenades (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, United Kingdom, United States, USSR, and Other Countries) Pocket Artillery provides an identification and data guide on over 270 Second World War hand and rifle grenades and pyrotechnic devices for collectors, historians, curators, weapons specialists, explosive ordnance disposal technicians, reenactors, and model figure painters. Besides raw technical data, this book provides information on how specific grenades were used, how they functioned, capabilities and limitations, their identification, packaging, development, analysis of explosives, grenade effects, and interesting and unusual facts. While many weapons books discuss grenades and their uses, few describe more than the most common models. Most of the lesser known and special purpose models are neglected entirely. This book rectifies that situation and discusses every model of grenade and related devices the author has been able to discover along with its background information. Rifle grenade launchers, launcher sights, launching cartridges, and grenade accessories, other neglected areas in most weapons books, are also discussed in this work. 160 pages, 260 line drawings, illustrations, and photographs $18.95 The RPG Book: Soviet and Russian Antitank Rocket Launchers In the RPG Book will be found every bit of information available on the Soviet, Russian, Warsaw Pact, and Chinese RPG-series of shoulder-fired antitank rocket launchers. These include the reloadable RPG-2, 7, 16, and 29 and the single-shot, disposable RPG-18, 22, 26, and 27 as well as foreign look-a-likes and variants. The forefathers of both systems, the German Panzerfaust and American LAW are also examined. Besides technical characteristics, operation, capabilities and limitations, information on all types of ammunition is provided. Special US Army studies on the RPG+s bunker defeating capabilities and how to counter the RPG are provided in full along with firing test result+s photographs. Also included are excerpts from Soviet and East German manuals. It is truly the definitive work on the subject. 130 pages, dozens of line drawings, illustrations, and photographs $16.95 Veterans Benefits? Part of the problem will all of this discussion of veterans benefits is that the Department of Veterans Affairs is one of the worst run government agencies in the U.S. Not only is the care that veterans receive substandard, but the organization is also hemorrhaging money. Most of the VA hospitals have less than 50% of their beds full, but they still have to pay all of the doctors, nurses, etc. I know someone who is rather high up in the VA and he says that by their own calculations, it would be cheaper for the government to put people in civilian hospitals then to keep the VA hospitals open. Alexander M. Bielakowski JUNE 08, 02:45 EDT Report: US Military Used Nerve Gas WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. military defectors during the Vietnam War were targeted for death with nerve gas on a mission by American armed forces, CNN and Time Magazine report. The so-called Operation Tailwind was approved by the Nixon White House as well as the CIA, said the report. The main source was retired Adm. Thomas Moorer, a Vietnam-era chief of naval operations and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Former military officials who participated in the operation in September 1970 said their job was to kill defectors from the U.S. military. But it was not known for sure whether the suspected defectors died during a preparatory nerve gas assault or a subsequent assault with conventional weapons carried out by Special Forces troops. T. I. B.Vol. 3 No. 3 May-June 1998 Page 4 A companion story on the eight-month investigation appears in the current edition of Time magazine, written jointly by a CNN producer and correspondent. Platoon Sgt. Mike Hagen, says nerve gas was used. 70K /CNN Newstand ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ``It was pretty well understood that if you came across a defector, and could prove it to yourself beyond a reasonable doubt, do it, under any circumstance, kill them,'' said 1st Lt. Robert Van Buskirk, described as a platoon leader in the operation. ``It wasn't about bringing them back. It was to kill them.'' ``We have no historical evidence to confirm we ever used nerve gas in Vietnam or mounted operations against defectors,'' Pentagon spokesman Jim Turner told The Associated Press on Sunday. The reported use of nerve gas came after President Nixon pledged a ``no first use'' policy on nerve gas. The U.S. already had signed a treaty restricting chemical weapons but the Senate had not ratified it. The nerve gas, sarin, is the same gas used three years ago in a deadly terrorist subway attack in Japan. Lt. Robert Van Buskirk, says defectors were to be killed. 152K/ CNN Newstand ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Several officers who served in Operation Tailwind said on the premiere of ``NewsStand: CNN & Time'' that the government liked to call the gas ``incapacitating gas'' or ``knockout gas'' — but that its true makeup was widely known. The report said Moorer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1970, did not admit on camera that nerve gas was used, but confirmed off camera that it was. ``I would be willing to use any weapon and any tactic to save the lives of American soldiers,'' Moorer said on camera, adding that he had no figures on how often lethal gas was used during the war. Melvin Laird, secretary of defense at the time of Operation Tailwind, told Time that he had no specific recollection of nerve gas being used but ``I do not dispute what Admiral Moorer has to say on this matter.'' Moorer is quoted in the magazine as saying the gas was ``by and large available'' for