G.I. Watch on a Deadly Border

Even when hopes for detente have been high--and nowadays they are waning--tensions between East and West have remained all too tangible along the border between the two Germanies. For more than a generation, elite units of NATO and Warsaw Pact forces, the world's two most powerful war machines, have faced each other across this heavily guarded 836-mile frontier. To signal clearly that it remains determined to defend Western Europe, even in the face of a massive Warsaw Pact arms and troop buildup, the U.S. next year plans to base an additional 3,800-man infantry brigade in West Germany, near Bremerhaven. Meanwhile, crack U.S. units continue to patrol more than half the eastern frontier along with the West Germans who guard the entire border. Two armored cavalry regiments of the U.S. Army, about 8,400 troops in all, keep watch on the ground and aboard helicopters.

TIME Bonn Bureau Chief B. William Mader recently joined a squad from the llth Armored Cavalry Regiment on its dawn-to-dusk rounds along a section of the border. His report:

As our Jeeps moved slowly along a narrow dirt road parallel to the border, the G.I.s kept their eyes peeled for signs of unusual activity, such as East German troop movements or perhaps even the sight of Russian units, which usually keep themselves well hidden. Occasionally we halted directly across from an East German watchtower or work detail; when the G.I.s peered through their binoculars, they could see East Germans peering right back. At some spots we were barely five yards from the Communist troops but exchanged neither word nor gesture with them. Said Major James Steele, a tall, lean Texan: "This is where the action is. We all know exactly what to do if things blow up."

Hideous Fence. One of the patrol's main tasks was to note the progress the East Germans were making in renovating the hideous fence system they have built along the frontier to stop their citizens from escaping to the West. At one location, about 30 soldiers --guarded by other troops, in standard East German fashion--were sinking concrete pilings, stretching mesh wiring and installing self-firing explosives. Apparently the old system, consisting of two parallel mesh-wire fences with a minefield in front of each, was not considered deadly enough. Thus "improvements" are being made, at a cost of about $500,000 a mile.

In the new system (see diagram), which has now been completed along roughly one-sixth of the frontier, the first fence has been eliminated, while a deep, concrete-lined ditch has been added. It is intended to thwart would-be escapees trying to crash the border in cars or trucks. West of the ditch is a minefield, then a new close-meshed wire fence that begins 3 ft. underground (to prevent tunneling) and rises 10 ft. above the earth.

Along the fence are antipersonnel mines and automatic-firing machine guns that are triggered by an electronic eye and set up to hit, variously, at knee, head or chest level. One part of the old system remains: hungry police dogs on long wire leashes still roam along the fence. Muttered Cadet Wade Schieber, a West Point third-year man assigned to summer border-patrol duty: "It's hard to imagine the dreadfulness of this until you see it. It sure isn't any New York-New Jersey state line."

Despite the overwhelming odds against success, East Germans still keep trying to beat the fence. Last year some 573 fled over the Berlin Wall and across the frontier; in the first four months of this year, an additional 204 made it to the West. But many fail. American patrols have had to watch helplessly as escaping East Germans have been gunned down by the border guards. Under strict orders not to violate East German territory, the G.I.s cannot do anything to help unless the escapees manage to reach West German soil.

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