European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday duly 13, 1991the stars and stripes Page 9 a it f y ? ? a Quot 1 1 it i3 i y. A amps Kon Clauson staff sgt. John Maslowski carts a communication gear rack to a truck at he Swisch Oldendorf air station which will be turned Over to the , peace left Over As Hess closes by Ken Clauson Bremerhaven Bureau Hess Isch Oldendorf Germany a a contented smile flashed across air Force staff sgt. Mike Griegos face As he gripped a Brick size stack of Supply documents and looked into a nearly empty warehouse. T thousands of equipment Transfer forms on his desk and the Dusty void outside his office meant his Job was nearly finished. On aug. 15, Hess Isch Oldendorf air station will be ready to turn Over to the German government six weeks earlier than planned. Its former tenant the 600th combat support so was formally deactivated in june disappearing As part of . Force restructuring in Europe. Last year Hess Isch Oldendorf s population included 700 service members and 600 family members. It was originally one of the Netherlands bases in Germany but the United states took Over the base near Hannover in 1976. The dutch military had used it As a Hawk missile support base. The compact Campus like air station known As a chess a perched on a Hill at the Edge of the town with the same name was a support base for four Remote tactical air control radar Sites in Northern Germany. When the official closure notice came last november the Sites and air station were stocked with thousands of pieces of equipment and supplies a radars and radios typewriters and tables resistors erasers and wrenches. But the closure notice meant that everything had to go. A a much military equipment must be accounted for at All times. Someone must sign a piece of paper assuming responsibility for it. Griego the bases a accountable equipment draw Down representative a had to oversee the Transfer of equipment to units authorized to have it make sure it got there and verify that someone signed for it at the receiving end. A a Griego estimates that he transferred about 2,000 different types of items in varying quantities for the air station alone a not counting the Sites it supported. A what kind of put a wrench into the works a he said a was the getting equipment out of Europe to support Allied operations in the persian Gulf soaked up people would leave their offices and i d go in and take their furniture while they were out. Staff sgt. Mike Griego most transportation assets for a while. A that was the most difficult part finding transportation to get this stuff out of Here a Griego said. It. Col. Gary Chamberlin commander of the air station and 600th combat support so Only has a few dozen airmen working for him now and he loses a few every Day As the remaining contingent moves on to new assignments throughout the world. Chamberlin originally was Given until sept. 30 to Complete the Job of closing the base and its Remote Sites. But his airmen were Able to Speed the Pace he believes because of their relative Lack of stress. What helped he said was having an air Force personnel team visit the base and give new assignments to each airman within a month after the closure announcement. Meanwhile he and his staff devised a detailed closure plan with a self imposed target of sept. 1. They based their plan on an existing Safe guide and the experiences of people closing Wei Brincken a Germany which is slated to shut by sept. 30. The closure team then Drew up a time line for the order in which services and base functions Are halted. A then we tied All our personnel to All these functions a Chamberlin said. A every person on base knew that if they completed their part they would be out of Here by a certain once the time line was approved by higher Headquarters the biggest chore was getting rid of excess items. But Griego said the loosening of some property Transfer regulations helped considerably. Families could buy government issued furniture and appliances at a defense re utilization and marketing office Sale. Several Hundred people bought stoves refrigerators Beds dining room tables another items for about 10 percent of what the government originally paid. Germans bought Many remaining items at a later demo Sale he said. A a that a the Best idea they Ever had a Griego said. A a done to junk the stuff they have in their houses but let these people buy he said that otherwise it would have Cost the unit to transport the items to a re utilization office hundreds of Miles away and that much of it would then end up sold As scrap. The unit also was Able to save Money by transferring some supplies and equipment to . Army units in Northern Germany instead of paying $1,500 per truckload to haul equipment to Simbach a Germany the next step in their Supply Chain. The army recipients picked up the goods. Griego admitted that the rules of equipment accountability and disposition can be confusing. A if i were to do this Over id have More people trained a he said. A a in a place a lot of emphasis on training and making sure equipment custodians know what they Are doing. A but we re ahead of schedule and we did no to have to put any overtime insistence that the schedule be met brought surprising results at times he said. A it was hard to get people to give up their desks a he said laughing. A people would leave their offices and id go in and take their furniture while they were he found the closure process demanding yet rewarding. A people who close bases can to help but be better at what they do than those who have never closed a base a Griego said. A you can to help but learn the system because of All the pressures put on a colleague master sgt. Ralph Rausch was in charge of material storage and distribution at the air station. A i just Hope they done to make base closure a specially but i see that happening a having a team that goes around the world and closes bases a Rausch said. They looked at each other and shrugged a seeming to groan and laugh at the same time
