European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 7, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday october 7, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page Small base tackles big assignment  commanders concerning ,. By j. King Cruger Mediterranean Bureau Iraklion Crete a an obscure base on the Island of Crete is becoming increasingly important As tension heightens in the Middle East. Iraklion air station is the site of a vital air Force communications facility run by the 6931st electronic Security so. The facility is a not known All that Well except by the folks in the Security Community a said col. Richard t. Lee the base commander. What the unit actually does is classified. An air Force fact Sheet says the outfit is an integral part of the . Worldwide communications network. It a provides rapid radio relay secure communications and command control and communications countermeasures support to the United states and Allied forces. A the unit also advises . And Allied commanders concerning procedures and techniques which could be used to counter enemy command and control communications. Additional functions include research into electronic  beyond that it. Col. Paul j. Redhead the 6931st commander will say Only that his outfits communication requirements have picked up since the invasion of Kuwait. It is supplying a time sensitive strategic information to National command authorities a he said. Among its duties the Squadron is relaying information about ship and air movements throughout its area of surveillance which includes the Middle East and North Africa. The 6931st accounts for 400 of the 750 military personnel at Iraklion. In All there Are 2,000 service members civilian employees and family members. The air station is popular with air when it comes to recruiting folks for Force personnel Many of whom extend Tours at Iraklion a Lee said. A one of my Tapir of Miro it Troutn t a a a i a . A. _ j their Tours at Iraklion. Crete a dramatic landscape clean air and water minimal terrorist threat and extremely Low Cost of living keep most people Content. The base is on the sea 10 Miles East of Iraklion the islands largest City. It has its own Marina with Power and sailing Craft for hire and a half mile stretch of Golden Sandy Beach. A we want people to have the club med environment but not the club med attitude a Lee said. A the locals Are the warmest and most open people in be met in the  base schools have 225 children in kindergarten through 10th Grade but juniors and seniors must Board at schools in Athens. A that fact presents us with a problem initiatives is to get an 11th and 12th Grade  Lee 46, said the base is growing particularly because Iraklion will be Quot taking Over some missions from hell Nikon ai3 near Athens which is to close next Spring. A we Are picking up 80 to 100 folks a Lee said mostly communications and support personnel. The growth is creating space problems said the native of Cleveland Ohio. A we Are hurting for More storage and office space a Lee said noting that dormitories Are being converted to office uses. The air station is served through the Iraklion civilian Airport by five military flights a week. Flight frequency is expected to increase in coming  orders court martial of rebel Leader Manila Philippines up a president Corazon Aquino ordered the court martial saturday of the Leader of the seventh uprising against her and urged the philippine Congress to swiftly pass a Law increasing penalties for rebellion. In a nationally televised address Aquino announced the unconditional surrender of army col. Alexander Noble after his 48-hour takeover of two cities in Mindanao and his proclamation of the country a second largest Island As an Independent Federal Republic. A there was no Way out unless he was willing to die. Obviously he was not willing to die a said Aquino who has crushed six other coup attempts since she took Power in a civilian backed military revolt in 1986. A the miscalculated mistaking the sound from his own band of civilian cheerleaders As Peoples acceptance. He miscalculated in expecting that corollary supportive action from fellow renegades and mercenaries would follow a Aquino said. Hours after Nobles surrender one person was wounded in an explosion that ripped through a jeep parked inside suburban Camp Aguinaldo the philippine armed forces Headquarters. The armed forces chief Gen. Renato de Villa said troops remain on the maximum state of readiness clamped on military Camps across the nation following the rebellion in Mindanao while mopping up operations were continuing in the Island. Noble 42, Aquino a former Deputy Security chief walked out at 3 . At the Garrison in Bagayan de Oro in Mindanao 500 Miles South of Manila. He had occupied it since thursday after taking Butman East of the City. Noble accompanied by priests and local officials who negotiated his surrender gave up to sen. Aquilino Pimentel a former mayor of the City at the provincial capital. Col. Alexander Noble and a fellow rebel col. Victor Erfe wave from a Balcony after their surrender saturday. Also surrendering with Noble was col. Victor Erfe 43, a classmate in the philippine military Academy who has been implicated