European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 15, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Simonella la considered the busiest and fastest growing Navy base in i in Mediterranean. Is photos by cams Schuettler Simonella Steps up by a. King Cruger Mediterranean bureaus girl walks across a parking lol wearing an outdated to Shirl with where the hell is Simonella " printed on it. Trial question was common a Lew years ago when the naval air Stalion in Sicily was Jan Oinas sleepy hollow but now Simonella is the busiest fastest growing and. Perhaps the most important Navy base in the Mediterranean. Adm Carlisle a. A troll the chief of naval operations has called Simonella one of he three most import land military bases in Europe and certainly tote Navy s most  Simonella came into the limelight in a crofter 985 when . Navy f-14s forc Dan egyptian Airliner carrying the hijackers of   Achille Lauro to land at the base. Belore that Simonella was known vaguely As a somewhat Remote air Stalion which happened to be growing quickly. Naval air station is Gonella consists of two bases Mas i and Nia Sii 10 Miles apart in an agricultural area on Sicily s East coast. Nasi provides housing schools medical and denial care commissary Exchange and other support. Nas it is the operational base a tenant of nato maritime Airfield Simonella. Tre air station is Home Tor More than 6,000 americans and is the Core of u a naval activity in the Mediterranean. Simonella s increasing importance comes Wilh he territory. For hundreds of years nations have ought to dominate the Mediterranean Sicily Inemer s largest Island has nearly always been involved in these Power struggles because it sits at the sea s strategic Crossroads Midway Between the turkish a trails and Gibraltar. The United slates and the Sociol Union took up the classic struggle for control of the Region following world War ii and the iwo now vis Tor influence in a Region that links Europe with the troubled and Oil Rich Middle East. Simonella came Inlo being in 95d As a Sile of patrol aircraft. Growth was slow but an ambitious construction program began in Earnest in 1970 and since then Simonella has nearly tripled its population and facilities. It was designated a naval air station in 1981. Because of political instabilities in the Middle East the Navy has expanded support facilities ashore for the sixth Fleet. As a result. Simonella s importance has ballooned. This is the Center of where everything is happening said capt. F. L. Hudnor i Simonella s commander. Hudnor explained thai Simonella is a Good place Lor he military to stage operations to North Africa and lha Middle East and is especially important Lor supporting warships operating in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean something the . Navy has been doing increasingly. Hudnor pointed out thai one of the reasons Lor the growth of Simonella s strategic importance has been a reduction in the number of bases in the med available to the United states. Ii the Spanish want to reduce our presence Here where else can the Navy go but Hore Hudnor asked Asso Wilh reductions in Oul of porn Lime by the Navy s ships i can see More and More use by the Navy in the future of sicilian port  Hudnor said the Recert Achi vation of the . Air Force s cruise missile base at nearby Comiso As also has boosted Simonella s importance 90 percent of Comiso s support comes through Sigo Neba. These a excl Long ume Hore and we have More of them to come Hudnor said. However we have run out of room to expand our facilities and we ate up against the barbed wire. We need a longer runway another passenger terminal and More storage space. Our terminal was deigned to handle 1,200 to t.500 passengers a month and now a Are handling 10 limes Iha  he said acquisition of much needed land would go a Long Way toward solving Many of the base s problems. We have 800 housing units but we need another 1,200 of them he said. We have 1,300 families living on the Economy and the wailing Lisl for housing Here is 12 to is months. There is no problem getting housing on the Economy but the housing often is toc Atodd considerable distance from the base and it costs a lot of Money Lor families to set up living in them he said. We have briefed every vip who has come through Here in the last eight months. Now. Our problems have the attention of the people. We Are going to get the land and the housing. It is being identified and pushed for. When is it going to happen i Don l know tens of millions of dollars were spent on new facilities and improvements at Simonella in the 1970s and Earty 1930s and More than $75 million More has gone Inlo cons Aicon during the last five years. Hardly a single facility at either site has nol been improved in some Way said cmdr. Dean Leidholt 39, the resident officer in charge of construction Al the base. His staff of 25 monitors construction and construction contracts for Simonella a increasing importance Means More activity at the once tranquil terminal. Page 14 the stars and stripes a Simonella wednesday