European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 8, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 a a a the stars and stripes monday october 8,1990 Vuk a it 4 Quot in Quot him desk and chairs Are transported from offices As civilian and military personnel together prepare for the april 1 closing of hellenic Nab near Athens Greece. A amps Ken George Cheney s raiders tackle closure of hell Nikon Abs amps Ken George t col. Arthur g. Egg bases biggest Challenge is maintaining Basic services by j. King Cruger Mediterranean Burea hell Nikon a Greece a unless its nailed to the floor bolted Down or occupied the office furniture at hell Nikon a will vanish As suddenly and permanently As judge Crater. The office equipment is being whisked out of the . Air Force base on the outskirts of Athens in anticipation of the april 1 base closure part of the Cost cutting measures initiated by defense Secretary Dick Cheney. Hell Nikon closure Center staffers known As a Chen Eye a raiders a Are prodding personnel to get rid of All items that Are not essential to the Mission. The raiders say their Job is to get the base packed yet to intrude As Little As possible on the work routine. A the slogan Here nowadays is a not business As usual a a said it. Col. Randy Morgan who As head of the closure Center is the most righteous Raider. Iii senior airman Robert Blagg checks an inventory list while airman John Bliss carries a pallet across car Boa is we Are trying to get everyone to downsize from a desk to a table from a filing Cabinet to a Box a said the 43-year-old resident of Ponca City okla. A we have a hard Row to Hoe. We have a lot to do to lock the Gate by april 1. By then hopefully ill be on the outside looking in a Morgan said. Capt. Norma j. Guy hellenic Kong a chief of military personnel is one of those feeling the effects of the raiders. A we Are moving together into offices and we have been asked to bring in Lawn chairs so our office chairs can be shipped out a she said. The naval communications station at Nea Makri 20 Miles East of Athens closed in july. Once the Home of 350 sailors it also was on Cheney shit list. A a we be Learned a lot of Good lessons from Nea Makri. Namely Start Early and keep enough people around to do the Iob at the end a Morgan said. A a we la keep 200 people Here until the last  Morgan and others said that so far there have been two periods of High stress. The first was when the status of the base was in limbo and people did not know whether the base would shut Down. The second came after the closure announcement but before people knew where their next assignments would take them. The air Force dealt with assignment worries by creating assignment teams that included members of All the base commands. The teams posted lists of available jobs and available bases. No one was kept in the dark. People could negotiate for assignments they wanted a said col. Arthur g. Egge commander of the 7206th air base group. A the outcome was better than what would have happened normally. Nearly everyone was satisfied with assignments and All 32 of our joint spouse teams were assigned together a said Egge 46, a native of track Minn. He said the biggest Challenge has been to maintain Basic services such As providing medical care and keeping the commissary open. Base military population dropped from 1,325 in july to 1,144 by the end of september. This month 160 More service members Are scheduled to leave. The movement of enormous amounts of Materiel has put an critical Load on hellenic Kong a cargo movement Section. A Twete buried and digging our Way out a said master out. Dennis Barborak 39, the traffic management Sun some of the property is being sold but the bulk of the equipment is beg sent to bases in Europe and the states. Hell Nikon supported in various ways More than 70 far Flung . Government organizations from Rota spam to saudi Arabia. The duties Are being assumed primarily by units at Ramstein a in Germany and Iraklion air station on  pro a government has not announced its plans for hell Nikon. A Small number of american military personnel will remain in the Athens area Egge said. An air mail terminal and possibly a Small commissary Exchange will be located somewhere in the City. The Apollon hotel the Community s transient billets will revert april 1 to its former status As a civilian hotel