8TH TANK BN COMMAND CHRONOLOGY NOV 90 TO MAR 91 12 APR 91

File: 970107_aug96_decls2_0019.txt
Page: 0019
Total Pages: 60

Subject: 8TH TANK BN  COMMAND CHRONOLOGY NOV 90 TO MAR 91  12 APR 91     

Unit: 8TH TANK BN 

Parent Organization: 2 MARDIV    

Box  ID: BX600007

Folder Title: COMMAND CHRONOLOGY 8TH TANK BN 26 NOV - 31 MARCH 1991                                           

Document Number:          1

Folder Seq  #:          5





                                              UNCLASSIFIED


               was discovered that their original applications had not been properly sent to
               the Marine Corps Finance Center. Other Marines had pay problems either
               because they were late in submitting direct deposit applications or the     'forms
               were incomplete, or because they could not be immediately joined on the unit
               diary.
                                            22 Dec 1990 - 31 Jan 1991
                  Upon arrival in SWA, the priorities for the S-I/Admin section continued to
               be getting all the battalions properly joined on the Unit Diary and ensuring
               the correctness of their pay and allowances. The distance and time lags
               involved made this a very difficult and time consuming process. When ath Tank
               Battalion arrived in country, the Division Disbursing Office did not have an
               on-line capability to query the finance center's computers in Kansas City and
               did not get this capability until late February. TRICON availability from
               MISSO was limited and always several cycles behind the current one. Because
               of a lack of on line diary capacity, a system of couriered diaries was
               established from the battalion through division to the SWA MISSO at the Port
               of Al Jubail. This system was necessary, but relatively slow and prone to
               problems. On at least two occasions, diaries were submitted and lost without
               the battalion being notified, resulting in the loss of many man hours of work
               and serious pay discrepancies for some Marines affected by the lost diaries.
                  Mail service in SWA was plagued with problems of delay and changing
               regulations. Mail was a critical factor to the battalion and any apparent
US, created an
               immediate negative impact on all hands. Little could be done to speed
               delivery beyond the battalion level, but a great emphasis was placed on
               disseminating factual information concerning mail service in an effort to
               dispel the inevitable rumors and "bad scoop" that constantly was being passed
               within the ranks. This effort to provide factual information about mail
               service was made more difficult by the chameleon like nature of the military
               postal regulations. Rules about what could be sent through the mail and how
               changed frequently. This situation created great confusion both among the
               troops and with the Marine's families at home and was the root cause of many
               of the most demoralizing rumors.
                  Casualty reporting and graves registration procedures was a priority during
               this period. The personnel section developed a system for rapidly acquiring
               and reporting to higher headquarters personnel casualty information.
               Preformatted databases were established containing the necessary information,
               armored vehicle crew lists and casualty report forms that could easily be
               filled out by keypunch or hand for easy field use. This preformatted casualty
               report form was so successful that it was eventually adopted by 2d Marine
               Division B-1 for use across the division. The primary designer of this system
               was Corporal C. M. SCRUFARI, recommended for a Navy Achievement Medal for his
               efforts in this and other areas.
                  Personnel accountability remained a high priority for Sth Tank Battalion.
               In this respect, the tracking of medical evacuees and emergency leave
               personnel was a constant source of difficulty. Since the tracking reports
 these personnel were either inaccurate or too
               delayed to be of use, the expedient of daily hospital checks was used. This
               allowed the battalion to track its hospitalized and medically evacuated
               personnel accurately. The difficulty in tracking emergency leave personnel
               once they left SWA was never completely resolved, but was controlled by
               regular liaison with the Division B-1.
                                               I Feb - 28 Feb 1991
                  Diary and pay continued to be high personnel priority but had stabilized by
               this point for the large majority of the battalion's personnel. Mail


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                                                UNCLASSIFIED

Document 60 f:/Week-34/BX600007/COMMAND CHRONOLOGY 8TH TANK BN 26 NOV - 31 MARCH 1991/8th tank bn command chronology nov 90 to mar 91:01029709504317
Control Fields 17
File Room = aug96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-34
Box ID = BX600007
Unit = 8TH TANK BN
Parent Organization = 2 MARDIV
Folder Title = COMMAND CHRONOLOGY 8TH TANK BN 26 NOV - 31 MARCH 1991
Folder Seq # = 5
Subject = 8TH TANK BN COMMAND CHRONOLOGY NOV 90 TO MAR 91
Document Seq # = 1
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 = 02-JAN-1997