Evening star., 1948-10-10
Round-the Ground jft'
From u. S. Supports Air|ift
By John A. Giles

By John A. Giles
Behind the airlift supplying
blockaded Berlin is little publicized
round-the-cl ground lift" by
the Army which has been expanded
to twice its normal size in recent
months, it was disclosed yesterday.
The Army's ground lift operates
from the "bread-basket" States OF
the Middle West to the landing
strips of Germany.
Army transportation officers also
disclosed that study was being
made to determine the added cost
of this vast operation, but said 1t
would be three or four weeks before
it would be completed.
1t has been necessary for the
Army to divert a large number OF
its Transportation Corps personnel
to the support of the Air Force S
aerial transportation of food and
essentials into the German capital.
13 Cited for Efficiency.
Thirteen of them-one from the
District-were cited yesterday by
Maj. Gen. Carter B. Magruder,
European Command deputy chief Of
staff, for conspicuous efficiency and
leadership as organizers, supervisors,
dispatchers, section leaders, drivers
and mechanics.
Corpl. ROLAND E. Mayo, 1888
Lee street NE, of the 67th Trans
portation Truck Company, was given
an Army commendation ribbon
for demonstrating conspicuous efn-
cheney and leadership as section
leader in loading and unloading
trucks at Rhine-Main Air Base" the
Army said.
Meanwhile, the Air Force an
nounced that special lighting equip
ment was being installed at Tempel-
hof Field at Berlin to keep the
airlift running through the dark
days and storms this winter.
A set of 40 high-intensity lights
to penetrate fog, darkness and rain
will go into operation there next
month. The equipment already has
been flown to Germany. The lights
will be installed at each side of the
main runway for a distance of 5000
feet from the end of the runway.
Pilots will use them to line up for
the last phase Of the approach for
landing.
purchaSs ~ StanIex
The Army phase Of Operation
Vittles" begins With the purchase
of staples to feed and equip the
beleaguered city, their movement
to shipside in the United States.
transportation across the Atlantic,
unloading in Europe and delivery to
the traffc control point at Rhine
Main Air Base-now converted by
the Transportation Corps for all
practical purposes into wartime
port Of embrakation for Berlin. The
staples are purchased with regular
occupation funds.
The Quartermaster Corps in Ger
many purchases some food locally
while other purchases are made by
the Arny's Market Center System
in the United States. Officials
said that an abundance and
special selection Of fresh foods thus
could be delivered and that spoil
age had been reduced to a fraction
of / per cent. Dehydrated vege-r
tables, canned meats, fats and oils,
dried milk. sugar, dried fruits, but
ter, some smoked fsh and flour are
the main staples going to Berlin
under the arrangement.
The Military Government In Ger
many forwards its requests for sup
plies and sets priorities on the basis
of need to the port at Rhine-Main.
The ground-lift operation. in Eu-
rope begins at the port Of Bremen,
where zonal officials coordinate
with Transportation Corps officers
in routing cargo along the rail pipe
line to one of the three railroads
to handle supplies.
Foodstuffs, medical supplies, post
exchange merchandise and Army
supplies are shipped to Waldhoft
Hesse at Rhine-Main. or Erben-
helm, near Wiesbaden. while all coal
is routed to the siding at Zepple-
helm.
Aircraft Unloading.
Final phase of the Army's part
in the tremendous undertaking
comes in the unloading of aircraft
at Berlin. Eight minutes after
CAT transport rolls to stop its
cargo has been unloaded and in 20
to 80 minutes more it has been re-
loaded for the return flight.
Transportation Corps personnel
are on duty "a hours a day at
Bremen, along the rail lines link
ing the port with the railroads and
airfleld, and at dozens of installa-
tions throughout the American zone
Typical of the detail involved is
the schedule followed in the move
ment of coal to the transports. Ger
man coal dealers are required to
sack the, coal in 100-pound bags be-
fore it is loaded into freight cars
for shipment to Zeppleheim. There
the vital fuel is shifted to ten-ton
trucks for removal to the truck
trailer park at Rhine-Main. A two
day airlift reserve Is maintained
there.
On the air fields, the Transporter
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