European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 16, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                May 1985 the stars and stripes Page 9 of to test quarters cleaning by contract at air bases in England this fall by Dick Hodgson Kaiserslautern Bureau chief Germany housing inspector Pho Bia May become a thing of the past if a contract quarters cleaning test in Safe proves Safe housing management officer Kenn Soren son said the scheduled to begin this fall at Pitburg and Raf could reduce much of the stress associated with leaving government quarters by allowing service members to pay a fixed fee for cleaning and go on to their next assign ment without worrying about a housing one of the most traumatic parts of a permanent change of station move has always been getting your quarters inspected before you can leave the he the concept we Are testing is to have a contract cleaning team clean the quarters after any needed maintenance or repair work is Sorenson said cleaning the quarters after comple Tion of maintenance work will accomplish several military people historically have complained that they left their last set of quarters spotless and the ones they Are moving into Are he and there is some truth to that statement because we have been cleaning the quarters at the wrong when you have your quarters a Day or two a maintenance team comes in to strip the floors or replace the they mess it up and they Are not professional cleaners they dont leave it White Glove clean when they Are if we have professional cleaners come in after the craftsmen Are people moving in should be moving into cleaner Sorenson also said people should be Able to stay in their quarters since they wont have to worry about moving out to give the cleaning team time to finish before the quarters can be As it is Many people move out of their quarters a week or two before they Are scheduled to leave the base to make sure they have time to get the quarters into shape for the he with the contract cleaners coming in after the residents Are the residents could stay in quarters until the Day they leave the Sorenson said he Doest expect the time Between occupants to increase As a result of the proposed if we schedule the maintenance and the cleaning teams in it should not necessarily increase the Down time for the he the test will come after the Peak pcs season this so Well some service members could pay Ess for v f apartment cleaning under the contract concept than do be Able to determine that sort of Impact Fortuna since were testing the concept in a relatively slow we can Fine tune out any problems like that before the test is if there is an increase in Down i expect it to be some service members could pay less for apartment cleaning under the contract concept than they do he the individual who is leaving the quarters will Only have to pay for the portion of the cleaning Cost which is his or her he what that Means if we Are going to renovate a particular there is no Point in having the member clean that room since we know were going to create a mess when the craftsmen Are so he or she would pay Only for the rooms which Are not going to be undergoing maintenance or repairs and the government would pay for the other Sorenson emphasized that service members would not be required to use the contract cleaning teams but that the service would be available for those who wanted you would still have the option of cleaning the apartment yourself or of hiring one of the mom and pop cleaning teams that Many people use he the base would still use the contract team for the portion of the cleaning which resulted from maintenance Sorenson said the test is running for an unspecified period of time at seven bases in the air Force boiling Edwards Homestead fab and Macdill Pittsburgh and the two Safe it might Only take us a few months to determine if its a Good idea or it might take us a year or he i think one of the main determining criteria will be How Many people base housing residents it is worthwhile enough to take advantage of the he said it is premature to try to guess what the test results will but he feels if the bids we receive show our people cant afford then obviously its not a worthwhile he but i think the results will show that we can afford to have this kind of service and that we May even save Money for our people in the but i think this offers us an Opportunity the first one that i can recall that really attuned itself to the governments needs and the members needs and addresses them As Well As it ski chief int slowing Down 74yearold finds his Busy schedule a lot of fun by Chuck Vinch Munich Bureau chief Italy he runs the Tennis and Golf programs he gives Tennis lessons seven Days a week and Golf instruction if anyone wants in the Winter he organizes ski trips and conducts he also runs tournaments in All three that a schedule that would tax a Man half Bob bards at he shows no signs of slowing every year l Tell myself ill go Back Home to Southern California for he but i always end up hanging around for one More ski who is Tan and fit and looks is years younger than he has been associated with the military most of his in the Early years of world War ii he worked As a civilian in the army corps of i turned the Santa Anita race track into a japanese internment and then into an ordnance teaming he in 1943 he was called to Active duty and served in an antitank company of the Hes always been athletically and he was once the Southern California Public Golf course my Golf experience was inny person Nel when i got off Active duty after the the army wanted me to go to Vienna and take charge of opening the Golf course which had been closed photo by Chuck Vlinch Bob Baird gives a Tennis lesson to Sandra Bertrand at during the he and they were All on the has from there i gradually worked my netball so i was pretty much left to Way into the sports office in Vienna and handled the construction of quite a few when the forces shifted from sports he the sports of Vienna to Baird went along and fice had about nine captains and eight began a budding program that construction of three Golf i came Down to Italy because the Gen eral who was supposed to take command of the Southern european task which was headquartered in Verona at the was into Golf and he knew of my Golf Baird he didst get the but i came Down Here Ive been with setae Ever when setae Headquarters moved from Verona to Vicenza in Baird also moved and eventually became morale support i retired in but i owned some property out near Lake Garda that i had some trouble getting rid so i decided to stay a few More its been almost nine seasons he said with a i never envisioned when i first came Over Here that id still be Here 40 years he its been a lot of at i dont think ill be skiing much so i think ill be going Back to my Home in Santa Barbara for Good pretty his Job might seem like a lot of but Baird said he Doest think of it As a its just a lot of and i think Ive been Ideal for i have no in not i can be Here every Day of the Tell me when you want a lesson and ill be and the secret to staying so Active at 74 theres no Baird i just dont drink or i eat Good and i exercise a that All you have to