European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 3, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 a a a the stars and stripes wednesday october 3,1990jokers saying Farewell to i l Sherpa Lynda Davidson a ground Crew readies a Sherpa c-23a for its last flight out of we Brucken a. By Deedee Arrington Doke Kaiserslautern Bureau we Brucken Germany a the Small sturdy c-23a Sherpa never got much respect during nearly seven years of service to the . Air forces Europe. Quot Cessna on steroids Quot and a win Ocba gos with wings Quot were among the nicer nicknames bestowed on the Dolphin like aircraft adorned with less than fashionable when plants. And of the jokes. Quot the Guys in the a los told us not to Park the Sherpa next to them overnight because they were afraid they might Breed a said capt. . Knight a Sherpa Pilot. But a Safe a comedians wont have the Sherpa to kick around much longer. The services Only Sherpa unit the 10th military Airlift so at we Brucken a will be deactivated next year. The squadrons Mission of ferrying parts and supplies to bases throughout Europe officially ended monday. And on tuesday three of the squadrons 18 Sherpa headed off to new Homes in the United states. The 15 remaining planes will leave Owci Brincken a by mid november. The Fleet will be distributed among Edwards fab calif., for use by air Force systems come the  in Huntsville Ala. And the . Forest service in Boise Idaho. What those agencies Are getting is the safest aircraft in the air forces inventory except for a run in with a Deer on  a runway the Jaunty Little girl 2, killed by falling to set Sembach a Germany a amps a a 2-year old girl died of internal injuries tuesday morning an hour after a to set fell on her at the Sembach base Exchange. Ashley m. Ritter was pronounced dead at 11 30 . At the Sembach clinic base spokesman Jim Sherman said. She was the daughter of sgt. Arthur and Linda m. Ritter her father is assigned to the 66th combat support groups disaster preparedness division. The portable 19-Inch set was sitting about 25 inches above the floor when it fell on the girl at 10 20 ., Sherman said. A customer senior master sgt Robert l. Scherwitz of the 81st tac fighter wings det 1, saw the child picked her up and carried her to the nearby clinic. No other details about the Accident were available. Air Force authorities Are investigating. A memorial service will be held at 10 . Friday at the base  Rolls Down to 2,046,075 Washington a amps a the defense department dropped 3,648 personnel from the Active duty Rolls in August bringing the services closer to the 2 million Mark. Total Active duty strength As of aug. 31 was 2,046,075, about 80,000 less than at the same time last year. The figures do not include the thousands of desert shield reservists. The  again took the biggest hit losing 3,392 personnel to bring its total to 731,249. Air Force strength dropped by 1,529 to 537,217 while the Marine corps shrank by 233 people to a total of 196,093. The Navy grew by 1,506 service members to a total of 581,516. Plane has had no mishaps since it joined the air Force in 1984. Of course one we Brucken Sherpa got the added nickname of the Deer Slayer. The Only form of Accident that a common to Sherpa is the one that often accompanies the bouncy ride. A lots of times people who Haven to flown in them got real sick in them a said Matt Wilbanks 10, whose father it. Col. Harry Wilbanks flew one of the three Sherpa to the United states on tuesday. Pilots who Fly c-23as and Crews who work on them generally Are divided into two Camps. There Are those who grudgingly Praise the planets Economy mechanical qualities and capabilities but sneer at its looks and time consuming Load procedures. And then there Are the Sherpa so unabashed fans who will miss working with the air forces airborne equivalent of Quot the Little engine that could Quot the children a Story hero who outpaced larger Sleeker trains in getting the Job done. A a it a easy to work on. It does no to break that often and its easy to get at the it arts a said senior airman Mike Maca Eese an electrician who will soon trans Fer to Raf Mildenhall England to work on other cargo aircraft. A it made better pilots out of a lot of Guys. Its a Good plane for learning Basic Pilot skills a capt. Dan Zimsek said. Many pilots praised the Mission As a a real world Quot activity that helped them see a wide Cross Section of Europe on so called a bread and butter runs Quot As Well As More extensive trips. At least one Pilot however alleges that the units Mission was artificially boosted on occasion to refute a 1988 general accounting office claim that too Little cargo was handled. A a we be hauled a lot of cargo that Wasny to real necessary Quot the Pilot said noting that he once ferried an 11-Pound Box As his entire cargo Between Aviano a Italy and Decimo Mannu a Sardinia. Such Light cargoes can be considered fully utilized if the parts Are needed to repair a Mission essential aircraft base officials said although the Rule Likely  cover the Taco shells that pilots say a Sherpa once flew to Raf Alcon Bury England. But such trips