European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 16, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Engineers Check out in empty maintenance building at Merrell Barracks in Nurnberg Germany in Wake of the departure of 2nd army Cav regt. Quiet settles Over Merrell Barrack stories and photos by Effie Bathen Nurnberg Bureau. A few Days before Christmas. Merrell Barracks in Nurnberg Germany Lay under a Snow and quiet. Its 2nd army Cav regt soldiers had deployed the week before to operation desert shield in the persian Gulf. A a v a. It was time for Post engineers to close up and turn out the lights., a. But for Keith Hook the installation coordinator who a worked for the military a since 1969, the Post was More than the a a. Wiring and plumbing that needed to be looked after. Merrell Barracks was the soldiers who were stationed there. Quot pm retired military and i feel part of said Hook who had watched the troopers Load onto the buses a few weeks earlier. He said that he had Felt like crying. When he looked into their Young faces. Quot i spent my time in Vietnam and it Hurt when. They left Quot. a. Hook could t help thinking Back to a april 1968 when tie was a sergeant in that earlier Ware said. Quot i worked with a a refrigeration and engineering we kept the body bags Cool the last Stop. Quot ninety mine percent of these soldiers. Don t know what War s about Quot he said in the empty maintenance Yard and looked Down at the Snow blowing through Rolls of concertina wire. One of Hook s first jobs would be to a locate some Wood for pallets wire could follow the soldiers and be sent to the desert. A it a a. He and Post Engineer Al Billings would get right to it he said. But the morning s task was to Check out the maintenance Bays and inspect billets. They walked into the massive garage where soldiers used to repair vehicles a handful of carpenters plumbers and electricians were noting minor building repairs they would have to tend to. Some cables and wooden blocks used to vehicles were piled where. Hum Vegs and tracked vehicles usually stood. The sounds of air blowers and tools were gone. Even the floor had a hollow sound in places. Quot its the tunnels Quot said Billings he described the network of bomb shelters and escape tunnels the nazis had built under the Cavern that had once housed hitlers is troops. Merrell Barracks was part of the Complex of stadiums and Parade Fields used in the party rallies of the Era. -. A a a it a. A a a a a. Quot they used 44 million bricks and Marble when they built it Quot said Billings. It was supposed to last for a thousand years.-, to said. Quot the germans had a something like the acropolis in . Now in a different Era the Engineer says he has a hard time believing How quiet the Post has become since most of the soldiers left Quot it s almost hard to a a a fathom the Lack of activity when they deployed to Grafe Wohr or the Border there was always a troop left a. A. Ordinarily the parking it would have a couple of Hundred cars in it he said. That Day the Only tracks disturbing its Snow a covered lanes were made by the Post s rabbits. A a a a a % nearby the Headquarters building had cars parked in front of it. A Small rear area. Detachment was there. Also the Chapel laundromat and Mai room were still bustling and Security guards manned the front Gate a. It was the billets that were Stone quiet. Hook and Billings walked their team. Through the rooms where no one now lived. They systematically checked that radiators were turned Down and looked for. Things that a needed repair. In each room bunks were already. Stripped. Refrigerator doors were ajar and personal items were in lockers secured with locks and Metal bands. A a Trace of cigarette smoke lingered in a few rooms As the Only reminder of the soldiers who lived there. A the Only reminder in one room was a poster of a woman holding an electric guitar and wearing one red Boot. Billings took an orphaned Plant from the Windowsill of one of the last rooms for safekeeping Quot Well take it till they get Back Quot he said. He knew that if the Cav soldiers desert Job was to be anything like their european one , they would be near a Border poised to spearhead a possible Battle. A /. A a ,. A a Quot i Hope they All go out there and have the most Boring time of their life Quot he said. Then they locked the doors and turned off the circuit breaker for the lights. A installation coordinator Keith Hook padlocks a merry ii Barracks Gate. Its hard to fathom the Lack of activity with the troops Jone says Post Engineer Al Billings. Page 14 a a a the stars and stripes wednesday january 16,1991 a Post Engineer inspects a window in a room Bare except for a poster personal belongings have been secured. Local politicking juggling Utility Bills and dealing with a few Pesky a landlords May be keeping army authorities Busy now that tens of thousands of Germany based soldiers have left for the Middle East. According to the director of engineering and housing of one of the largest troop areas affected by the deployment the army has a lotto think about