in previous coup attempts. Opposition politician Reuben Canoy Leader of the Mindanao Independence movement who helped Noble launch the uprising was captured at the vip hotel in Bagayan de Oro. Noble and Erfe were flown to Manila for investigation at suburban Camp Aguinaldo. Aquino a executive Secretary Catalino macaraig said Noble and Erfe would face a court martial. Canoy will be charged with rebellion before a civilian court. Aquino called on Congress to immediately pass Laws she had recommended for urgent approval in december. The Laws would increase penalties for rebellion and make a coup attempt a capital crime. Noble took Over Bagayan de Oro and Butman without firing a shot before Dawn thursday. But after warplanes bombed Butman on Friday he decided to surrender. A i am asking kind treatment for my men a Noble said. A i am taking full  the Only fatality reported during the uprising was a Pilot killed when his plane crashed in the Central Island of Cebu while returning to base from a Mission in Bagayan de Oro. Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos said the expected support from army supporters communist guerrillas and moslem separatists Noble was counting on did not materialize dooming the rebellion. Aquino thanked the United states Japan and countries in Asia and Europe that immediately expressed support for her government at the outbreak of the uprising. The United states provided air support for Aquino in quelling the december uprising in which 119 people were killed and More than 500 were  passes amended anti crime Bill Washington apr the House on Friday approved a Tough election year Dill against crime but agreed to include provisions barring execution of prisoners who demonstrate their death sentence was imposed because of racial discrimination. The House also included an amendment allowing the government to seize the Homes of savings and loan executives convicted of fraud who were using state Homestead Laws to keep what May be mul Hulhon Dollar mansions. The crime Bill which occupied the House for three Days of occasionally emotional debate became a Catchall for get Tough proposals by lawmakers eager to Send voters a Law and order signal  before election Day. The Bill was approved on a 368-55 vote it goes Back to the Senate which has passed its own version. Then it will Likely de sent to a conference committee to resolve differences. House members first approved an array of amendments including one establish ing minimum penalties for Selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a truck Stop or Highway rest area. On one of the Bill a most controversial features the House voted 216-204 to reject an amendment that would have removed a racial provision for the Appeal of death penalty cases. That provision would allow death Row inmates to use racial statistics in their appeals to show that the sentencing courts were biased. It would also bar execution of prisoners who can demonstrate their death sentence was imposed because of racial discrimination. Rep. James Sensenbrenner r-wis., offered the amendment to delete the provision with supporters saying it would dramatically weaken and perhaps abolish use of the death penalty. Backers said there was indisputable evidence that Blacks Are More Likely to be sentenced to die than Whites. Rep. Jim Slattery d-kan., cited what he said was an a incredible fact never in the history of this country has a White Man been convicted and executed for killing a Black Man or any  a was far As in a concerned that makes the Case there has been discrimination in the imposition of capital punishment a Slattery said. The House adopted another amendment lessening the Burden of proof on the government to counter such evidence. The Senate excluded such a provision when it passed its version of the crime Bill but the Issue will have to be resolved in a conference committee. After the Bill a passage attorney general Dick Thornburgh issued a statement reminding lawmakers that president Bush had threatened to veto a a Bill that in oses racial quotas on our death penalty p is aws. A dozen More crimes could be subject to the Federal death penalty and executions would be carried out More quickly As a result of other amendments added to the Bill. The Bill Calls for the death penalty in More than 20 Federal crimes including murder aboard trains planes and automobiles in mail bombings Bank robberies and others. Assassination or attempted assassination of the president would be punishable by death under the Bill As would treason and espionage. The House also approved an amendment authorizing $50 million in the new fiscal year for Grants to Hospital trauma centers to help defray costs of treating drug related violence. It approved another amendment establishing a a Good Faith exception to the exclusionary Rule which bars the use of illegally obtained evidence at a trial. The change would allow evidence to be used in court even if it was obtained in a search or seizure that violated constitutional protections. However it must be ruled that the seizure was carried out in the belief it was constitutional. A similar exception applying Only in cases of searches with warrants has been made in a supreme court ruling