high-risk search-and-rescue missions and that ``this is a much bigger operation than you realize.'' Time said Henry Kissinger, who was Nixon's national security adviser at the time, declined to comment on the nerve gas report. Van Buskirk, the reported platoon leader in the operation, said the team attacked a village base camp in Laos after observing American men — believed to be defectors — among the people. He said he even threw a hand grenade down a hole to kill two American men who were fleeing. Van Buskirk said that among the more than 100 bodies, soldiers saw more than a dozen Americans they believed to be defectors. Book on Medical Technical Intelligence I and several others have received a letter from Dr. Johnathan Clemente of New York who is currently working on a book on the subject of Medical Technical Intelligence from WW II to the present. I sent him what information I had as did several others. If you have anything that relates to the subject, contact me or Dr. Clemente. Study Looks at CIA Vietnam Analysis The Associated Press By JOHN DIAMOND WASHINGTON (AP) - The CIA accurately judged the difficulties the United States faced in Vietnam in the 1960s but often yielded to political pressure to make its estimates more optimistic, according to a newly declassified study released Tuesday. Written by Harold Ford, author of many of the CIA's classified estimates on Vietnam at the time of the war, the study shows how executive branch pressure effectively tamped down the warnings coming from mid-level CIA analysts and field operatives. The study largely supports established historical views about the agency's role in Vietnam, but adds new detail through the author's access to classified agency files. ``CIA's judgments proved prescient much of the time but found little receptivity,'' wrote Ford, who worked under the auspices of the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence. ``At other times during 1962-68, the agency's intelligence found favor with policy-makers but turned out to be wrong. Despite this mixed performance ... the intelligence on Vietnam that the agency provided decision-makers was for the most part better than that of other official contributors.'' Stanley Karnow, author of a history of Vietnam, said at a Georgetown University seminar Tuesday that, in his experience, CIA analysts ``were professionals who tried to assess a situation as they saw it and not try to T. I. B.Vol. 3 No. 3 May-June 1998 Page 5 fit it in with any policy position.'' Chester Cooper, who worked on Vietnam issues in the Johnson White House, called the study ``impeccable and very candidly researched.'' Thomas Hughes, former head of the State Department's intelligence bureau, while praising the book, said it discounted the equally accurate assessments of Vietnam coming from State's intelligence analysts. The study focuses on three episodes, beginning with a national intelligence estimate produced in 1963 on South Vietnam's ability to resist communist guerillas and the question of whether U.S. forces would be needed. The Kennedy administration was hoping to pull military advisers out of Vietnam and was strongly predisposed to welcome optimistic reports from the field, according to the study. A draft of the estimate predicted that ``the struggle in South Vietnam at best will be protracted and costly (because) very great weaknesses remain and will be difficult to surmount.'' After senior policy-makers and military officers objected to this pessimistic outlook, and after then-CIA Director John McCone demanded a redraft, the final version stated: ``We believe that Communist progress has been blunted and that the situation is improving.'' During one internal meeting, McCone upbraided the CIA's chief analyst, Sherman Kent, for failing to consult ``the people who knew Vietnam best,'' including diplomats, military officers and others. The end result, Ford writes, was an intelligence estimate that largely echoed the optimistic views of policy-makers who had a vested interest in praising the effectiveness of their own actions. One critique of the draft estimate written by Army Gen. Earl Wheeler, then the Army chief of staff, said the CIA's concern about a lack of firm leadership within the South Vietnamese military was ``overstated'' and ``must be heavily qualified. The U.S. advisory team (in Vietnam) was very sensitive on this topic.'' The CIA and the interagency Board of National Estimates ultimately ``bowed to the pressure'' applied by McCone and others and distributed a far more tepid assessment. This decision had lasting consequences, Ford writes. ``The NIE 53-63 episode should have provided a valuable lesson in some of the many ways intelligence can be distorted,'' Ford writes. But he said, ``Distortions of reality, some wishful, some more deliberate, persisted until the expulsion of the American presence in Vietnam 12 years later - and definitely contributed to that outcome.'' Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. Promotions and Transfers-203rd M.I. and Veterans of T.I. LTC Kevin Cunningham has been / will be promoted to Colonel on 2 July 1998, then he heads for a year in Korea. Congratulations, Col. Cunningham. Major John Ingraham is coming back from Korea, stopping off in the states and then going to Europe. Thinks it wil be his last overseas tour. Understand Maj. Chris Winne is getting settled in Forida and that SFC Oliver will soon be here, in the Tampa Bay area. Hope to hear from her when she gets here. Dinner goes to War There is a “new” magazine called Invention and Technology. Vol 14 so it is not that new but new to me. The latest issue has an article titled “Dinner goes to War” all about the evolution of combat rations. It gives the history since Civil War hardtack “The original John Wayne cookies!” up to MRE , “Meals Rejected by Everyone”. Also an article about Night Vision devices. This looks like a good magazine to subscribe to for current technology and it’s historical evolution. I was sent the address of the Canadian Air Force web site. I checked it out, it is very interestng for anyone interested in Canadian Air Force History. “The Canadian Air Force site is one of the best of it's type.Scores of high quality images - aircraft, badges, crests, medals...It is very comprehensive air force history pages and links.” http://www.achq.dnd.ca/history.htm T. I. B.Vol. 3 No. 3 May-June 1998 Page 6 Adam Giebel is looking for information on Soviet Vehicles. Do you have any illustrated Soviet manuals, or any photos, of how the radios, map tables, etc, were laid-out in the BTR - 152 PU and BTR - 50 PU? He has collected some outstandingly detailed photos of the basic internals and externals, for small booklets on both vehicles. However, the Command Versions escape him at the moment. Any help would be appreciated. For those of you who are interested, there is a BTR-152PU in Alan Cors collection (Manassas area, N. VA), but it is stripped out. Thanks, Adam Geibel Can anyone help him out? Another web site I have come up with another interesting web site which seems to be a listing of other web sites that relate to WW II history. It is Look at:http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/7087/uklinks.htm This has, among many things numerous pictures and diagrams of the V 1 rocket. I spent most of one day going throught the site and printing out the diagrams and pictures. Almost enough to write a technical manual or to build your own V 1. North Korea admits that it has sold missiles abroad and plans to keep on doing it despite international efforts to curb the spread of missiles.. North Korea defended it’s missile develpment program by accusing Washington of maintaining stifling embargos and they need the cash from the sales of these missiles. They sell to Iran and Syria. North Korean missile technology is based on Scud technology provided by the FSU and Egypt. This of course is based on the WW II V 2 rockets. That is almost three complete career cycles since the original technical intelligence efforts of WW II. Obits Col. Oran Henderson the highest ranking officer tried for his role in the killing of 175 Vietnamese men, women and children in the 1968 My Lai incident. He commanded the 11 th Infantry Brigade and was acquited of charges of failing to conduct an investigation into the massacre after being told civilians were killed. This left only Lt Calley as the only soldier to be found guilty and punished for the massacre. Lucien E. Conein, 79, a legendary intelligence agent who was a key liasion between U.S. officials and the south vietnamese generals in the assassination of President Ngo Dinh Diem. His intelligence career included getting weapons to the French Resistance in World War II, coordinating infiltration of spies into Eastern Europe after the war and training paramilitary forces in Iran. In 1954 after the partition of Vietnam, he organized anti-communist guerillas in North Vietnam. He went on to act as a vital liasion between the U.S. Embassy in Saigon and the South Vetnamese generals who plotted the assassination of Diem in 1963. He left the CIA in 1972 and joined the DEA. where he directed an intelligence -gathering unit until his retirement in 1984. A fabled story teller, he provided this caveat to his listeners “Don’t believe anything I tell you,I’m an expert liar.” He may be dead but his memory lingers on through his narration of several documentary films on the war. Ed Well, that is it for this issue. How about some of you sending me a message to let me know you are still alive? If you are on the inter net, send me an e-mail at the address below. Please note my new telephone area code 727 THE WILLIAM L. HOWARD ORDNANCE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM e-mail wlhoward@gte.net Telephone AC 727- 585-7756 *********************************************** HUMOR; >From the movie "The Rainmaker". What's the difference between a lawyer and a prostitute? A prostitute stops screwing you when you die. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A small two-seater Cessna 152 plane crashed into a cemetery early this morning in central Poland. Polish search and rescue workers have recovered 3000 bodies thus far, and expect that number to climb as digging continues into the evening... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I read my horoscope. The first line said, "Ignore bad advice." Fine. I stopped reading my horoscope. -- Dan Spencer ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Top Ten Slogans Currently Being Considered by Viagra: 10. "Viagra, The quicker dicker upper" 9. "Viagra, One-a-day, like iron" 8. "Viagra, When it absolutely, positively has to be there tonight" 7. "Viagra, Home of the whopper" 6. "Viagra, It plumps when you take 'em" 5. "Viagra, Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman 4. "Viagra, Tastes great, more filling" 3. "Viagra, Ten inches long... and growing." 2. "Viagra, We work harder, so you don't have to" ..and the number one slogan being considered by Viagra: 1. "This is your penis. This is your penis on Viagra. Any questions?" *********************************************** (The preceding was a product of the"Military Collector Group Post", an international email magazine dedicated to the preservation of history and the equipment that made it. Unlimited circulation of this material is authorized so long as the proper credits to the original authors, and publisher or this group are included. For more information conserning this group contact Dennis Starks at, military-radio-guy@juno.com) ***********************************************