besides just Locking doors and turning out the lights.,. Quot. To Start with the army is not making v. A contingency plans in the event the soldiers do not return to Germany after the persian Gulf crisis is resolved said it col. Mark Donald. He is the director of engineering and housing for the Nurnberg military. Community which comprises 10 v installations where soldiers have been housed. So far some 8,000 of those 12.000 soldiers have left for the Middle East. Quot no matter what we close we Are not giving up any housing areas Quot he said. Recently addressing speculation that some american facilities would be turned Over to the germans if troops later returned to the states. The interest in american housing is keen in Many German communities such As Nurnberg where an influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe has caused a severe housing shortage. A Quot a Quot soldiers Are coming Back As far Ashe re concerned Quot Donald said. A Quot As a matter of fact the facilities that Are being closed because of desert shield will in most cases be Only partially for lighting Wii be turned off but circuit Breakers will not be pulled where it. A take s electrical current to run circulation pumps. A a. A a for the Nurnberg Community that should a mean big savings on electrical Bills but it s not going to be so Lucky on the heating Bills. Authorities can t take the heat out because might burst in the Winter. A. Quot also it keeps the s personal a goods from freezing if he s got a stereo or Amore than turning out the lights to a things that Don t like living in 19 degrees Quot Donald you can t save any heat Money even though you turn it Down because in 90 percent of our Caseros the heat is provided. By District heat Quot he said. Quot we Are. A contracted for minimums whether that. Heat and hot water is used or not Quot a a a renegotiating those contracts is a Long and involved process that takes years. In Nurnberg As in Many communities heating plants were joint ventures Between local governments and the americans. The. Germans counted on minimum usage in order to make their investment worthwhile they Are Quot somewhat insistent Quot that the. Americans hold up their Side of the bargain. He said. A a a. The situation throughout Germany is. Similar depending upon on How local. Energy contracts were written but to further Quot complicate matters Utility rates Are often seasonal and based of the last year s usage a. A Quot a -. Quo because of this authorities at european army Headquarters say that Overall Energy a savings will be Quot minimal Quot a. Quot our rates Are based on a minimum demand charge and would be. Reduced Only if an installation were closed Quot said Jon Pettebone a Usa eur spokesman Quot our. Installations will remain a a. Nevertheless Donald says that Energy savings for his communities , especially where facilities like Barracks can be consolidated he estimates that for an average Barracks ordinarily housing 200 1 a. Soldiers the savings could be As much As s20.000 six month period -. A a Quot i be walked into four Man rooms with a four stereos fourths and eight Vars Quot he a said with an agonized Energy Saver s. Shrug. Those things will be of now. Donald says that in the Nurnberg Community such Energy savings usually go to Quality projects like Multi purpose courts parking lots and playgrounds. How the deployment will affect that in t known As for family housing areas Donald says that the deployment has tilled them to the brim. In his the occupancy. Rate is 99 percent. Quot �.--�. A with the deployment and Stop loss order almost no one is coming or going Only about 100 families loft their housing to a return1 to the United states normally they have 50 terminations and assignments each week. Quot the waiting list is not Frozen but people Are Frozen Quot he said among his there though is Security. A a. Quot we Havo absolute Security on our. A caverns. We have minimum Security on the housing areas Quot said Donald who is also. The chief housing no housing area is fenced no housing areas Are guarded if the stairwell doors Are open the building is completely insecure. In leased quarters if they go out and forget to close the garage door the building is unsecured a a a Quot a a authorities say that with so Many soldiers. Away residents in the housing areas should be particularly aware of possible theft Persona attack fire vandalism and terrorist a acts. A. -. Quot there have been some problems with landlords taking advantage of wives who Are by ,�?� Donald also said a Tew incidents included what he called a Quot physical advantage monetary advantage and aggravation Quot a not the least of his worries though is a backlog of about about 1.000 Man hours of repair work to do these Are lower1 priority a maintenance requests such As broken. Electric switch covers or chipped Shower tiles. The engineers Are already working on those he said and added confidently. A Quot when the soldiers come Back everything will b a a Quot a a a a a a a t. / _. Ain. A it a a. A a a Quot a the stars and stripes a a a Page 15 j
