European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 9, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16 the stars an stripes Friday May 9, 1986 a storage area with for lighting and survival equipment in a Lytt Switzerland civil defense shelter.  underground Switzerland shelter for almost 6 million people Story and photos by Dan Wollam. Slafer writer t he thought of driving through the Swiss Countryside in l Likely id evoke images of bomb shelters but the bomb shelters Are there thousands of them. There Aren t Many signs. The passer by would i know that shelters for almost 6 million people lie beneath the quaint Swiss Homes that there Are hospitals and storage spaces Down Here. Too. But Mere Are. The Swiss take civil defense very seriously. Right now there Are enough underground shelters for More than 85 percent of the Swiss population a country with about 1 million fewer people flan new Jersey. By the turn of i he Century the Swiss plan to have room underground Tor every Swiss citizen 6.3 million of Ihen said Marlin Gerber. An assistant director of i he Federal of icel civil defense in Bern. All i Hose shelters Aren t cheap. Every Swiss citizen pays about 22 cents a Day for civil defense Garter. Said. The country has spent about $4 billion since 1970 and will spend another $3,5 billion Between now and the year 2000 on shelters and training literature explaining the Swiss concept of civil Welense also gives the government s reasons for the Huga program. One Assumption the Swiss Maks is i hat the chances of another War coming Are pretty Good. As a Small Neutral country smack in the Middle of Europe the Swiss Lesl there s also a Good Chance that one Side or the other will iry to drag them into it. They figure there s a Good Chance the next War could be  believe the lives of Many civilians Viil be Chr Ealend. In his civil defense briefing Gerber showed a Chart depicting what the Swiss belive the world can expect from the next War. The Chart shows thai in world War 1,20 soldiers died for each civilian. In world War ii it was one to one. By Vietnam 20 civilians were dying for each Soldier. The Chart shows she Swiss projections that in future wars 100 civilians will die Lor every Soldier Geiber compared civil defense to any other kind of insurance policy. We insure our citizens against old age and invalidity he said. Why should t we insure them against  for the Swiss there is Only one evacuation vertical evacuation. Gerber said. He said the threat of nuclear War and threat of being invaded from any direction makes any other Type of evacuation impractical. So the Swiss made civil defense mandatory. It was 1963 when the Swiss confederation the Federal government decreed that every Home and Public building would be equipped with a shelter. Still there Are Many Swiss citizens who Don have. Private shelters those living in Homes built before 1963. To a War. Those people would Goto Public shelters in schools or sometimes to underground garages that can be converted to shelters the country now has More than 1,000 underground medical facilities Many beneath hospitals. Those facilities have about 90,000 Beds a Little More than Hall the number they Hope to have by 2000. Each of the More than 3,000 Swiss communities has a command Post with telephones and switchboards. Food lire fighting and evacuation equipment Beds kitchens everything to allow the population to move underground. They have diesel generators with fuel to Supply electricity for about three weeks said Gerber. The command posts Ere also Prelec Ted irom electromagnetic pulse. The shelter Ara Bull of steel reinforced Concrete More than a foot thick and have heavy steel doors. Command posts Ere butt to withstand 3,000 kilograms of atmospheric pressure per Square meter. Gerber said that should provide Protection from anything Short of a direct nuclear hit. The shelter ceilings Are about two get thick and Are covered with another two feel of Soli. Many shelters Are beneath buildings giving added Protection Gerber said. Citizens who build private shelters beneath their Homes must make the shelters capable of withstanding 1,000 kilograms per Square meter of atmospheric pressure. The Swiss shelters Aren t the Loughes in the world Gerber said. We try to avoid building in Rock like the swedes do because it s too  he said. The swedish shelters Are built to withstand three times Chi atmospheric pressure the Swiss shelters can Lake. Bin Gerber said they Don t really get three times the Protection for three times the expense. The shelters Aren t dead space when there s no War. Homeowners can use the shelter for any purpose they see fit As Long As they can turn it Back into a shelter in 24 hours. Communities sometimes allow Community organizations to use shelter space Lor meetings. Every Swiss mate Between 20 and 60 years old who in t in the Swiss army is in civil defense. About. 500,000 men Are paid civil defense workers. They receive five Days of Basic training at one of 60 training centers scattered around the country they also attend two Day refresher courses each year. Women can Volunteer Lor civil defense work and Aboul 20,000 have Gerber said. The costs for the program Are divided among. Federal government he 23 cantons similar to states and the communities Switzerland also in t the Only country with an extensive civil defense program. Israel Sweden tha soviet Union and China at have elaborate civil defense programs. But Gerber feels the Swiss program is probably the most extensive. And frankly maybe we re the Only country who could really afford it he said. Afler All we did t have a War to recover  locked up in a shelter