European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                V i by Ron Jensen. Staff writer. Eople around Rhein main a Germany talk frequently about  its spoken of As if a cartographer has stencilled it on the map with specific degrees of latitude and Longitude As much a place As Copenhagen or Tulsa. Quot downrange Quot is air base parlance for any location related to operation desert shield. Much of the plan Load by plan Load buildup of military muscle in the persian Gulf Region has passed through Rhein main which shares the runways of Frankfurt s Busy International Airport with scores of airlines. At november s end the air base had escorted nearly 70,000 passengers and 80,000 tons of cargo downrange. V twice in mid August the air base handled 140 lights in a 24-hour period at times shuttling aircraft in or out every 10 minutes. More than 8,00q aircraft have arrived and departed Rhein main a since the deployment began in Early August 75 percent of them related to operation desert shield. / the Quot chocolate stained Quot uniform designed to make. Troops invisible in desert environs is As common there As the Roar of Jet engines. Many of the european based troops bound for the desert Are bidding Farewell to the continent from Rhein main s Windy flight line. A a. Almost everyone at the base is working 12-hour shifts. This All makes cot. Thomas r. Mikolajcik commander of the 435th tac Airlift Wing feel like a Lucky Man Quot we re getting to do in a fantastic Way what we re trained to do. That a important to us Quot said the 44-year old. Pilot. I a a v a deployment of this nature is after All the reason for Rhein main s existence. Many of those european troops heading for the Middle East reached Europe by Landing at the base just As previous generations of american soldiers have done since the end of world War ii. The base s most famous chapter came in 1948 and 1949 during the Berlin Airlift when everything from Coal to Candy was flown to the divided City during the soviet blockade of Berlin. A. A a a. Those Heady Days Are being recalled As the current deployment Heads into its fifth month. It has affected. Nearly a of the 4,000 military and 2,500 civilians who work at Rhein main from the people who pump fuel to those who Grill hamburgers. A. In fact the workforce has been boosted by 500 from the air Force Navy army and National guard. I perhaps busiest of All of the units is the 435th Mobile Aerial port so commanded by it. Col. Joseph j. Berardino.  a. A Quot All the passengers and All the cargo Are mine Quot he said. Quot we re hot going in leave. The Aerial port is Tough we work . A the Normal workload has increased about 900 percent. Part of Becraf Diho a facility is crowded with pallets of cargo on their Way downrange everything from cases of soda to boxes of ammunition. Another part is covered with pallets of cargo on their Way from the desert tank engines in need of repair and broken air plane parts among other Quot we have become kind of the Central Hub base for a number of bases in desert  Berardino said his people performed Well during the. Operational readiness inspection last Spring. During the summer they handled an enormous amount of. Household goods shipped through Rhein main. Both were Good  a. / -. Quot i think that got us better and smarter Quot he said. 1 after thinking for a moment about the current Mission. And its size he added Quot when desert shield is Over we re a going to be  representative of the base s helter shelter Pace since the deployment began is the 21 St rep in cafeteria near the passenger  a a Quot it s a whole lot different Quot said sgt. Theodore. Peters shift Leader at the cafeteria. Quot we feed More troops and we done to get a Chance to  a a a v cd it rain a a. ,. A. A a. A a a. A  a. A a a a a. Amp amps l Miluin Wiir. Chaplain it. Col Roger Sobin on the flight line at Rhein main a Germany Story on next Page Rhein indeed the dining facility has resembled a stateside. A Denny s since the deployment began,.open 24 hours. Quot since this started we be fed Between 500 and 600 per meal. You re talking 1,800 per  a / the facility was set up to feed a total of 350 per Day said capt. Douglas Beatty. Its Normal contingent of 17. Cooks has been increased to 30. Quot the first few Days we were running out of . A if the cafeteria provides the nearest thing to Home cooking the troops will have for a while the nearby Quot tent. City Quot offers what is As. Close As possible to Home Comfort. Quot right from the get go it became apparent that we would be a  chief master sgt Harry Meaux who is sort of the mayor of the Canvas Community the tents started sprouting within 24 hours of president a a continued on Page 14 Mam wednesday december 19, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 13