Sign For the Ammo Or We Leave With It
In 1972 the unit I was in at Fort Knox, KY, was organized and equipped to go to Germany as the first attack helicopter unit to be sent over there with Cobra helicopters. We arrived in country late in the year and started about the work of getting everything set up. One of the things we had to do was to have a “basic load” for our Cobras. A basic load was the ammunition needed to fully arm all of our Cobras three times. If war started with the Soviet Union we would have some ammunition on hand to start the fight with.
I was given the assignment to be Ammunition Supply Officer so getting the ammunition was my responsibility. At the facility where we were stationed was an Ammunition Supply Point or ASP, where we were to store the ammunition. The small stuff, about twenty tons of 40millimeter grenades and 7.62 millimeter linked bullets, we trucked in with trucks from the unit. The big stuff, about ninety tons of rockets, would be trucked in to us by tractor-trailers under the control of the big ammunition control folks in Germany.
Getting the twenty tons of small ammunition that we were to truck in went pretty well and we had it in the ASP. I took all the paperwork that was required for the big stuff to the top brass to request delivery of the ammunition. The stack of paperwork was pretty impressive and had to be completed very carefully. That isn’t too much of a surprise because they shouldn’t be just giving any person off the street ninety tons of ammunition.
The fellow I ended up talking to was a young Lieutenant and he briefed me on the required procedures. He went over the requirements a couple of times to ensure that I fully understood everything. There were security requirements that seemed a bit over the top but I was new in Germany. I knew we were in close proximity to the heart of the front of the Cold War so I understood the high security was necessary.
One of the items the Lieutenant stressed was that he would have to be at our ASP to sign for the ammunition. He stressed over and over that only he could sign for the ammunition. I was not to sign for anything. He told a couple of scary stories about something that had happened a couple of years before that resulted in the tight security. The first story was that the first truck load of some new missiles the Army was getting were sent out with a German driver and he promptly drove across the border into East Germany with them. So the first load of new missiles went straight to the East Germans and Russians. The second story was about a load of ammunition that was left at a truck stop by a German driver. He had stopped there and unhooked the trailer and left it. The Army never knew where the ammunition went or where it was until almost a year later when they received a bill for a parked trailer. When they went to find out what trailer it was they found the trailer still sitting there loaded with ammunition.
Our ammunition was scheduled to be delivered in a couple of weeks but all was scheduled so the Lieutenant would arrive a day or two before to ensure that he was there to sign for the five tractor trailer loads of ammunition.
Late in the afternoon less than two weeks later five tractor-trailers showed up with the ammunition. It was a couple of days early and the Lieutenant wasn’t there yet. I remember well his repeated instructions that I could not sign for the ammunition and only he, the Lieutenant, could sign for it. I headed to the phone to try to contact the Lieutenant to see when he was going to be there. His office said he was out on the road and didn’t have any contact with him. So was he headed for our location or where is he?
I went back to talk with the truckers. The truckers, all German civilians, were hot to get the load off their trucks and be on their way. I explained the requirement to have the Lieutenant sign for the ammunition but they were not impressed. The truckers said, “Sign for the ammunition or we leave with it. Unload it or lose it”.
A half hour went by and the truckers were really getting antsy to leave. It was beer time and they were going to leave. I looked at the situation and decided it was better to go against what I had been told about not signing for the ammunition and keep the ammunition than it was to let it cross the border or be misplaced.
We went to unloading ammunition. Within an hour we had the ammunition off and the trucker were gone. The next morning I called the Lieutenant’s office and told them that if they heard from him to let him know that the ammunition had arrived and I had signed for it.
The next morning the Lieutenant showed up at the unit to be there to sign for the ammunition. I met with him in my office and we sat down to talk. He opened by saying that he would stay until the ammunition arrived. At that point I calmly said, “The ammunition actually arrived yesterday”. He tried to correct me to tell me that the ammunition was scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I kept saying that it had arrived yesterday.
After a few exchanges he finally understood that I was not confused but was trying to tell him that the ammunition had arrived the day before. We drove to the ASP and checked out the ammunition. It was there. It was just what we had ordered. Everything was perfect except I was not supposed to be able to sign for the ammunition.
The Lieutenant kept muttering, “The drivers know that only I can sign for the ammunition. They shouldn’t have let you have it”. I explained to him exactly what the drivers were going to do if I didn’t sign for the ammunition and that I thought it better to keep the ammunition secure in a guarded ASP than to let it go and not know what was going to happen to it. After the stories he had told I thought signing for the ammunition was the best thing to do.
After completing the inspection of the ammunition and confirming the lot numbers were correct with the ammunition sent for our unit, the Lieutenant again told me that I should not have signed for the ammunition. I thought we had been all through that a couple of times before. At that point I said, “Next time I won’t sign for it. I’ll let the drivers leave with it and take it to the Soviets or just park it some place. Then when you are in jail maybe you’ll appreciate someone saving your hide”. I then walked away and the Lieutenant and I never crossed paths again. And I never heard another word from anyone about signing for ammunition when I was not authorized to.
There are procedures and rules for good reasons. I believe that following rules and procedures will almost always keep us out of trouble and are the best way to go. But when the unexpected situations pop up or something that is outside of the rules happens we must use our best judgment and live or die by trying to do what is right. It is also important for those in authority to stand behind those who use good judgment when the unusual situation pops up and does not allow time to rewrite rules to cover it or have a higher authority govern in the case. The most dangerous people are the ones frozen by fear of doing what is right because there isn’t a rule covering the situation or they have not been ordered to act.
Militaries around the world know the American fighting forces are the ones who will adjust or jump into a situation and save it not because of orders but just because they should. The ability of the American fighting man or woman to use their heads is one of the biggest reasons we have had so much success in so many varied situations.
