European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 12, 1962, Darmstadt, Hesse Tore set Lon if r the Art of putting some English on the air k " it & � by Warace Beenes a Madrid Bureau Irr is photos by Guenter Schuettler a to a = / " or 4i air Force band records a music program. Left capt William Wood Torrejon t sgt Ernie Croy above Nous eur. High school quiz slump the student above is recorded in Torrejon studio. Below left " to e record librarians Sandy Smith and a 1c Tom Harrison dig out disks while right below v 58, of � a i 4 Alc Tanley v. Avenger passes on a late news bulletin to the announcer a3c Bob Lux. The stars and stripes May Start out receiving m Ujj stateside baseball game via Morocco and get the last few innings through outstation in Northern Spain at so explained capt William Wood Boss of the armed forces radio service afro in Spain and Morocco the world s fastest growing radio the baseball business is just one of the unique techniques used to bring the More or less Ungar bled word to american servicemen scattered around two continents. Safly broadcasts of everything from Hill Billy music to Stock Market reports Are fired off by shortwave from apr. In Newyork for pickup and relay by Wood & co. In Madrid but because of spooky atmospheric conditions the reception May be bet Ter at pne of the other stations on the net work when this happens the engineers Start switching plugs around and funnel the broadcast through the station where the signal is Best. Special events beamed directly from the states such As Glenn s space flight and the baseball games keep the dials spinning. To improve the Odds on Good reception Attef Madrid Headquarters s sgt Vaughn h be did Ami erected a Rube Gold Berg Antenna Between some Telephone poles out behind Tyve station. The Antenna which resembles a huge wedge of spider s web has proved so successful to Lent an even larger one is planned. Business is indeed booming for the Only. American in Spain and moroc co. The. Six major stations located at the 16th air Force bases will soon have four additional outlets at the Remote aircraft control and warning Sites sprinkled around Spain and on the Island of Mallorca. This will provide a Chance to follow the dodger for everyone stationed in the flamenco country. A the new stations will be the automatic Type requiring Only a Small maintenance staff to make spot announce ments for the local area. All the programs will be fed from Madrid Wood in the not too Distant future apr expects to take a flying leap into the Busi Ness of feeding the one eyed monsters that the late Fred Allen predicted will develop a race of people with eyeballs the size of Grapefruit and no brains at for to fans the apr officials Don t share the comedian s View that television has set mediocrity Back 50 . For the present however the Busy Little network is concentrating on keeping the airwaves filled with information and entertainment the Madrid nerve Center has the services of a versatile and enterprising Crew of 12persons holding Forth in the station at the Torrejon Hilton the base hotel to sgt Robert. Henke number two Man of Vood & co., shares this engineering head aches with the inventive Hale while a1c Richard Long and a1c Robert Inman Takecare of everything Fyrnn Man in the Street opinion polls to interviews with visiting brass and politicians. The military staffers received their radio training exclusively within the air Force but some of the others have a More varied background. Mrs Marion Voigt who handles everything from the women s shows to special reports from visiting dignitaries was a wac sergeant during world War h. While serving in France she and a couple of the gals got up a Irio that proved so popular that general Eisenhower requested Contr Nind performance at his Headquarters. To give the troops the Type of entertain ment they prefer asks conducts an annual Survey at each of the major re asking the statistical services department to handle it this year so it willbe completely objective Wood explained. The Madrid station also set with its Chin recently by inviting listeners to write Inland give their opinions on the daily fare. We got More than 100 letters and i must say most All of them were very reasonable he added. While afro new York offers up to seven hours of broadcasting a Day the station sin Madrid and Morocco he to offer a Mariy Home grown productions As possible. These Range from on the spot Remote Broad casts 6fiimportant events to programs by the 16th air Force band and other entertainment and needless to say problems Are some thing less than a Novelty up and Down thex Opo Mue network from Casablanca to Madrid y it was t too Long ago that a sports Caster diligently broadcasting a local game talked into a dead Mike for almost half a hour before it was discovered that a truck behind the stands had snipped the wires. 11
