European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 8, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday May 8. 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 3quick draw by Saddam fires up Iraq by Paul Lewis the new York times Baghdad Iraq a after waving silently for several minutes to an enthusiastic but organized crowd in the Northern City of Mosul Over the weekend president Saddam Hussein performed his new trick. Suddenly he whipped out his pistol and began firing shots Over the Heads of the people. The crowd went wild leaping up and Down As they chanted a rhythmic arabic refrain a Bush Bush listen carefully. We All love Saddam  the shots in the air routine is a recent twist in the iraqi presidents Public relations style. It was noted for the first time on wednesday when iraqi television showed him drawing his pistol in the Western City of ramada. Iraqis say the shots Are a gesture of Defiance toward the United states and its allies. Its a part of the orwellian rewriting of history under Way Here As Iraq a and indeed the world a comes to terms with the fact that Saddam has survived the persian Gulf War and seems almost As firmly in Power As Ever a a a a a Quot a /. A a a As Allied forces continue to occupy parts of the country newspapers television and Loyal officials present Iraq As the aggrieved rather than the aggressor never mentioning Kuwait but claiming that the country successfully resisted the american led attack. Germany based gis Patching Airstrip once meant for Saddam by Ron Jensen Staft writer Strenk Iraq a soldiers from the 94th engr a no a co b Are finishing what iraqi engineers began a Saddam Hussein a Airfield near his Mountain retreats. The soldiers from Darmstadt Germany have been helping Navy Seabee repair bomb craters in the runway since last week. The Job could be done in time to receive aircraft by thursday a a we can do construction. We be mastered that a said staff sgt. Michael Campbell. A but As far As triple r rapid runway repair we be practice it but we be never put it into action. A a it a our primary wartime Mission so we re actually putting our training to  a a. A the Airstrip 50 Miles inside Iraq from the turkish Border was under construction when the persian Gulf War began. To ensure it was not used . B-52s blew several craters in the runway some 12 feet deep and 30 feet wide. A my old Roommate is a b-52 Bombardier a said capt. Steve Rose of . Air forces Europe Headquarters at Ramstein a Germany. A i was going to Send him shrapnel and say a Dill you leave these behind a a Rose said the mostly dirt runway could not be used by fighter aircraft for months. But the c 130s that will even a tally bring supplies destined for kurdish refugees Are Able to land on dirt because of their wide tires he said. A a it a a relatively Short runway a explained Rose with operations planning at Safe. A the one we re going to use is about 6,300 feet. A c-130 Only needs about 5,000 feet to  supplies. Have already been reaching this Airfield by helicopter and truck. The g-130s will replace some of that traffic bringing supplies for kurd who move into the Eastern part of the coalition forged Protection zone. The dirt runway has caused some problems for the troops trained in repairing the Concrete strips in Europe. A Concrete runways arc quickly repaired by inserting ready made Cement slabs where bombs have fallen. A fall of a sudden we get thrown in Here with a dirt strip and its a whole different technology a Rose said. \ most of the craters were filled with Rock rolled and then covered with Small stones and packed Down. But two craters have caused problems. Ground water has seeped in from below. Repairs were slowed tuesday when material needed to cover the mud failed to arrive. Had the runway been Concrete Rose said a we would have been done in three or four  a none of us have Ever practice on dirt before a Rose noted. So it has been a Good learning experience for the engineers. A i know in be Learned a lot a lie said. A Vav a a a. A a a a a a a a a Quot. A Rose was particularly interested in two bombs that missed the runway. One blew a giant Hole in the Cement Tarmac. The other smashed through the Concrete but failed to explode. The bomb is about 12 feet underground he said. There is other unexploded ordnance around. Tiny Cluster bombs have been found across the base. They Are collected and exploded about noon everyday by the 39th explosive Ord disposal unit from in Ciurlik a Turkey the explosions Send up a plume of smoke visible from anywhere on the Field. R the iraqis left behind much  heavy construction equipment.