European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 1, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sub base bring by Joseph  associated Pressa Cross the tracks from the antebellum Charm of St. Marys ga., where old Oaks drip Spanish Moss a new nuclear submarine base is changing the face of the Countryside with shopping malls and Low Cost housing. The Kings Bay submarine base to be Home to the Trident subs Means stability Money and lots of jobs in this area on the Southeastern tip of Georgia just North of Jacksonville Fla. But the Boom also is bringing Urban style headaches to Rural Camden county. The base under construction for a decade will add More than 22,000 people to the population of Camden county which had Only about 13,000 in 1980. Planners Are worried about schools crime water and sewer systems libraries fire Protection and recreational facilities. The county had no movie theater until recently. Now a six theater Cinema Complex has opened in a shopping Center and another is planned for a Center being built Down the Road. The county s Landfill projected to last up to 40 years was used up in 10 because of the base related Boom. From 1980 to 1988, school enrolment in the area increased 54 percent. Projections show that in 1995, enrolment will be 173 percent above the 1980 level. Backers of the base say the Navy is trying hard to be a Good neighbor. Even so says Roger Alderman of the Kings Bay Impact coordinating committee the degree that it affects a Small area especially one such As Camden county is  the first Trident submarine arrived at the $17-billion base on Jan. 15, and was welcomed in an invitation Only ceremony. Eventually the base will House 10 Trident subs each carrying 24 missiles packing eight nuclear warheads per missile. Each warhead is potentially 35 times More powerful than the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima Japan in 1945. Each submarine will have More atomic destructive capacity than most nuclear Powers but if the people of St. Marys Are nervous about that it is subdued. The few protests held at the base have not been locally organized. Over the centuries up to now residents of St. Marys have preserved its Charm with a minimum of tackiness. The Spanish settled the Community in 1566 and stayed 120 years. Aaron Burr came to town in 1804 after killing Alexander Hamilton in a Duel. In the 1930s, cartoonist Roy Crane visited and was so taken by the town Streetcar that he used it As a Model for his Toonerville  visitors to St. Marys once got the impression that anything destined to happen Here happened Long ago. The nearness of the base is changing that. Crime is up although local officials blame transient construction workers not the military for most of it. Low Cost housing developments Are popping up everywhere. Only about 600 Navy personnel mostly in the lower ranks will be housed on the base. Fields and Pine Woods have Given Way to shopping malls and the mushrooming strip of development along Highway 40 is Cheek by jowl with the City limits. Tom Sterling 80, runs the grocery store his father founded More than 100 years ago in St. Marys. We used to sell everything Here from horse collars on up or maybe i should say on Down he says. Old friends Stop by to pass the time and remember when. But the shelves Are thinly stocked these Days and customers Are few. Malls and shopping centers built for the base Trade Sterling says Are drawing shoppers from St. Marys few businesses As Well. In the basement of Orange Hall a greek revival splendor from the 1820s, Elvira Wildes tends a Small information Center. The Navy she says has gone out of its Way to put the base in a positive Light especially to St. Marys older residents. They come to Tell us the facts she says. They told us it is the Only Navy base being started from scratch. They give us Tours on the ships and we eat in the mess Hall sometimes. If there is dirt and trash going on and if there Are people acting like they should to Well i Don t go to those places so i Don t know about those  there is no entertainment in St. Marys she Bose ves correctly. So Why would they bother us it is not an adversarial relationship agrees Kenneth Kent a financial analyst with the coordinating committee which is trying to soften the Impact of the base on the area. The Navy is trying to be a Good  Alderman says the federally funded committee made up of local government leaders is to layout the realities of a High growth area and foresee prob Lerr Down the  the area has received some $37.5 million in Federal Impact payments since 1984. Alderman says Washington wanted to make 1989 the last year for Impact funding a. We estimate we would need $8.7 million in 1991 ind $5.3 million in 1992," he says. The Navy in t even j thinking in terms of 1991 or 1992." Kent says a residential tax base generally is not sufficient to support residential services. There is virtually no Industrial tax base Here and6nly a nominal commercial base he says. I much of the county is in Timber which is taxed at a Low rate and thus provides Little county income he says. The county school tax already is 9 percent above hat of other counties in the Region he says and card Era county cannot absorb even the Matching portions of the increased Cost. The current tax situation allows counties to keep up existing schools but not to build new ones required by the increase in population Kent says. A High percentage of the jobs on the base were to go to the local people but this has not happened the Way it was expected to Alderman says. J because special skills Are needed for Many jobs he says Camden county area residents generally