I was given the assignment to be Ammunition Supply Officer so getting the ammunition was my responsibility. At the facility where we were stationed was an Ammunition Supply Point or ASP, where we were to store the ammunition. The small stuff, about twenty tons of 40millimeter grenades and 7.62 millimeter linked bullets, we trucked in with trucks from the unit. The big stuff, about ninety tons of rockets, would be trucked in to us by tractor-trailers under the control of the big ammunition control folks in Germany.
Getting the twenty tons of small ammunition that we were to truck in went pretty well and we had it in the ASP. I took all the paperwork that was required for the big stuff to the top brass to request delivery of the ammunition. The stack of paperwork was pretty impressive and had to be completed very carefully. That isn’t too much of a surprise because they shouldn’t be just giving any person off the street ninety tons of ammunition.
The fellow I ended up talking to was a young Lieutenant and he briefed me on the required procedures. He went over the requirements a couple of times to ensure that I fully understood everything. There were security requirements that seemed a bit over the top but I was new in Germany. I knew we were in close proximity to the heart of the front of the Cold War so I understood the high security was necessary.
One of the items the Lieutenant stressed was that he would have to be at our ASP to sign for the ammunition. He stressed over and over that only he could sign for the ammunition. I was not to sign for anything. He told a couple of scary stories about something that had happened a couple of years before that resulted in the tight security. The first story was that the first truck load of some new missiles the Army was getting were sent out with a German driver and he promptly drove across the border into East Germany with them. So the first load of new missiles went straight to the East Germans and Russians. The second story was about a load of ammunition that was left at a truck stop by a German driver. He had stopped there and unhooked the trailer and left it. The Army never knew where the ammunition went or where it was until almost a year later when they received a bill for a parked trailer. When they went to find out what trailer it was they found the trailer still sitting there loaded with ammunition.
Our ammunition was scheduled to be delivered in a couple of weeks but all was scheduled so the Lieutenant would arrive a day or two before to ensure that he was there to sign for the five tractor trailer loads of ammunition.
Late in the afternoon less than two weeks later five tractor-trailers showed up with the ammunition. It was a couple of days early and the Lieutenant wasn’t there yet. I remember well his repeated instructions that I could not sign for the ammunition and only he, the Lieutenant, could sign for it. I headed to the phone to try to contact the Lieutenant to see when he was going to be there. His office said he was out on the road and didn’t have any contact with him. So was he headed for our location or where is he?
I went back to talk with the truckers. The truckers, all German civilians, were hot to get the load off their trucks and be on their way. I explained the requirement to have the Lieutenant sign for the ammunition but they were not impressed. The truckers said, “Sign for the ammunition or we leave with it. Unload it or lose it”.
A half hour went by and the truckers were really getting antsy to leave. It was beer time and they were going to leave. I looked at the situation and decided it was better to go against what I had been told about not signing for the ammunition and keep the ammunition than it was to let it cross the border or be misplaced.
We went to unloading ammunition. Within an hour we had the ammunition off and the trucker were gone. The next morning I called the Lieutenant’s office and told them that if they heard from him to let him know that the ammunition had arrived and I had signed for it.
The next morning the Lieutenant showed up at the unit to be there to sign for the ammunition. I met with him in my office and we sat down to talk. He opened by saying that he would stay until the ammunition arrived. At that point I calmly said, “The ammunition actually arrived yesterday”. He tried to correct me to tell me that the ammunition was scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I kept saying that it had arrived yesterday.
After a few exchanges he finally understood that I was not confused but was trying to tell him that the ammunition had arrived the day before. We drove to the ASP and checked out the ammunition. It was there. It was just what we had ordered. Everything was perfect except I was not supposed to be able to sign for the ammunition.
The Lieutenant kept muttering, “The drivers know that only I can sign for the ammunition. They shouldn’t have let you have it”. I explained to him exactly what the drivers were going to do if I didn’t sign for the ammunition and that I thought it better to keep the ammunition secure in a guarded ASP than to let it go and not know what was going to happen to it. After the stories he had told I thought signing for the ammunition was the best thing to do.
After completing the inspection of the ammunition and confirming the lot numbers were correct with the ammunition sent for our unit, the Lieutenant again told me that I should not have signed for the ammunition. I thought we had been all through that a couple of times before. At that point I said, “Next time I won’t sign for it. I’ll let the drivers leave with it and take it to the Soviets or just park it some place. Then when you are in jail maybe you’ll appreciate someone saving your hide”. I then walked away and the Lieutenant and I never crossed paths again. And I never heard another word from anyone about signing for ammunition when I was not authorized to.
There are procedures and rules for good reasons. I believe that following rules and procedures will almost always keep us out of trouble and are the best way to go. But when the unexpected situations pop up or something that is outside of the rules happens we must use our best judgment and live or die by trying to do what is right. It is also important for those in authority to stand behind those who use good judgment when the unusual situation pops up and does not allow time to rewrite rules to cover it or have a higher authority govern in the case. The most dangerous people are the ones frozen by fear of doing what is right because there isn’t a rule covering the situation or they have not been ordered to act.
Militaries around the world know the American fighting forces are the ones who will adjust or jump into a situation and save it not because of orders but just because they should. The ability of the American fighting man or woman to use their heads is one of the biggest reasons we have had so much success in so many varied situations.
posted by Bruce | 1:42 PM
1 Comments:
You just don't mess with Germans and their beer time. German movers came to our off base German house in Wixhausen and were already weaving and smelling of beer when they arrived. By the time they finished their "beer break," they could hardly walk, let alone move our furniture. The lieutenant in your story must have not understood the German culture. Coupled with inflexibility, that's a dangerous combination.
Post a Comment
<< Home