European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 28, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                New Gas prices j below Are the new prices for a gallon of gasoline at cafes pumps in Germany and the Netherlands. Unleaded regular a a. Old Quot $1.441 thursday february 28, 1991 the stars and stripes b pge9 new $1.391 super unleaded and regular leaded old. $1.531 new $1.481 super plus unleaded a a old. $1.781 new $1.721 diesel old $1.68 new Quot $1.791 some cafes Gas prices drops amps Wes bother by Steve Taylor Munich Bureau Munich Germany a the army and air Force Exchange service lowered its gasoline prices wednesday by about 5 cents per gallon in Germany and the Netherlands. / the Price of unleaded regular is now $1.39 per gallon Down from $1.44 per gallon super unleaded and regular leaded Are $1.48 Down from $1.53 and super plus unleaded is $1.72 Down from $1.78. A Quot however prices for diesel fuel Rose 11 cents wednesday at cafes pumps to $1.79 per gallon. Diesel prices Are normally higher in Winter and Spring because of heating season demand and cafes officials said the product Cost has increased substantially Over the last month. The drop in cafes prices has not kept Pace with the recent plunge in world Oil prices. Those International prices shot up after Iraq invaded Kuwait on aug. 2, hitting a Peak of $39 a barrel in late september. Since then they have dropped steadily and hovered around $18 per bar re tuesday about $2 lower than the end of july. V. A. A a a. A a a a a a a a fest prices increased an average of n61 cents a gallon from july through october. The prices have dropped 38 cents since then. But the Exchange services Price for super1 unleaded remains 21 cents higher than in july when the fuel Cost $1.27 per gallon. Cafes Europe officials said the Del Lars weak performance against the German Mark is the primary reason that cafes prices have not kept Pace with 4he lower prices for Oil. If the Dollar had remained at mid-1990 Levels cafes prices would now be dose to july prices said at Force master sgt. Dayton Strickland an cafes spokesman. The a Exchange rate since july has dropped about 10 pfennings per Dollar from about 1.59 to today a 1.49. Cafes pays in Marks for the gasoline products it buys on the German Market it Sells it for dollars to . Personnel Strickland said a lower Dollar Means higher prices at cafes pumps. Cafes paid about 78 cents a of Felon for its gasoline in july. That Cost went to $1.43 per. Gallon in october. Cafes would not release current costs citing a request by its it contractor Esso. Cafes buys the majority of its gasoline from Esso. A a Esso spokesman Alexander Geek said in Hamburg that his company Quot docs not talk about wholesale  but figures provided by cafes show that the Exchange service is paying about t5 cents More Fot gasoline than in july primarily because of the weaker Dollar Strickland said that other operating expenses have increased because of the weak Dollar. In Italy prices for . Person incl afe $1.33 per gallon for All grades. Prices in the United kingdom stood at $1.31 per gallon dropping from $1.79 on Jan. 1. At German stations Esso customers Are now paying about $2.94 per gallon for super unleaded Down from $3.19 on Jan 17, Geek said the average Price at Ger Many pumps on aug. 1 was $2.89 per Gal a Ion a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a. A sex of Hospital commander fined for abuses by Deedee Arrington Doke Kaiserslautern Bureau Ramstein a Germany to the former commander of an air Force contingency Hospital in Germany has been ordered to forfeit $500 for abusing contracting rules. Capt. Raymond Heath was sentenced during a five Day general court martial last week. A panel of officers found Heath guilty of four specifications of wilful dereliction of duty and one of negligent dereliction of duty. He was acquitted on a sixth specification of dereliction of duty and three specifications of making false official statements. The panel also recommended that Heath who now is assigned to the 377th services so at Ramstein receive a written reprimand. Heath was relieved of his Job april 4 at the 652nd contingency Hospital at Donau Eschinger Germany where the violations took places the charges on which Heath was convicted stemmed from his hiring of a cleaning service on a recurring basis and buying office supplies outside Normal contracting procedures Between september 1989 and january 1990, said staff sgt. Doyle Tillman a Ramstein spokesman. V the Case is part of a dispute Between Heath and air Force contracting officials in Kaiserslautern Over the captains use of contracting authority at his isolated location. Under Standard form 44 contract program commanders May make Small Supply and services purchases that Are necessary for their units when time will not permit those purchases to follow Standard air Force contracting procedures. Air Force regulations describe the program As being designed for a on the spot Over the counter purchases of supplies and non personal services while away from the purchasing office or at isolated  the Donau Eschinger contingency facility Falls under the Ramstein clinics authority but is an isolated unit. Heath was offered non judicial punishment but turned it Down said capt. Tony Schoell Wolusky assistant trial counsel. A i think perhaps they did the Best they could a a Heath said of the panel after the court