8/17/2019 The Pershing Cable (Apr 1979) http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-pershing-cable-apr-1979 1/3 , , the Pershing able 6th Field Artillery Brigade Vol. 15, No. 4 April 1979 Sapportl•C Ille I/fill, 1/llat,I/Nth Field Artllet'let IDd the Z/tlb lafantry Shoot • VifOrth all the VifOrk • • 5ft. CllalOII Swrunerford I ear, ud Set. Mtc J1tl 'WUIIIIIUmoaltor tle DII HIit CG Ht IDSlde the battery CHtrol ctllter Iea:,. Pfc. Joseph Rendlu 1fr~m lefO, Spee. f Walter Kebl, Pvt. Z William Gu~e. Spee. C Beallie Klq, Pvt. I Hector i~ bump' cable-s 111 from Wider the Heel« l1111d1H IELI. Spee. • ayde Loac ud Slafl Set, Terry B0ldln1 llep forward le u111& 1re1r). Story and photos by Spec. t PATRfCIA ZULLO . . . I fel t like I just had triplets," claimed U . Col. Gerald R . Lauzon. 1st Bat talion, 41st Field Artillery. Although he was li an excited first-time rather. Lau r;on was actually the proud battalion com mander of Charlie Battery, which had just participated in a follow-on Operational 'rest (FOi'] at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The first and second firing platoons from Charlie battery had returned to Flori da in August wliere offi~ials from Pershing Operational Test Unit ( POTU . from USAREUR HQs in Heidelberg said the)' considered that a/toot the most successrul test o( the Army's most powerful weapon since before the Sequential Launch adapt . er < SLA I was introduced. The day the POTU went to the t-41st FA Field Alert Site ( FASI the first and second platoons were on pad once again and were tapped for their second FOT in six months. Bell by Int Following the recent FOT. C . Ballery continues to hold lhe motto that was given them from the August shoot, Best by Test. " Charlle is also the first Pershing battery to participate in a 1979 FOT. Once the Pershing soldiers completed the first day of worl< in Florida, they were a lreaa)' two days ahead of the schedule they held on the last a/toot. Several soldiers. attrib W d the smooth operat ion to lhe experti se ol those Pershing crewmen who had at - tended the previous shoot and the coopera· lion of all the soldie rs working together. Most of the men claimed they were an , . ious for the day of the firing because they wanted to remain Bes t by Test .. but knew they had a lot of work ahead or them to prove it. Several days involved working into the late evening and returning the next morn Ing as the sun was rising. Even for those who had returned to Florida on lhe second C Battery shoot some said it was just as exciting" even though they knew how much work it Involved. With all the work. Pfc . Tyrone Hum phrey said, You earn a lot . . . " Pfc . Joseph Rendina of the second pl a· toon said, Alter all the work we put Into it, we were glad to see It go well ." Slloutiac ud whlstllllg Once the ti m e arrived for the missiles to be fired. the firing crew had to return to a closed-in tunnel where they watched the missile Lift-off from television monitors. Staff Set , Pete Coleman, NCOIC of the fire Oghting crew who was In the tunnel said shouting. screaming and whistling echoed throughout lhe tunnel as each missile went olf. The shaking and rumbling caused by the fU ing missile could be felt by lhe soldiers as they stood inside the tunnel. Some m n later claimed the noi.se outside was the re alization that each missile was going even though the television monitor was 11,howing It . Pfc . Michael Mc Jonald who was a mem- ber of the fir e-fighting crew and was in the tWlllel when the missiles were fired said, It was well worth all the work done in the last six months . tSee photos OD page lltree)