have gotten lower paying jobs toward the service end of the scale. Both the Navy and the Region realize the need for a Job training program he says. Alderman says Navy officials at St. Marys Are aware of the problems and Are trying to get Washington to do More. The critical Point is at hand Alderman says. Vic have found out now what has to be  the army s n Nymat Truell associated press hey Call it the Castle a massive Stone building with eight wings radiating from a Central six Story Rotunda. The wings hold eight tiers of cells stacked one upon the other and in each 8-by-10-foot cell an inmate is allowed a cot a table and a chair. The . Disciplinary Barracks in fort Leavenworth Kansas is the biggest military prison in the nation. It is a grim Home for about 1,450 inmates sent Here from bases All Over the world wherever american military men and women Are stationed. Forty two officers including one lieutenant colonel and 21 women Are serving time Here. Among them Are drug dealers armed robbers rapists murderers and spies. More than 80 Are serving life terms. Three inmates Are on death Row. And there is strict military discipline. Our rules Are so strict that if a Guy turns left and he Page 14 the stars and stripes knows he s not supposed to turn left he s in trouble said it. Col. Gerald m. Gasko prison chief of staff. You earn what you get Here added the prison commandant col. Larry Berrong a former army airborne Ranger and Vietnam Veteran. There Aren t any free  military officials say the goal of the prison is not just confinement but correction. Unfortunately in the United states today we do a lot of confining and not much correction Gasko said. We attempt to give them tools so when they leave Here they can be productive  when inmates leave these Walls they return to civilian life not to the military. Next to discipline training is the top priority at the fort Leavenworth prison which has More than 20 vocational programs including automotive repair printing carpentry upholstery and hotel and restaurant management. Inmates whom officials would not allow to be interviewed even repair cars and furniture of military families living at fort Leavenworth. Officials claim the disciplinary Barracks has the oldest the base s $97 million dry Dock is the biggest construction project. With 22,000 new residents coming locals Are worried about growth problems. Orange Hall an antebellum building. Citizens Hope rapid growth won t spoil St. Mary s Small town Southern Charm. The Trident submarine Pennsylvania decorated for launching at Groton Conn. It will be assigned to Kings Bay. Shoe repair business West of the Mississippi River started in 1877 to make boots for cavalrymen. Now repairs on everything from prescription orthopaedic shoes to created Golf shoes Are made at the facility Gasko said. The prison also has one of the largest silk screen businesses in the nation providing All the decals for air Force planes. Congress authorized the prison s construction in 1874. An old quartermaster depot that had supplied military posts in the Indian territory housed the first prisoners. The Castle was completed in 1915 by inmate labor. Inmate labor is still used for maintenance but the prisoners also work with their minds. Most have High school diplomas and those who Don t go straight into the classroom when they arrive Gasko said. They can earn associate and Bachelor s degrees through correspondence and a few Are working on master s degrees. But Gasko said they do that at their own expense. The prison takes enlisted men from All branches of the service except the Navy. It takes All convicted officers regardless of the length of the sentence. Gasko said the shortest sentence he can recall for an officer is seven Days i think they wanted him to see the inside of a prison he said. One prisoner is going into his 17th year he added. Some famous inmates have seen the inside of its Walls from it. William Galley who was convicted of murdering vietnamese civilians at my Lai to Clayton Lonetree the . Marine who was convicted of espionage while an embassy guard in Moscow. Three inmates Are awaiting execution although the army has not executed anyone since 1961 and no execution dates have been set. They Are Ronald Gray 22, of Liberty City Fla., who was sentenced last april in connection with the death of two women. He was stationed at fort Bragg . James Murphy 24, of Clinton ., who was convicted last year of murdering his wife his 6-year-old Stepson and his 2-year-old son while stationed in Hanau West Germany with the army. Ronnie Curtis 22, a Marine from Wichita kan., who was convicted in August 1987 of murdering his platoon commander and platoon commander s wife at Camp Lejeune. Although most inmates Are first time offenders the average sentence is about 10 years. About two thirds Are serving time for such crimes As assault rape murder or kidnapping 17 percent Are imprisoned for narcotics violations and 11 percent have been sentenced for theft. No inmate is serving time for just a military offence such As being absent without leave. Some prisoners work outside the Walls and in nearby Leavenworth on work release programs. About 20 inmates work on the 2,600-acre prison farm which raises hogs and cattle and grows Row crops and vegetables. Outside the Castle Walls inmates who Are installation parolees stay in an unsecured Barracks. They have proved themselves reliable while doing their time and have earned a few extra privileges. The Only thing that keeps them out there is moral restraint Gasko said. But the rules Are extremely Tough and we Don t tolerate any  wednesday february 1,1989 the stars and stripes Page 15