European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 8, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Heading Home the video by . Kominicki senior staff writer merchants National Bank is finishing work on what May be the world s most selfless corporate project a film designed to help customers close their accounts and Well go away. Officials at the Bank which handles military accounts in Germany the Netherlands Britain and Greece came up with the idea last year As they began bracing for the tide of troop cuts. Getting service members to close their accounts Settle Loans and change pay allotments before heading Home has always been something of a Challenge according to Yvonne Wise merchants director of Public relations. Large scale troop transfers therefore offered the Specter of severe withdrawal pain. Quot there Are still people who think they Don t have to change their Bank Deposit information when they leave Quot Wise said. Quot they re gone but their pay is still coming  the Job of writing and producing the film fell to the Bank s advertising Agency ramp a communications of Leiden Germany. Charles Kaufman a former air Force Captain who is creative director at the Agency handled the script a including six revisions by merchants officials a but hired a German film Crew for the production work. Casting presented its own challenges. Kaufman thought he d be Able to find plenty of erstwhile read Quot free Quot Talent through military theater groups in Europe but he failed to come up with a single thespian taker. In desperation he turned to the two major German Talent agencies which had a half dozen or so americans on the books. One stood out a clean Cut Young Soldier who faintly resembles Dennis the menace s father. He turned out to be spec. Jim Carnall the Host of an televisions Gasthaus program. Quot they a asked me to audition for a Jim beam commercial once Quot Carnall said of his ties with the Talent Agency. Quot i did t get the part and i figured i d never hear from them  finding the film s narrator was easier. Gerry Maloney a retired army colonel whose reassuringly deep voice is reminiscent of Ward Cleaver heard about the merchants project and auditioned. Maloney who gave up a career in radio and television broadcasting to join the army said the film was a Welcome break from his regular voice work which has included doing the English dubs on German films promoting Auto machinery and rectal probes among other products. Most of the rest of the cast was assembled from merchants staffers workers from Kaufman s Agency and soldiers Quot discovered Quot in the Coleman Barracks snack bar at Mannheim Germany where the Bank scenes and some exteriors were shot. Pfc. Shawnee overcast spec. Alan j. Marshall and spec. Dick p. Bentley were three of the Coleman Barracks extras who volunteered for significant portions of the Long weekend shooting. Quot i never knew How much work went into something like this Quot overcast said after the 11th take of a scene in which he and Marshall played soldiers entering the Bank. Even Carnall who has 400 or so Gasthaus performances under his Belt grew weary during some of the production work. One scene took 18 takes and counting equipment set up More than two hours to Complete. All for what will appear As less than 30 seconds on screen. Filming on military bases also presented its share of problems. Noise from Low flying helicopters forced the re shooting of several scenes. In Heidelberg Germany where Interior shots were filmed in the Home of capt. Irv Carty a military band decided to strike up close by. Another time passing military motorists mistook the camera for some kind of traffic control device and slowed to a crawl delaying exterior shots. Then there was the Soldier in the aging opel who kept circling the Block so he could drive past the camera. Quot he must have driven by five times trying to get his car in the movie Quot Kaufman said shaking his head. Quot and it was a really beat up ugly Model  the movie was directed by Thomas Plonsker of be video lit Fass a Heidelberg firm that produces films for the Mercedes racing team among other clients. It should be completely edited in three weeks and is expected to run about 10 minutes. Wise and Kaufman declined to discuss the production budget and Carnall was equally guarded about the size of his fee. Merchants plans to show the film in some of its branches and will also provide copies to the armed services. Quot we Hope the military can build some kind of briefing around it for departing soldiers Quot Wise said. Quot there a a real void of information out  a amps Gus sch Tutor 2 the Quot Start of the merchants Bank video spec. Jim Camell above gets last minute makeup help from Silks pinged before the shooting of a scene inside the Man Helm Branch. I to d is est Gnu a i e f 1. It of a s y t t a readers action linearly will preserve joint domicile posting my husband and i Are serving a join domicile assignment. I am in Munich he is in Augsburg his first unit inactivated and sent him to another unit knowing that that unit would be deactivating Back to the states starting oct. 15. He is in a Usa eur unit and i am in an information systems come unit. Since we Are not voluntarily breaking our joint domicile can it be broken i heard there was a message out that Usa eur was honouring All established joint domiciles it so what s the policy in t it my husband s unit Chain of command s responsibility to find turn a new unit9 the army is always stressing Quot family Quot but when incomes to dual service families we rarely see that Quot family Quot treatment what is Usa eur going to do9 we need some guidance spec. Caron Whitby Munich Germany in maj. Paul c. Proffitt office of the Deputy chief of staff personnel he Usa eur replies joint domicile assignments Are governed by army regulations a 614-100 and 614-200 for officers and enlisted respectively. I am assuming that the Reader and her husband Are enrolled in the married army couples program map which is also governed by these same regulations. To verify enrolment in the map the Reader should Check item 15 of her a form 2a, personnel qualification record. Her spouse s social Security number will be printed in this Block if they Are enrolled. Army policy on assignment of married army couples states that requirements and readiness goals Are Paramount when considering personnel for assignment. Enrolment in the map guarantees both soldiers will be considered for a joint assignment but does not guarantee they will be assigned together to the same location and or at the same time. Because of unexpected hardships Many married army couples Are facing As a result of Force draw Downs in Europe the . Total army personnel command a per com has issued guidance on their reassignment when Only one member is assigned to a Force reduction unit guidance allows the military spouse of a Soldier m a Force reduction unit to also be curtailed and reassigned from Europe with the affected member provided they Are enrolled in the map. Therefore when one member of a married army couple is being involuntarily curtailed and reassigned from Europe because of unit inactivation a per com will automatically Issue assignment instructions for the other member. If in a reasonable amount of time the Reader has not received assignment instructions reassigning her from Europe she should go to her supporting personnel service company and ask them to Contact a per com to find out when they will Issue her assignment instructions to write us readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort Quot striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes. Apo a 09211 All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. Page 16 a the stars and stripes Friday november 8, 1991