Are ending As the 10th military Airlift Sqq a presence dwindles. The Squadron will Fly two planes a Day Down from a previous daily average of seven until All the Sherpa have gone. Matt Wilbanks Isnit sad about the impending departure because he and his family Are moving to sunny Hawaii. But capt. Steven Freund has a soft spot in his heart for the Little plane. A a it a ugly and it was slow a Freund said a but it was  cafes s incompetence forced closure car conversion firm says by Steve Taylor Munich Bureau Munich Germany a overseas express a car conversion and shipping company under an cafes Europe contract says it has closed because of the Exchange services a a incompetence and a a inaccurate accounting. It was not immediately known How Many cafes customers Are affected by the shutdown. Neither cafes nor overseas express would say tuesday How Many cars Are in transit or in company facilities. Overseas express which employed 80 people in Germany officially notified the service on Friday that it a was forced to  it had been in business since 1984. It was in the second year of a two year contract with cafes Worth about $2 million. Cafes Europe officials said tuesday that they had no warning that the company was going out of business and did no to want to comment further on the financial reasons Why they have declared bankruptcy a said cafes spokesman capt. Wes Davis. Overseas express ships vehicles to and from the United states and converts cars from european specifications to those required for import to the United states. It is licensed by the department of transportation and operates two conversion facilities in Florida and Texas. Neither cafes nor Jochen Schweizer the company a general manager could provide the exact number of cars affected by Legal action caused by the closure until All the records Are examined. Schweizer cited two reasons for his company a closure a a fest a failure to pay nearly $100,000 in fees and its failure to adjust prices in Light of the dollars plunging value. Schweizer said that because of a totally insufficient bookkeeping practices cafes owes him $60,000 Worth of fees dating Back at least six months and an additional $35,000 that is at least 30 Days overdue. Schweizer also said cafes after several requests by Bis company never adjusted prices to offset the drop in the Exchange rate which also led to the a unsolvable financial difficulties of overseas  when the company got the contract More than a year ago the Exchange rate was 1.98 Marks to the Dollar but has since dropped to about 1.53. Overseas express was forced to file for Kondurs in a local German court. Schweizer said German Law requires a company to file such an action when it can no longer pay its Bills. It turns Over collection of past debts to the court which files lawsuits again debtors in a bid to pay creditors. Unlike a bankruptcy action in the United states the company must close. On tuesday the court blocked any further action on existing contracts specifying that no cars could be delivered or converted until cafes pays the fees Schweizer said. But he said that if cafes could pay some of what it owes his company could a get those cars  that would involve a payment of about $35,000, he said. An undetermined number of cars Are stuck by the German court action. The company a closure has forced cafes Europe officials to scramble to recover control Over existing contracts and to find a new concessionaire. The biggest problem it faces is getting full verification of How Many vehicles Are under overseas express control Davis said. Customers who have shipped a vehicle have conversion work Bein done or have paid in Advance of their shipping requirements should take the following Steps Davis said. First make a photocopy of All documents completed Between the customer and overseas express mail them to he cafes a Apo 09245-0003, and include a valid address and Telephone number. For More information customers can Call a representative at 089-6220-8755. . Retires last non nuclear attack sub san Diego up a Navy submariners completed their move into the nuclear age monday with the decommissioning of the Blueback the last american attack sub to run on conventional Power. Eleven former Skippers of the Blue Back including the Fust Captain to take the Brand new diesel electric powered sub to sea in 1959, were on hand to say Farewell to the remaining holdout against . Hyman Rickover a nuclear Navy. A this is the end of a military Era. We must give Way to Progress Quot said a tearful Robert Gautier the retired Captain who commissioned the sub. With the Blueback ss-581 officially in Mothballs the United states becomes the Only nation defended at sea by an All nuclear powered Active submarine Fleet. A scaled Down diesel sub the Dolphin still operates but Only As a research vessel. The soviet Union Britain and 42 other nations continue to build diesel subs and use them As combat ready boats. The Blueback one of three Barbel class subs affectionately dubbed a the a girls in the late 1950s, achieved minor Fame last year when it impersonated a soviet attack submarine in the film a the Hunt for red