European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 6, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday decembers. 1987 the stars and stripes Page 9 2 captains join forces tie marital knot b Jokai  suit h Rilver  a Netherlands Ronald and Susan Smili got married on a Friday in the it Thor Laius and. H sunday Shoih were on i hair Way Baik lot exas and heir respective assignments with their respective air forces. The nato Pilot training program Eli Sheppard fab provided the it Elm around Tor the  but duty also called them Back after the cd a canny. Smili. Susan a Captain with the . Air Force ands mils Donald. A Captain Wilh the dutch Royal air Force said they Isaie made life in timing Tor Many an administrative clerk since tying the marital knot three years ago. I was a dependent in flying status which was highly unusual said Ronald who now Flics f-5 fighter Juls from abase near twente Netherlands. Two Nile is an hour i drive North of sons Lerberg a where Susan is a Bio environmental Engineer for the36lh tac fighter so. Being a dependent meant something Chc to Smidu Ronald a letter informing him he must Register with the . Selective service. He wrote Back Anil explained thai he already was gainfully employed by the military and incidentally that he was a foreigner. All Well and Good said Ronald until inc selective service Board wrote Back. We Don t care if you re an alien or not you will Register Ronald paraphrased. After All trained pilots Are hard 10 come by. That problem was straightened out. But there were others Smitis Ronald walked into the flight surgeon s of fice one Day at Sheppard fab Texas where he was a nato Pilot Trainer to find his medical records had disappeared. That problem too was eventually solved when they were located under Smitis Susan s social Security number. Smits Ronald s records had been moved because smile Susan s social Security number was on Ronald s . Military dependent id card. It was at Sheppard fab that the couple first  was new to the air Force ., and Ronald was learning u Fly jets for the air Force dutch. They hit it off but duty called. I went Back to Holland and started flying f-5s,"Ronald said. And a couple of 747s," As the relationship grew so did the airline Tickel Bills. Capes. Susan and Ronald smile seven trans Atlantic flights were logged by Ronald in one year of courting he said. It was first three months the two months Ihen every six weeks and finally every four weeks the experienced flier said. The destination was California where Susan was stationed. Eventually the big Day in twente rolled around and when the Coupie took off after the wedding it was not on a honeymoon but to Sheppard fab where both had landed assignments. It was a stroke of Luck i hat landed the pair their most recent assignments in Holland this summer according to Susan. She holds Down i he Only air Force . Bio Anvi Ron mental engineering Slot in inc Netherlands. The cos of the move largely was picked up by the dutch air Force the . Air Force paid to Lave their car shipped Over Susan said. All in All the move went Well the girl cult my the orders was confused he that was about it Susan said. When she arrived officially in is an unaccompanied tour Susan had to face the in Laws. " really have to fit in and i really have to fit in fast Susan said. To that end she has worked on learning dutch. I can pc try much understand every thing if it s not too technical she said. At sons Lerberg there was some discussion largely on the dutch part As to whether Smits Ronald should have a ration card and duty free shopping privileges accorded a military dependent. He has both. At twente the Pilot s colleagues in 313 so remark on sinn s american style lunch Box and they Marvel that he drives an hour each Day to Gei to work. That is an excessive commute by Dulch standards. At Home in the House they bought North of soc sick Berg the Smitis sometimes Ponder How Long they can continue to land assignments on inc same continent. If their Luck runs out the couple said one of them Proba Bly would leave the service pick one rather than Taketo the commercial airways again. But for now said Ronald i m Jusi a Normal Guy with a double income family change the sex and the service and the quote hold True for Susan. Allies at work and at Home b Mark Walsh Pitburg Bureau Span Dahlem a Germany As with most couples who serve in inc military their Day starts carry. Nothing unusual about that. After getting ready for work and spending some time with their 19-Monlh-old daughter they bid each other goodbye and head off in different directions. Going in different directions May not seem unusual either especially in Europe. But this couple serves Inich armed forces of two Dill real nations. For staff sgt. Lorraine re is it s off to Spang Dahlum a where she works in Wing intelligence her husband  Axel acis is bound for Trier where he serves in inc German army. Axel whose rank is the equivalent of an e-6 in the . Military is a logistic officer Al Jaeger Cavern in Trier. The two met Al a nato Fellowship night in Trier. Having been married for 2w years Tiey live their lives pretty much As any iwo career military family. When they decided to get married Lorraine checked at her duty Section to see what paper work was Nec Elisary. When i first discussed get Linja married to Axel wit the people in he intelligence division 1 asked them what kind of problems would i have with my Job. Because it s a sensitive Job said the Kittanning pa.,native. Al first they said Well you can t marry him. Vou just can l marry him following sum research she found there was no problem Al All. That was our Only concern in the  of the Many problems that could be encountered in such a marriage Only the Long hours away from each other and their daughter Frances sometimes get to Ihm. A s a hassle sometimes Lorraine said he a Togo one Way and i have logo another. And we leave about 6 30 in the morning and Don t get Back Home until about 6 at night so it s a Long  a worry that sometimes troubles military couples is the possibility of not being stationed together. In the Case of the acis family Ine chances of him getting stationed together Are slim should Lorraine get transferred outside of Germany. But they have a plan. With the military attempting to save Money by encouraging people to stay overseas longer Lorraine plans to apply for a consecutive overseas Lour Shell be eligible to submit the request in january and. If in disapproved she will stay at Spang Dahlum for another three years. I have Only about another year left in the German army Axel said. Aller Tot even dough i la still be a Soldier they will Send me to school for two years and then my commitment is  the couple a sets to stay in Germany scout five years and then move to the United states. A i plans to study Auto mechanics in school and ply that Trade in America. No Mailer where you go cars Are everywhere he said. Their daughter who is just teaming to talk Speaks mostly German Lorraine said. She Speaks German better than me and i think that s great. I la just have to learn in belter so she can t pull anything Over on me later  during their off duly time a cd. Lorraine and Frances Tike to vol Smarch or walk along the Mosel or hike through the Forest As a family Lorraine said. We re pretty Boring  Lorraine believes the key to making any Jerman american marriage work is Good communications. But she said dealing with the language harrier requires patience. We still pull out a dictionary and sit Down and Point out the words if we re confused about some  she mid. Because if Yuu Don t under Anil something there is Loo much miscommunication. You have to take our  Sas Priolo by l stiff of a Lorraine Reis and  Bale up Vijil problem a enkling inn Cam re Axel