-. Soldiers from the 66th Maint in of Kaiserslautern -.Germany, have managed to make some of it work. A it had been sabotaged a said 1st it. Louis Paradis. Quot they pulled the wires and took the batteries out of them. Some of it had been shot up 1 imagine when the iraqis were leaving Quot v Paradis said his unit also iras been Han tiling fuel needs for passing convoys purifying water and setting up the warehouse for supplies coming in. Quot its actually a lot of fun a lie said. A a it a Beautiful country. We have a Little Creek Down there for taking  also at the Airstrip Are some 20 Mem Bers of the ,3rd in 325th inf airborne combat team from Vicenza Italy. They had been rigging loads at in Ciurlik a for the Airdrop during the Early stages of operation provide Comfort. Now they help unload the slings brought dangling below the bellies of helicopters. These soldiers missed out on operations desert shield and desert storm so they Are Happy to be in Iraq now said sgt 1st class Pietro Santella. A a lot of ,&Quot lie said. The Airfield is in a Mountain Valley bordered by purple slopes. Across the Valley is one of Saddam a Mountain retreats. T he weather has been hot and dry especially on the runway but Campbell said his engineering soldiers Don t mind. A i think everybody a enjoying the weather a he said. A when we left Darmstadt it was cold and  unit right at Home without one by j. King Cruger staff writer Iskenderun Turkey a the . Army reserves 1186th trans terminal unit never has a shortage of recruits mostly because it really does offer a Chance to visit interesting places. A one of the units big attractions is that it travels extensively overseas a said col. Frank Kiefer 44, the commander. And never More so than now. Since its activation at the end of november the Tampa Fla., unit has been on a non Stop whirligig tour of ports from Northern Europe through southwestern Asia. During peacetime mobilizations the unit deploys to such Mediterranean ports As Rota Spain and Livorno Italy. Transportation terminal units Are capable of running entire port operations from creating cargo manifests to hiring stevedores. They stage cargo by priority determine How to Best Load and unload ships and supervise those operations. A full strength thu As they Are called can split into five teams each capable of operating a port said maj. Dan major the 1186th Public affairs officer. The regular army has these units around the world but none Are at full strength. The army Reserve though has 15 full strength thus. Fourteen of them run military operations in stateside ports during peacetime mobilizations. The 1186th is the Only port unit with a non stateside Mission in peacetime major said. Since november the outfit has loaded Gulf bound equipment weapons and ammunition in Germany the Netherlands Belgium and Italy. Presently 30 of the 74 soldiers Are working at Iskenderun turkeys largest Mediterranean port. Another 20 Are in saudi Arabia handling the loading of . Equipment leaving the persian Gulf. Others Are working cargo at Izmir Mer sin and in Ciurlik air bases All in Turkey and at Bayonne . Soldiers deployed to Iskenderun recently completed unloading the Tarawa a Roll on Roll off vessel chartered from Norway. The ship had been loaded with heavy equipment destined for a . Navy construction battalion deployed to Turkey. The Tarawa arrived at Iskenderun on saturday  amps Gus Schuttlor members of the 1186th army trans terminal unit map plans to unload vessels in Iskenderun Turkey. From left to right spec. Ralph rusher col. Frank Kiefer sgt. Allen Ashley sgt. 1st class James Manning maj. I an major sgt. 1st class Robert Crosby. And the soldiers started unloading it at 1 . Sunday. By Midnight it was empty. It sailed monday. A right now we Are loading the sea bees equipment a forklifts backhoes and graders a onto 150 trucks for shipment to Sirsen Iraq a major said tuesday. A we Are shipping out 30 truckloads a Day so we won t be finished until Friday a said major 46, a lieutenant on the Sarasota Fla., police Force. A then they will wait for another ship the Cape Domingo due to arrive May 18 from Bremerhaven Germany it will bring heavy construction equipment belonging to the army a 94th engr in of Darmstadt Germany. A work and wait. Our work is peaks and valleys. When a ship is in we often work 24 to 36 hours straight. W waiting around is frustrating a said Kiefer who in civilian life supervises Cable installation for a phone company in Lakeland Fla. The unit Hasni to tired of being on the Road major said. A your people Are embracing the travel. We Are All living closer to the top of our Duffel bags but everyone has been having a great time a said major. A if we go to saudi next that a Fine. Well just go Down get the stuff loaded and go