DESERT SHIELD-STORM INTERVIEW

File: 102896_jun96_decls6_0036.txt
Page: 0036
Total Pages: 64

Subject: DESERT SHIELD-STORM INTERVIEW                                   

Box ID: BX001608

Unit: 101ST ID    

Parent Organization: XVIII CORPS 

Folder Title: DSS 101ST ABN DIV INTERVIEW CDR 101ST SG - C                                                    

Folder SEQ  #:         83

Document Number:          2








          DSIT-AE-103: COL Roy E. Beauchamp


          COL BEAUCHAMP: It didn't rain while we were there to any
          large degree. The kind of terrain that we 'were on of course
          can be very susceptible to heavy rain but we were very
          fortunate that we didn't experience any problems at the time
          we were there.


          MAJ HONEC: Some other units did, but yours didn't?

          COL BEAUCHAMP: No, we didn't have a problem. Not a
          problem. One thing we would probably be remiss if we left
          without talking about it is material-handling equipment
          [MHE]. You know, in all your life you've never seen a
          movie--a John Wayne movie--made about a forklift operator or
          forklifts. But I can tell you things like forklifts, and
          Container handlers, and wreckers--those are the lifeblood of
          our logistics system. When you start moving large
          quantities of materiel, ammunition, supplies, those are the
          things that make the system work--absolutely indispensable
          now to our operation. We took our own MHE over there, it
          was old--older in some cases than the soldiers that I had
          operating it. It performed very well for us. A lot of
          dedicated work by maintenance people to keep it operating
          and keep it working. They did a tremendous job. We
          received late in the deployment some additional material@
          handling equipment that were able to reach Fort Bliss and be
          shipped before the unit left from Fort Hood. But didn't
          arrive until very late in the deployment, until the
          offensive phase of the operation.

          MAJ HONEC: Oh, okay.

          COL BEAUCHAMP: Fort Bliss, when you talk about equipment
          though, is very, very important to what we did. Let me say
          something else also about the corps support group and the
          multifunctional doctrine. The corps support group is a
l organization--multifunctional meaning that
          supply and maintenance and ammunition and fuel support and
          field services are all managed under one organization. We
          re-task organized the battalions to make them corps support
          battalions, multifunctional corps support battalions in
          Saudi Arabia. I firmly believe that that's clearly the way
          the Army ought to be going; that's the way it functions best
          because it gives us flexibility we never had before. It
          gives us depth we never before and the capability to respond
          quickly that we never had before in the forward area of the
          battlefield.
               They were not all mirror images of  each other, but we
          have to have corps support battalions multifunctional
          because war is a multifunctional operation. It economizes    a
          number of people that the supported customer has to deal
          with and I think is a key element in sustaining and

                                        33

Document 64 f:/Week-22/BX001608/DSS 101ST ABN DIV INTERVIEW CDR 101ST SG - C/desert shield-storm interview:10019616504029
Control Fields 17
File Room = jun96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-22
Box ID = BX001608
Unit = 101ST ID
Parent Organization = XVIII CORPS
Folder Title = DSS 101ST ABN DIV INTERVIEW CDR 101ST SG - C
Folder Seq # = 83
Subject = DESERT SHIELD-STORM INTERVIEW
Document Seq # = 2
Document Date =
Scan Date =
Queued for Declassification = 01-JAN-1980
Short Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Long Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Permanent Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Non-Health Related Document = 01-JAN-1980
Declassified = 01-OCT-1996