European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday october 27, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 3 by Effie Bathen Niernberg Bureau Vilseck Germany a the messages Are enough to drive an English teacher Over the Edge. They contain no punctuation and with Only 30 words they re often crammed with bizarre code words and other forms of alphabet soup. But the communiques on the military affiliate radio system have become a popular Low Cost Way for desert shield service members and their families to keep in touch. The system used by the military off and on since 1925, relies on a worldwide network of thousands of Amateur radio operators loosely linked by military run relay stations. Hundreds of messages Are being sent daily Between the Gulf and the United states via and air Force Mars stations in Europe. Desert shield has created twice As much work for Mars operators like sgt. John c. Miller who a been spending lunch hours in the control room munching take out and screaming into four or five radios at the same time. At his station in Karlstedt Germany the number of messages or Mars Grams has jumped from 450 to 1,000 a month. At Rhein main a outside Frankfurt Germany the number of messages has leapt from about 800 in aug Stmars it Ember As deploying troops passed through the base on their Way to the Gulf. For october a number is now close to 4,500 and still rising. Stations began popping up among the deployed units in the Gulf Region in september As Ham ��.? cables on the h guest things they could find and just started transmitting most without designated Call letters or frequencies. Now there Are Klu any run stations transmitting daily from hat they Call the and no they done to have air conditioning they say. One of the people who helped sort out the sudden surge m transmissions was James Robb the acting director for Mars stations in Europe. Head begged borrowed and cajoled to get a station set up last Spring at Vilseck near the Grafe Wohr training area. Because of the Way High frequency radio Waves Bend and Bounce through the atmosphere Robby a station has become a Gateway for a healthy share of the signals from both the United states and desert shield Sites. From the United states relatives and friends Send messa8es through a local Ham radio operator or a Mars station at a nearby military Post. At the desert shield end of the relay a radio operator will walk across the Sand and hand the message to the Soldier. A a it a important to each person the few words a said a amps Effle Bathen sgt. Michael Espenschied Manning the Gateway station at Vilseck contacts a Mars station in saudi Arabia. Robb. It s the a a words that keep sgt. Michael Espenschied going. Espenschied the radio operator at Robby a Vilseck station has been moving messages for 12 to 14 hours a Day. A sometimes it makes for a killer headache at the end of the Day a he said adding that his wife is not enthused about shifts that last until 10 or 11 . But the messages keep him going. A a in la Sec one that looks real important. That a what drives me a he said. The messages Are limited to about 30 words and Are mailed or phoned to the receiving party within three to five Days. If there is a toll Call involved the operator will place the Call collect from the local Mars station. Otherwise the service is free. Espenschied said Many people Start their messages by noting that they Only have 30 words a so ill make this that takes up almost a third of the message space he said. But others cram in As much As they can like the deployed Soldier who squeezed in three hugs and kisses to Jane and St Phi in Fayetteville. N c with a single a a sampling of some recent traffic also included a note from Janet at fort drum n. Y., to Kenneth a stay Sweet and on your feet love Espenschied also is responsible for checking that no one gives away any military secrets or tries to run a business from the desert using Mars. He a also not allowed to Correct spelling. A some people have codes a he said. If messages Are garbled he has to verify each word with the sending station Over the radio a a that a love Lima Oscar Victor Echo. the desert troops have used Mars to place orders for everything from Cherry pipe tobacco and pizza to Kool Aid. Most of the deployed soldiers though just want their families to know that they Are Well and they miss them. A a in a still Here Haven to died yet so there a no reason for you to Stop sending letters a was what Shawn wrote to Patricia in Clarksville Tenn. And then there was the plea to Linda at fort Campbell in Kentucky a Send pictures last Bunch burned in tent fire love in gratitude for Mars operators like Espenschied and Miller one desert shield Soldier sent a system wide thank you note about two weeks ago. It was received at the Vilseck Gateway station where they be been putting in 14 hours a Day under a workload that has almost tripled since the Gulf operation began. Thanks it said a through you Guys i got the name of my Newborn baby girl did t a and she is a he Bluford 111. Apr the reservist whom military officials mistakenly listed As a deserter and a female is neither. Pfc. Lavem Fay Johnson is willing to serve. And he a a Man. Army officials said thursday they mistakenly identified Johnson 26, of Bluford As a female deserter wednesday while discussing the Case of spec. Stephanie Atkinson of Murphysboro. Atkinson who has refused to report for duty with the 300th adjutant postal co says she has become a conscientious objector and opposes the . Military buildup in the persian Gulf. A someone erred a said maj. Bob Host the a fort Sheridan spokesman. A the Johnson has been removed from the classification of officials said they discovered the mistake thursday while looking up More information on Johnson in response to a reporters questions. Johnson who was working with a carnival in Honda be reached for comment. But his Mother Dorothy Johnson said he had already made plans to report for duty and had been told to stay put until he was needed. A the said some time ago that if his unit went to saudi Arabia he would go a his Mother said. A this younger brother already is Over there in the .�?�. She said she Hadnot been told about the mix up involving her son but was glad to hear it had been resolved. Kuwait steadily becoming More like Home for iraqis Kuwait apr hundreds of iraqi visitors their pockets full of dinars have descended on Kuwait to buy everything they can. A group of Baghdad Iraq based journalists went to Kuwait Over the weekend on a trip arranged by the government to discredit Western Media reports that iraqi soldiers were plundering the occupied emirate. During the visit it appeared that Kuwait a thriving business Center before the aug. 2 invasion is slowly but steadily becoming More and More iraqi. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein a photographs Are everywhere just As in Iraq. More and More vehicles Are displaying iraqi License plates and there Are no signs of kuwaiti Armea resistance. A i feel Here like at Home a said Kamal Abbas a visiting iraqi businessman. A there Are no visas no Border checkpoints and no need for re Export License. A i buy anything and everything a he said referring to the Supply of consumer goods that surpasses what he can find at Home. Bashar Mubarak a kuwaiti businessman Selling household goods in the City a niggas District was asked what he thought about the presence of his iraqi counterpart. A who cares a he replied. A Money is not an important thing right iraqi officials strongly deny reports of a possible Compromise solution to the persian Gulf crisis. They say they will never give Back any of Kuwait. A after decades Kuwait has become what it should be a part of Iraq a said Shihab Ahmed Al Jassim the new head of Kuwait a education department. Out of 500 schools at least 108 Are open said Al Jassim who formerly directed education in Basra iraqis second largest City. All the schools display photos of Saddam. Schools that were named after members of Kuwait a exiled rulers a the Al Sabah family a Are being renamed Al Jassim said. A however some kuwaiti students Are not attending school a he said adding that Many kuwaitis were out of the country when Iraq a a freed the country. The schools Are guarded by volunteers of iraqis popular which also stands watch at All government buildings and nine checkpoints in downtown Kuwait. During their 36-hour stay the reporters did not hear any gunshots. The iraqi government imposes a daily curfew from 11 . To 7 a.m., turning the once Busy City into a ghost town. And even 12 weeks after the invasion people Are still fleeing Kuwait a some because they lost their jobs or businesses others because they Are unsure about the future. Immigrant workers Are waiting to leave but Uncertain what will happen to them. A i have never been out of Kuwait since i came Here. I do not know where to go a said Mariana Niaesha a housekeeper at a Hospital who came Here six years ago from the Philippines
