European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pago 4 a a the stars and stripes wednesday november21,1990crisisinthefluu. A  in Gulf can Call Home for free Washington a amps at amp to reinstated its free Call service tuesday to let service members in saudi Arabia Telephone the United states Over the thanksgiving Day Holiday. Troops can Call 1-800-100 to reach an operator in Atlanta who will place their three minute free Call said Rick Wallerstein at amp to spokesman. The service called us direct ends next tuesday. Us direct was first offered Between oct. 3 and oct. 10, but the limited saudi Telephone lines soon became overloaded with More than 135,000 Calls. Additional phone lines have been added to handle the expected flood of Holiday Calls Wallerstein said. Us sprint will also provide no Cost phone Calls to service members in saudi Arabia through the military affiliate radio system or Mars stations. F military station operators will Contact Volunteer radio operators in the United states who in turn will Patch the Calls into us sprint lines. Then the Call will be connected with the person the service member wants to reach. Officials estimate there Are 80 Mars stations in the Middle East. The Sers will last through the end of the year Vince Hovanec us sprint spokesman the Success and Quality of the Calls will depend on weather conditions and Ava a bitty of Volunteer radio operators he retiring no s Stop loss Case finally resolved by Rosemary Sawyer staff writer Sovat Eblen had said head go to Congress before head go to saudi Arabia. But As of tuesday it looked As if the retiring master sergeant wont have to do either. Eblen returned to the states last week on emergency leave and his battalion executive officer says he can stay there and retire As planned. But plenty of sleepless nights preceded this Good news. Eblen even claims his stressful situation aggravated his fathers heart problems which required surgery. It Wasny to that the 85th Maint co Soldier from Kitzing in Germany was unwilling to fight in the desert. Is just that rules Are rules and the Way Eblen and . Army Europe officials understood the current Stop loss policy he should be allowed to retire he said. The policy prevents soldiers from leaving Europe for new assignments or getting out of the army. A some people May think that i am not patriotic and am trying to shirk duty. But that is not the Case a Eblen said. Eblen could almost taste retirement when his unit commander told him on nov. 10 that head be shipping off to the desert. He his wife and four children Ages 7 to 14, had already shipped their household goods and car and leased a House in Oklahoma. The commanders message contradicted everything Eblen had been told by Usa eur officials regarding Stop loss and its Impact on him. Eblen is not alone in his problem. Soldiers throughout the command still Are reeling from usage urn a Blanket Stop loss announced nov. 10. As it turns out Eblene Scase no longer requires an inter in lotion of Mallm. I _ r Usa eur has hot Tine for Stop loss questions soldiers with questions about Stop loss actions can Call the Usa eur hot line in Schwet Zingen Germany. The number is ets 379-6046, 6059, 6065. Or 6066. From a German civilian phoney dial 06202-80 and one of the four digit extensions. The hot line operates from 7 30 . To 4 30 p.m., monday through Friday after duty hours soldiers can Call the 6046 or 6059 extensions and leave their name Grade unit and ets phone number on an answering machine. First personnel come staff members will Contact the caller the next Day. A a a Iii Xvi in us w ail u11c1" predation of policy because he will begin terminal leave ? his emergency leave ends his battalion executive Olicer said tuesday. Terminal leave is time off that no s deployment hits service members take shortly before they exit the service. A we wont be bringing him Back Over a said Mai. Larry Jameson executive officer for 87th Maint in. A a it a not that we were trying to keep the Guy Here or anything a Jameson added. A it was just a matter of being told a you will take everybody who a assigned to you who is  a the question of whether Eblen was deployable had a in a fou8b one for battalion leaders Jameson said. It s All the Way up at the Usa eur level As far As getting policy  soldiers within 90 Days of retirement when the Stop loss kicked in generally Are being allowed to retire. The is Case was How to count the 90 Days. Usa eur officials had told him that the computation Date is dec. 19, when he begins 72 Days of leave that take him to his retirement Date. Others claim the Date is his March 1 retirement Date. In Many ways Eblene Scase mirrors those of other soldiers who Are receiving conflicting information on Oulu in amp of a since sept. 1 when the army wide Stop loss policy was announced Eblen said he called a Stop loss hot be three times to untangle the policy. He also talked to numerous other officials at command Headquarters. Each time he received the same answer. A you can retire sergeant a said one. A retirements will continue a echoed another. Eblen was shocked when his commander said head have to go to saudi Arabia. A everything we be done since april has been geared toward retirement and getting Home Quot Eblen said the army in Europe instituted the Stop loss action to allow commanders to assess their personnel requirements in Light of operation desert shield and troop withdrawals before they lose troops. Rather than going Back to the United states some soldiers will be transferred to critical slots in deploying units or in units remaining in theater. Others May be asked to stay on with their own deploying units. Soldiers can be exempted from the policy in some cases. These reasons include retirement pregnancy hardship and unsatisfactory performance or conduct. However not every retiring or pregnant Soldier will be allowed to leave. The first colonel in a soldiers Chain of command evaluates the situation and exempts him or her from the Stop loss in hardship cases or a where it makes Good to the Soldier to continue to leave usar eur at this time a according to a message outlining the by Crystal Laureano staff writer about a week ago staff sgt. Tom Grias and his family were Days away from a stateside move. Their household goods Are in transit. Their car is sold. A new one Waits for them in Philadelphia. But the car will have to wait awhile longer. Instead of signing out of his unit nov. 14, Grias Learned he would be attached to another battalion in his brigade for movement to saudi Arabia. The Transfer is part of usage urn a Stop loss policy. The Only be on sings Are in three suit cases. A and one hanging clothes bag said Grias a Petroleum specialist with he co 2nd in 37th Armor 1st army div in Vilseck Germany. The disruption has sent his German wife Claudia into a tailspin. A i Don t have a cup a Towel of my own said Claudia whose frustration is complicated by unfamiliarity with the . Military system. The couple had been looking Forward to living together at their new Home in the states. Since their marriage 18 months ago Grias had commuted on weekends the 50 Miles from his unit in Vilseck to his wife a a Firnberg apartment because there were no Job or housing possibilities for her in Vilseck. In the past few months anticipating their move to fort Lee va., Claudia gave notice to her German employer and her landlord. She also made arrangements for herself and 4-year-old son to spend what were supposed to have been her last weeks in Germany in her mothers Small apartment where she and the boy shared a mattress on the floor. A everyone just tells me to wait a she said of her attempts to get answers from the military. A but wait for what i have no Home no car no Job no insurance  a to make matters worse the recent upheaval has aggravated her nervous condition. The illness called Tourette a syndrome makes her head and hands Jerk. A i done to know what to do. I can to go on like this a she said. Her husband accepts that he will be assigned to operation desert shield. But he wants to make sure his family has a Home first. 8onna go to saudi Arabia any a a a he sa4 a Why done to they just let me pcs first and get my family settled a brigade officials said they can to prevent his deployment to saudi Arabia. A the is in a critically Short mos Mili Tail occupational speciality a said brigade executive officer it. Col. David Ozo Lek. A if there were anyway we could have avoided this we would  in the meantime brigade officials Are trying to obtain government furnished temporary quarters for the family. The unit will request that the family a household goods be returned and Ozolek Hopes to Settle them in permanent quarters in Vilseck. In midst of pcs clan i Grias and son Patrick sit in her Mother s kitchens amp amp Effle Bathen