European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 28, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Capt. Stoughton Sterling Iii commander of the . Naval support activity at Souda Bay top during a briefing p-3c Orion anti submarine patrol aircraft at a parking apron at right Navy Petty officer 2nd class Bill Davis loads a  the Orion. Ipi ?8s a a it is pig my a / i Pimp he Topf s.  Mediterranean Bureau service members Are hearing about Souda Bay a Rocco More and More As the Remote . Navy installation gears up or increased activity. For years the naval support activity on the greek Island of Crete was a Placid place. That has changed As the installation acquires increasing importance. The recently agreed upon but still to be ratified Mutual defense cooperation agreement Between the United states and Greece will allow the . Greater use of this strategic facility in the med. The United states has Long been allowed to use Souda Bay to support transient and temporarily based aircraft to Provido air cargo support for Navy units and to Supply cargo and port services to 6th Fleet ships operating in the Eastern med. The is also is a storage and Assembly area for stockpiled mines. Page 16 the stars and stripes while Navy p-3 anti submarine aircraft have deployed to Souda since 1983, the new defense agreement also will allow the Navy to Send its ep-3e reconnaissance aircraft to the base. The deployments Are being planned because starting later this year the recon planes will no longer be Able to operate out of hell Nikon a on the outskirts of Athens. Hell Nikon is starting to wind Down in anticipation of its closure next april. The shutdown was announced in january As a Cost cutting measure by defense Secretary Dick Cheney. No Date has been set for the Start of the recon deployments according to a Navy position paper. Asa Souda Bay 10 Miles East of the resort City of Chania was chosen As site for the shift because of its location and facilities the paper said. The planes assigned to Fleet air recon so 2, will deploy from their Home base at naval station Rota Spain. They also operate periodically from Nas Simonella Italy in Sicily. Friday september 28,1990 i dirty five additional people will be assigned to Souda to support deployments and about 85 additional sailors will be stationed there temporarily. To support the deployments new facilities including an operations Center expanded warehousing maintenance dining and recreation facilities will be built at Souda Bay. As Many As 60 More greek workers will be hired. Some 150 Navy men and women Are assigned to the installation now plus a dozen . Civilians and 23 greek employees. The permanent american military population will increase by 70 or 80 in coming months according to capt. Skip Sterling Souda Bay a commander. Except for Sterling and two other officers who Are eligible for Quot accompanied two year assignments All other Navy personnel Are on year Long stints without families. A e a e no bringing families in Here so we wont be building family housing and we wont be building a commissary Quot Sterling said. Because of hellenic Kong spending closure other flight activities will be switching from there to Souda Bay. The Nev