European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 27, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday april 27, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 3 Airlift sustains kurdish refugees 300 tons of food supplies by Ron Jensen staff writer. In Ciurlik a Turkey the Mountain peaks of Northern Iraq soar above the wingtips of the a 130 Hercules while the Tigris River traces a centuries old path 7,000 feet below. Somewhere in this wild ruggedness is drop zone six on the Border of Iraq and Turkey. The Mountain Valley is temporary Home for thousands of kurdish refugees fleeing civil War and possible death in their Homeland of Iraq. For nearly three weeks Crews of the 37th tac Airlift so from Rhein main a Germany and the 61 St tac Airlift so from Little Rock ark., have been flying Over these mountains on missions of mercy known As operation provide Comfort. Recently they have been joined by aircraft from Canada Britain France and Italy. On this Day three Crews from Rhein main plan to Deposit food and blankets on drop zone six. Ninety minutes of flying from in Ciurlik has brought them into the shadows of these Rocky ridges. Capt. Doug Romig is at the controls of the trailing aircraft and will follow his partners Over the area and Complete the Mission in All probability they will do it again the next Day. And the next. Each Squadron flies about 15 missions daily dropping a total of 300 or More tons enough to fill a Good sized supermarket. But even the Stfort Falls Short. A a it a a Stopgap measure. We can Stop them from dying a said it. Col. Robert Boudreau commander of the 37th. A a it a a Way of getting food to inaccessible areas. And its do Jung that. But its inherently inefficient.�?�. Ultimately the Moo mile Long Region of the Camps will be a a vice by trucks and helicopters. That is a opening now in the westernmost Camps Sodi drops Are going farther East even into Iran As of Friday. Nearly All of the air planes make two roundtrip daily about eight hours of flying time. A amps Ron Jensen supplies Are loaded into a c-130. A successful Mission is one in which the cargo Falls intact close to the Camp by that yardstick most missions Are sue ceases. A we can put loads safely within about 300 to 400 Yards of the trailing Edge of the Encampment a said capt. Tip Stinnette chief navigator for the 37th. Crews aim for the far Edge of the Camps to prevent injuries in Case a Load hangs up As it exits the air plane. That could delay its drop enough to place it inside the Camp where it could injure people. A the Camps Are so dynamic that they expand and contract daily Quot Stinnette said the refugees move toward the drop zone to get the supplies stretching it farther and farther each Day. Several Camps now have combat control teams americans who coordinate the drops and dispersal of supplies. For the air a lifters the teams Are replacing a los which have been pinpointing drop zones for the c-i30s, As Well As protecting the cargo planes from potential air threats in the pre flight briefing for the drop zone six Mission the Crews Are told the weather will be excellent. And they Are reminded not to become complacent despite the string of successes. A please be As anxious on your next Mission As you were on your first a capt. Ricardo Aguilar tells them a a done to get lackadaisical.�?�. The Rhein main personnel have been Busy the past nine months. Many were in the persian Gulf Region from August to March and came to Turkey after less than two weeks at Home. A this is a Nice balance for us a said senior master sgt. Ai Arakaki a Load master on Romigh a Craft. A we contributed to the destruction of the iraqi army. Now we contribute to the sustenance of the kurd who Are iraqis  minutes before 3 p.m., the three aircraft take off. The Lead Pilot is capt. Doug Stewart. Behind him is capt. Jim Smith trailing is. Romig. The formation has barely reached cruising Altitude when Romigh a Craft encounters its first in flight problem. Capt. Kenneth Bluminberg the Copilot asks a do we have a hot cup Back there a staff sgt. Christopher Vonvultee replies a no we  Bluminberg a so i have to eat dry Noo Dies a a a a a. That emergency passes just As the Flat Green landscape below becomes mountainous and Rocky. In the Back of the plane Arakaki sleeps. The other Load master sgt. Donald Collet reads and munches wheat thins. Their task will begin once the drop zone is reached. They will ensure the cargo leaves the plane