European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 3, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a the stars and stripes thursday october 3, 1991 of Crews wind Down from 34-year Alert _. A Onnon Unruh Hupf nip r by John k. Wiley the associated press Fairchild fab Wash. A . Pilots who had been on round the clock Alert for a nuclear attack on the soviet Union Are leaving the spartan quarters where they killed time waiting for the. Doomsday order that never came. A i never thought wed live to see the full reduction a air Force maj. Joe Nelson said monday. A a i thought it was a misprint when i read it in the paper a he said of president Bush a order Friday to reduce the nations nuclear Arsenal. Since 1957, the air Force has kept b-52 Long Range bombers and the Kc-135 tankers that refuelled them in flight on 24-hour Alert. They often waited with engines running ready to launch strikes against the soviet Union the instant the command was Given. Since Friday Crews at 11 strategic air come bases have removed nuclear cruise missiles Fromi the bombers and locked them away in storage. The planes were sent to maintenance shops to be readied Tor regular flight duties. Now it would take 24 hours to reload the bombers with nuclear missiles. Crews assigned to the warplanes had lived for my action prevents major blast Furth Germany a amps a an american military policeman prevented a serious explosion at a construction site fire in Birndorf on saturday according to German officials. Pvt. 2 Robert p. Scott and pfc. Shannon l. Gray of the 595th military police co were on a routine patrol when they saw fire and smoke coming from a ground floor supermarket about 3 a.m., said Willi Dietz of the Furth police department. Scott entered the German building which was still under construction. He pulled two tanks containing acetylene and oxygen away from the Blaze. The wheels of the welding equipment were already on fire Dietz said. Gray reported the fire to authorities. German officials Are continuing to investigate the incident which caused about $600,000 Worth of damage. They could not immediately determine the cause of the fire but arson is suspected Dietz said. Seven Days at a stretch in Barracks a City blocks distance from the a Alert  Crew members were free to roam the base but had to be ready to take the planes up on Short notice. A your families will like it. The divorce rate should go Way Down a master sgt. Jack Sprague said As airmen packed up belongings in the Barracks monday. Over the years As Many As eight of the 325th bombardment Sqq a 20 or More bombers a the exact number is classified a would be on the pad at All tunes armed fuelled and ready to go. Waiting on Alert could involve sitting in a plane for As Many As 12 hours at a stretch. That could be Boring but it had its exhilarating moments said master sgt. Keith Krebs a b-52 gunner. When the Horn marking an Alert sounded the adrenalin flowed until it was determined to be a false alarm or a Drill he said. A a it a the feeling you get when you re real close to having a car wreck a he said. Most used the time to take ground school classes Nelson said. Some dedicated themselves to memorizing dictionaries or encyclopedias. The announcement has brought a new worry a Job Security. In a Cost saving measure announced before Bush a order enlisted gunners were elite rated from the bombers six member Crews. Now flight and maintenance Crews military police and munitions specialists who served on the Alert pads Are wondering whether the presidents action will mean More cutbacks. That decision wont be made for at least a month Nelson said. J a the b-52 Airframe is no More expendable today than it was two Days ago when they were still pulling alerts a Pilot maj. Lynn Hollerbach said. Soviet satellites will see the same number of b-52s, still capable of firm nuclear  but for years the waiting the wondering and the deadly cargo were a Way of life. Master sgt. Pete Karjanis an 18-year b-52 gunner remembered an Alert during the 1973 Arab Israel War. Crews listening to voice of America broadcasts a heard russian paratroopers Landing in Egypt a he recalled. A we were Cut off from command and the Alert posture kept increasing. There was a lot of soul searching while we waited at the end of the runway a he said. A never since then i took this Alert thing deadly  sneak preview a full size mock up of the new Sikorsky Rah-60 helicopter Conn. The helicopter is scheduled to make its first flight goes on display tuesday at Sikorsky aircraft in Stratford couple of years. In a Congress oks jobless Bill with military provision Washington a amps a the $6.4 ment payments. The new Bill would give billion unemployment benefits Bill passed them the same benefits As All other work by both houses of Congress on tuesday ers including a wait of Only one week to contains a provision that would double sign up for As much As 26 weeks of pay the amount of benefits available to Mili ments. Tary personnel leaving the service and the Bill authorizes up to 20 additional looking for work in the private sector. Weeks of payments for workers who have currently service members must wait exhausted their regular benefits. The de four weeks after separation to sign up for apartment of labor estimates that benefits a maximum of 13 weeks of a employ have already run out this year for 2.3 Mil lion unemployed workers As the recession easily enough to override a presidential has dragged on. Veto. But the Bill a backers suffered a set the benefits Extension would be tem Back in the Senate which approved the Horary until july 4,1992. Bill by a vote of Only 65-35, two Short of the Bill now goes to president Bush what would be needed to override a veto who has vowed to veto it because its Cost the Senate had passed an earlier ver would require breaking the spending Lim Sion of the Bill sept. 24 by a vote of 69-30, its imposed by last years budget Deal be but some of the 13 republicans who had tween Congress and the administration. Sided with 56 democrats on that vote the House vote tuesday was 300-118, switched sides this time. . Dog owner to face animal cruelty charges in . Thetford England a amps a the police officer stationed at Raf Laken american owner of a Rottweiler dog that Heath on tuesday after getting a Tele was destroyed after attacking a group of phone tip from someone who had seen re British military cadets has been found cent news reports about the incident. He now faces charges of animal cruelty an inspector with Britain a animal humane society said wednesday. Malcolm Allison of the Royal society for the prevention of cruelty to animals said he found the owner an air Force Security British police were notified sept. 22 that a Rottweiler was attacking British  cadets on Maneu vers in the Thetford Forest near Raf Lakenheath and Raf Mildenhall. A local veterinarian Tranquili cd the dog which later was destroyed. Imbedded in the dogs neck was a German made Collar with 18 spikes which had to be removed by steel cutters. The veterinarian estimated that the dog had been roaming the area since about sept. 15, Allison said. The dogs owner told the Spca inspector that the Rottweiler ran away from his Home in the Village of Thetford about 10 Miles from the Lakenheath base. The owner will not be publicly named Allison said until he appears before the Thetford magistrates smrt sometime m the next several weeks. The Security police officer Faes charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a dog under Britain a Protection of animals act of 1911. If convicted be faces a maximum Fine of 2,000 pounds $3,580 and or a six month jail sentence