European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                At left members of the rigger platoon of the 3rd in 325th inf airborne combat team take a break in the Shade after unloading tons of equipment and supplies flown in by helicopter from Turkey. Capt. Steve Rose below will Call in air Force cargo planes once runway repairs at the base Are Complete. 1 re att Xvi i Quot 3 a a a above 1st it. Louis a. Paradis of the 66th malt in front Kaiserslautern Germany studies one of the huge bomb craters in a Concrete taxi Way at the iraqi base. At right staff sgt. Jimmy Colbert with cob 94th engr in from Darmstadt Germany works to fill in a Crater in the bases dirt runway. Ai  la Quot a a a i Quot Quot z11�?�1 "ll.-"1 it \ t a a Irr a 4 a. I in. Y  i it to n i quota v. Flight line fix dirt Landing strip Means return to Earth for army engineers my my engineers Don t need much time to Patch up a Concrete runway but fixing dirt is a Newa Challenge b m  Airstrip in question is in Sirsen Iraq 50 Miles South of the turkish Border and bears the scars of a u a air Force b-52 strike craters 12 feet deep and 30 feet wide. The bombing ensured that Iraq never used the Airfield during the persian Gulf War but the allies would now like to land provide Comfort Supply flights there a a _ a enter the 94th engr in from Darmstadt Germany using graders and other heavy equipment the engineers have been filling holes and doing other repair work on the runway and taxiways in preparation for the arrival of c-130 cargo aircraft. Unable to use ready made Concrete patches the soldiers have been forced to Rock and then Roll the craters in the 6,300-foot strip the engineers say  is time consuming but a Good learning experience members of the 39th explosive Ord det from inc Riik Turkey have been helping Clear the unexploded munitions littering the former iraqi base while the 66th Maint in from Kaiserslautern Germany has been trying to repair iraqi construction equipment abandoned at the base members of the 3rd in 325th inf airborne combat team from Vicenza Italy Are also on hand to unload the Supply slings brought in by Relief helicopters a the work is taking place under the shadowy of a _ Mountain Retreat of Saddam Hussein although the iraqi president is hot expected to vist anytime soon amp a a Page 4 b the stars and stripes saturday May 11, 1991