without problems. That is done by opening the ramp at the Tail of the plane. Romig will then pull the nose of the plane upward and Gravity will do the rest. One hour after leaving in Ciurlik a dust blown skyward by High winds obscures visibility. From Romigh a cockpit the other two planes Are invisible from a. A amps Ron Jansen members of the 861st quartermaster co of the Tennessee army reserves pack a Load of supplies for kurdish refugees. Time to time. Maj. Kenneth e. Bankston the navigator has seen this before. On a recent Mission the dust was so thick it covered the wingtips of his plane. There is a Brief discussion about aborting the Mission. But word comes that the Lead plane has cleared the dust Cloud. Above the formation and out of sight is an airborne warning and control system plane a High flying air traffic controller watching for other aircraft in the Region. Its Crew has the responsibility of changing targets for air lifters if the need arises. At 4 32 p.m., the formation of c 130s is told to change its goal from drop zone Sig to do six Alpha which is near the original objective. The word comes from the control teams in the Camp who say special forces teams from Rhein main in drop zone six have told them trucks arc now Able to reach that Camp. The aircraft arc now below the Mountain peaks. Bankston says there is a Good reason for this iraqi anti aircraft Wear. On Are in those Hills. A a they re not supposed to do anything to us but Why make yourself a target a Bankston says. A we Fly in the valleys and stay below where they could get  just then an a-10 zooms into live area and turns into a Valley 5,000 feet above sea level. Here is six Alpha a Flash of sunlight reflecting from a Mirror on the ground signals confirmation a v. The three c-130s swing through the Valley twice to ensure the location of the a drop. A a on the third pass Romig lifts Tremose and the cargo slips out the open ramp in three seconds. About four seconds later it is on the ground ahead of the planes is a High Steep Ridge. The three pilots pull their Craft up and to the left to begin the trip Home. This moment is the missions most hazardous Romig explains. A if you lose an engine out there it s really hard to recover because of the Way we re configured a he say flying West Back to in Ciurlik the Crew is facing a setting Sun. I hey Are the last Mission of the Day. Tomorrow they will help deliver another 300 tons of food and supplies to the desperate kurd. One hour before Landing one Crevy member asks a is there anything special tonight at  for dinner a for men who have just served dinner to thousands it is a fair and proper question. Washington apr president Bush said Friday there has been a modest Progress toward a Summit meeting with soviet president Mikhail s. Gorbachev following settlement of a dispute that had held up ratification of a treaty to reduce conventional forces in Europe. The Summit had been scheduled for Moscow from feb. 11-13 but was postponed due to preoccupation with the persian Gulf War and the superpowers Mabil Ity to Settle their last remaining differences on a treaty to slash Long Range nuclear weapons by about one third. That Accord known As the strategic arms reduction treaty or Start was in turn held up by the dispute Over non nuclear Force limits in Europe. The settlement of the european forces Issue disclosed thursday clears the Way for renewed efforts to Complete the Start agreement and reschedule the Summit. Friday morning Bush told reporters that there still was no Date set for the Summit. But when asked if Secretary of state James a Baker Iii had made any Progress toward setting it up during his recent visit to the soviet Union Bush replied Quot modest  the Progress was first revealed after a meeting Between Baker and soviet foreign minister Alexander a Bessmer Nyoh that focused primarily on Middle East issues. Emerging from lunch with Baker at a guest House in Kislo Godsk a spa in Southern Russia Bessmer Nyoh told a reporter inquiring about the weapons Issue a the dispute has been already settled to the Mutual Satis fac lion of both . An administration official confirmed the main obstacle that had blocked Linal action on the treaty since it was signed last november had been removed. The conventional weapons treaty signed with great fanfare by 22 nations in Paris last nov. 19, Calls for the destruction of tens of thousands of tanks helicopters and other non nuclear military equipment in Europe