martial. A the problem was this was an inappropriate forum a a he said. A a this has been a Jcj Gand tiring ordeal for my family friends and me. I need to say a Heartfelt thanks to those who stood by me during this difficult  Heath said he has been told by department of defense officials and members of Congress that an investigation will be conducted into his Case and allegations against contracting officials that he filed with the . Air forces in Europe inspector general a office in november 1989. Heaths supervisor initiate charges against him in june 1990. In his in complaint the 15-Ycar air Force Veteran alleged that officials at det 2, 7000th contracting so at Rhine ordnance Barracks in Kaiserslautern were guilty of Gross mismanagement waste and failure to comply with regulations among other things. The allegations focused on the squadrons management of the Standard form 44 contracting program. The court martial panels recommended sentence is automatically appealed to the 17th air Force com Mandr maj. Gen. James e. Chambers. A Gen. Thurman who led Panama invasion retires fort myer a. A army Gen. Maxwell r. Thurman who led the . Invasion that toppled panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in 1989, retired tuesday at a ceremony that brought him a warm tribute from president Bush. A this Brilliant role in the liberation of Panama was a fitting Grace note to a great career a Bush said of. The. Four Star general. Thurman who turned 60 on feb. 18, was treated for leukaemia last year not Long after the completion of operation just cause to restore democracy to Pana the action involving 25,000 . Troops was then the largest . Military operation since the Vietnam War. Bush drove to the retirement ceremony after getting an update in the Oval office on the latest Allied successes in the persian Gulf War from defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Gen. Colin Powell the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. To loud applause from the hundreds of top military brass lawmakers and others gathered in the darkened ceremonial Hall for the tribute to Thurman Bush said a we Are not Only on schedule we Are ahead of schedule. A no commander in chief has Ever been so proud of americans men and women in uniform a the president said. Thurman had a played a crucial role in the revival of democracy in this Hemi sphere said Bush. Cheney granted Thurman an exemption from mandatory retirement after 35 years of service in 1989 to put him in charge of the . Southern come. The former artillery officer and army vice chief of staff j assumed that command Days before an october 1989 coup against the Noriega regime that failed. A two months later he masterminded the pre Christmas invasion that quickly ended Noriega a regime and two weeks later brought him a. T n. A Thurman in chains to the United states to stand trial on drug charges. A Thurman who served two combat Tours in Vietnam was credited with helping shape the army a training techniques for the All Volunteer army. By Jshii said thurr Nan had devoted a this entire career to helping All around him reach their fullest potential.�?�. A Bachelor he was commissioned in the army through Roth after his graduation from North Carolina state University in 1953. Of chief says repairing b-1 will be costly lengthy Washington a air Force Secretary do raid Rice told Congress tuesday it will take several years and More than $10 million to solve engine problems in the by bomber. The Fleet of 97 supersonic planes capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons was grounded for nearly two months As the air Force tried to repair the problem of breaking fan Blades in the engine. The planes have been plagued with problems since they came into service in 1986, ranging from fuel tank leaks to engine problems. Three of the planes have crashed. Including one that went Down when a Bird flew into an engine. V a a. Rice also told the panel that the air Force is cancelling a contract for electronic countermeasures a the sophisticated system to Jam enemy radar on the by. Rice said changes instituted by Congress last year in the Pentagon budget make it difficult for the air Force to fulfil the contract valued at More than $300 million with Eaton ail of Deer Park . The air Force plans to decide by August whether to renew the contract. A we Are still very much interested in being Able to pursue it and resolving that problem a Rice testified the air Force Secretary described the problems that have grounded the. Fleet of $280 million a is. The planets Frame was manufactured by Rockwell International the engines by general electric. / a the problem that arose had to do with cracking of the fan Blades on the front fan in the engine a Rice said. In two cases a Blade broke off and the resulting instability Shook the entire engine fan lose Rice said. A a that a what led to the one loss of engine and the other Case of significant damage to the engine and in fact some of the Blades damaged the Airframe As  in the two incidents the planes landed safely without injury to the Crew a a a a  a the air Force has come up with an a adequate interim fix in which a stronger retaining ring has been made for the engines front fan. A we believe that Wiir keep the rest of the fart in i Rice said. The preliminary estimate on the Cost is More than $10 million Rice said. Keep. A a lace even if a single Blade is lost a