Death at the University

By Pico Lyer

For U.S. advisers in El Salvador, the war grows all too close

Students at the Central American University in San Salvador were drifting through the campus after their classes when U.S. Navy Lieut. Commander Albert A. Schaufelberger III drove up in his Ford Maverick to collect Consuelo Escalante, manager of the university cooperative store. Schaufelberger, 33, a bachelor, had been seeing Escalante regularly and often picked her up after work. The Navy officer was wearing civilian clothes, as he often did since coming to El Salvador nine months earlier to help administer U.S. security assistance and train government forces in their war against leftist guerrillas.

Just after Schaufelberger honked his horn to signal his friend, a small van pulled up beside him. A man described by witnesses as tall, young and well dressed stepped out and coolly fired four shots through the open window of Schaufelberger's car. His auto lurched forward, crashing against a parked car. Urging bystanders to remain calm, the assassin casually reached into the Maverick and turned off the ignition; then he and his accomplices drove off in their van. Schaufelberger, who had been hit in the head with three small-caliber bullets, was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. He thus became the first American serviceman killed in El Salvador since the initial U.S. military adviser arrived there in October 1980.

Schaufelberger was deputy commander of the U.S. Military Group, a six-member body that operates out of the American embassy in El Salvador and oversees the $60 million U.S. military-assistance program there. As it happened, he was also chief of security for the 53 U.S. advisers in the country, responsible for informing newcomers of safety regulations. Yet when the air-conditioning system in his Maverick broke down, Schaufelberger rashly removed the sealed bullet proof window from the driver's side.

In a taped message sent to a local radio station and later broadcast over its own clandestine station, the Popular Forces of Liberation (F.P.L.), second largest of the country's five major guerrilla groups, claimed responsibility for the murder as "an answer to the criminal intervention of Yankee imperialism." In Washington, President Reagan vowed that the murder would not affect "the economic or military aid which we are giving." In reply, Democratic Congressman Gerry E. Studds of Massachusetts, a longtime critic of U.S. policy in Central America, warned that "there will be a lot more deaths, Salvadoran and American," if the U.S. continues to maintain military personnel in Central America.

Considering the level of violence in El Salvador, the American servicemen there (U.S. officials call them "trainers," fearing that "advisers" evokes memories of Viet Nam) have until now been extraordinarily fortunate: so far, only one has been injured, an Army sergeant wounded in the leg last February while flying over a combat zone in a helicopter. The trainers' present duties involve everything from advising generals in San Salvador on strategy to instructing raw recruits around the country in small-unit counterinsurgency tactics. The trainers also give lessons in the use and maintenance of U.S. helicopters, communication gear and weaponry. In preparation for a major government offensive expected within a month, some U.S. advisers have been coaching Salvadorans in San Vicente department, while others have been working with local soldiers in Usulutan department. The Americans are encouraged to let Salvadoran officers make their own decisions. But, says one government soldier, "nothing gets done unless the gringos say so."

Though they are armed with .45-cal. pistols, the trainers are advised to wear civilian clothes and maintain a low profile. Off-duty, they usually confine themselves to restaurants, cinemas and discotheques in the more affluent--and presumably safer--parts of San Salvador. On-duty, they are required by a Pentagon directive to avoid combat zones, though their training duties are forcing them increasingly closer to the fighting. "The trick," says one, "is not to get caught." Not everyone has mastered that trick. One American was sent home in February 1982 after some advisers under his command were filmed by a U.S. television crew toting M-16s while helping rebuild a demolished bridge. Four months ago, three more advisers were forced to leave the country when it was discovered that they had been assisting a government operation in defense of the vital Cuscatlan Bridge. Many of the trainers nonetheless remain eager to exert more influence over the conduct of the war. Says one: "It's like trying to treat a chest wound with a Band-Aid."

With Schaufelberger's death, Salvadorans lost a gringo who spoke eloquently, and often, about their country's plight. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., he had told reporters only days before his death that he was anxious to protect "the good, ordinary people" of El Salvador. He was sharply critical of wealthy Salvadoran exiles who neglected their homeland, and he often asserted that revolutions arise from generations of injustice and repression. In San Diego, not far from the house Schaufel berger owned in Chula Vista, his sister Margaret said, "He saw this as an opportunity to put his training and experience into operation. He was always positive in describing his situation there."

After volunteering for service in El Salvador, Schaufelberger was assigned to the military group, where he continued helping the Salvadoran navy build up its ability to interdict rebel arms smuggled by sea from Nicaragua. At the same time, Schaufelberger kept himself well in formed about the changing strength and tactics of the guerrillas. In an interview last week, he predicted that he and his fellow U.S. advisers could soon become choice targets. "Things are going to get nasty," he said. "Shooting a soldier in the line of duty is a lot less risky than shooting a female consular official." By -- Pico Iyer.

Reported by James Willwerth/San Salvador

With reporting by James Willwerth/San Salvador This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.