European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2. A the stars and stripes Friday december 21,1990 my p my my Mph .1. Crisis in the Gull desert ducks not Byro Jagodzinski Pacific stars and stripes Ham rain a while the camels May feign As ships of the desert the Navy prefers a lesser beast to shuttle people Ami cargo above the persian Gulf the Duck. The desert Duck that is. For two decades the desert ducks a officially Hc-2 so a have provided air taxi service from a naval base in Bahrain to ships in the persian Gulf Region. The Squadron Hies and maintains four is 1-3 sea King helicopters ferrying mail cargo people spare parts and other supplies to ships in the Gulf. The desert ducks also Fly Slu pop store medical evacuations and its sailors arc trained in sea search and Rescue . No one seems to recall the origins of the Squadron nickname. But Over the years the desert ducks have earned a reputation for winging nearly anything to anyplace without getting their feathers ruffled. A a we re the last of the cowboys a said Seaman Eric Bourbonnais a 20-Ycar-old Sailor from a suburb of Orlando fla., who serves As a plane Captain. A if no one else wants to take a Mission we do it. When people need to get aboard a ship Iva Short time we bust our tails to get them  the ducks workload has rocketed with the build up in the Gulf. In july they hew 41 hours and hauled 3,420 pounds of mail 1,468 pounds of cargo and 27 passengers. A a a then Iraq invaded Kuwait on aug 2, in september the ducks logged 228 flight hours and carried 43,173 pounds of letters 36,688 pounds of cargo and 668 passengers to and from american warships in the Region. Petty officer 3rd class Kris Coke i 21, is a two tour desert Dick who a loves it out Here because it s where the actions at a. A but Cokel an aircraft electrician from Norfolk Iii said the jump in business has doubled his work hours a it used to be eight hours of work and then a Good amount of drinking time a Cokel said. Bahrain unlike most mideastern countries permits alcohol a now its 12 hours a Day and six or seven Days a week of work. A a a a a a a a a a a a. A a Quot Pacific a amps Nob Jagodynski it. Cmdr. Dan Nagel commander of the desert ducks stands near a sh-3 sea King on the flight line in Bahrain. The helicopters Are rib ducklings. All four Are at least .�3.0years old and each has logged 9,000 to 10,000 hours. Because of Ifie helicopters age mechanics must work harder to keep them airborne a especially since the leap in flight time Coke said. A we went through three or four engines in one month a the electrician said. A a we be also had some elec Trimai problems with the Heli Eppers Quot that have kept some of them from flying. None of the aircraft however has been involved m an Accident or experienced a mechanical failure in the air crewmen said. A a a a a a a despite the heavy maintenance the sea King requires it. Cmdr. Dan Nagel the Squadron commander and other desert Dycks said they feel safer Hying in their double engine aircraft than other Navy Utility helicopters even the late Model is 1-69. By Deedee Arrington Doke Middle East Bureau. Somewhere in saudi Arabia in the 1965 War bet weigh India and Pakistan the men of the 1st inf in became known As the a a Savior of Pakistan Quot for them dogged determination arid gallantry in Battle six years later the East Pakistan unit again went to War this time against West Pakistan As the Eastern  successfully fought for Independence and became Bangladesh. A a Quot a v a in 1990, Bangladesh s 1st inf in nicknamed the senior tigers is again preparing for War. Today its soldiers will fight on foreign turf in behalf of saudi Arabia a land with two holy mosques of special meaning to moslem mosle Riis make up 99 percent of Bangladesh s population. A since we Are moslem this is our holy country. Every moslem has the right to defend its holy place a said maj. Hafiz Uddin Ahmad the senior tigers second in command. A for our soldiers it is a sacred Mission to fight for this holy place Quot said it. Col. Abdul Wahob Lla Shim general staff officer a for operations and coordination Bangladesh also has an air Force and a Navy but Only its army is participating in the persian Gulf crisis. The National army has 5,090 soldiers but tire number of those serving in saudi Arabia was not disclosed. The country of to million people sent the infantry unit two medical units an engineering battalion and a Supply and transportation company. The infantry battalions Mission is to defend certain key installations including some hospitals. The unit arrived in saudi Arabia four months ago. This week marked the first time that the 1st inf in has practice defensive and counter at Lack measures at a Ong Range training Range Here. Unit officials do not relieve that the Long wait for a four Day stint at the training Range has affected the soldiers readiness. Back Home the soldiers used such a Range at least once a month. A we Are not at All worried. The troops Are already highly trained a Ahmad said. A nov Mun Crew of the Bangladesh military contingent Waits its turn to fire during live exercises. A amps Lynda Davidson e their weapons Are a 106mm recoilless Rifle artillery piece tight antitank rocket launchers and u a made ironing machine guns. They brought first and second line ammunition with them from Bangladesh but the saudis will resupply their units if the need arises Hashim said. To simplify resupply during any conflict the saudis asked the bangladeshis to use weaponry requiring the Sanie kind of ammunition the saudis use. The saudis also supplied the units desert camouflage uniforms. Quot we have been assured we will get anything we need Quot Hashim said. As with other International elements of the multinational Force saudi arabians intense heat initially bother fun soldiers a Lack of familiar spices i0 ? ? affected the group at first said h . Iqbal the regiments medical officer Hashin is a Veteran of the 3,971 War for Inder Dence a conflict in the Gulf would differ signified trom that War 19 years ago because of difference a terrain and tactics he said. A the 1971 War was not \ conventional. It was like a guerrilla War. This will 1 purely conventional War a Ila Shim said. A but As a Dier All wars Are the same for  he paused. A it he Battle phobia is not new for us. 9re Hail the hardened veterans. Every time we per ourselves we always think about our seniors and glorious tradition. We take too much