European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 5, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday May 5, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 3wing officially leaves Torrejon a by j. King Cruger Mediterranean Bureau Torrejon a Spain a the 401st fighter Wing like its departed f-16 fighting Falcon aircraft is now but a memory Here. The Wing transferred monday to Aviano a in Northern Italy marking the end of 26 years service at the sprawling base outside Madrid. A Little More than a year ago the Wing had an Active duty population of 5,200. These Days there Are about 1,800 . Air Force personnel at Torrejon and their numbers Are diminishing rapidly. The base will continue to be reduced until january where it is expected to be Down to 350 to 400 air Force personnel. The Wing left Torrejon on monday in compliance with the .-Spanish defense cooperation agreement signed in 1988. The 401st originally was to move with its 72 f-16s, into a new base at Croton in Southern Italy. But congressional opposition to funding the base has shelved that plan and to Date no plan has been announced to station the planes in natos Southern Region. Torrejon a f-16s have All transferred to either air National guard bases in the United states or to Ramstein and Span Dahlem air bases in Germany. During the monday morning ceremonies on Torrejon a flight line the 600th a group took Over the 401st�?Ts role As the american Host unit at Torrejon. The 600th is a Small administrative unit that will support the remaining . Mission of Airlift support at Torrejon. The ceremonies attended by High ranking Spanish and american military and dignitaries and watched by More than 1,000 spectators also marked the inactivation of Torrejon a 401st combat support group the 401st aircraft generation so and the 401st equipment Maint so. Aviano s 40th support Wing will shut Down this month to provide a temporary Home for the 401st fighter Wing. Personnel assigned to Aviano will remain but under the umbrella of the 401st. The Transfer of the 401st is administrative in that it transfers without any aircraft or personnel. F-16s from Torrejon formerly deployed to Aviano for training but now there Are no fighter aircraft permanently based at Aviano. At Torrejon the . Air Force is turning Over the bulk of Torrejon a facilities to the Spanish air Force. The spaniards Long in operational control of the base will gradually assume More and More responsibility for the enormous installation. During the ceremonies col. Francisco Carretero commander of the Spanish air forces 12th Wing and Torrejon a hailed the . Air Force As a the most powerful War machine that has Ever he credited the american air Force with helping to modernize his country a Force and train its officers. A almost All of today a leaders in the Spanish air Force have passed through . Air Force schools a said Carretero adding that Quot we appreciate All the things we have Learned while working and living together with americans. Mondays ceremonies at Torrejon were held outdoors in sunny but Windy and Chilly weather. . And Spanish air Force bands played. At the ceremony the Spanish government presented great Cross of aeronautical Merit awards Spain a highest peacetime accolade to maj. Gen. Gerald a. Daniel 16th air Force commander col. Jerry l. Nelson commander of the 401st col. Jeffrey Pilkington commander of the 406th tac fighter training Wing at Zaragoza a Spain chief master sgt. Paul Sutphin the 401st s fire chief and master sgt. Jaime Jimenez fire chief for the 406th.shortages close bakeries at 3 commissaries by the stars and stripes bakeries at three military commissaries in England and Spain have closed indefinitely because of a shortage of raw baked goods defense commissary Agency officials said Friday. The shutdowns last week at Torrejon a Spain and me with Hill station and Greenham common both in England May be Only the first. In store bakeries at 10 other commissaries in Europe May close if a new supplier for the raw baked goods Isnit found. The defense logistics Agency informed commissary officials in Europe in March that it had suspended Rich Slapak corp. Of Brunswick ga., and its Parent company Rich products corp. Of Buffalo from government contracting. The suspension caused the cancellation of orders placed for the Compa Niesz products. Rich products provides raw goods such As unbaked cookies and doughnuts for 13 air Force a bake off commissaries where the goods Are baked and sold. The other 10 bakeries Are Pitburg Hahn Ramstein Rhein main Sembach Span Dahlem and Vogel Weh Kaiserslautern in Germany and Alconbury Lakenheath and upper Heyford in England. Other commissaries receive and sell pastries prepared elsewhere. According to defense commissary Agency spokeswoman Denise Gomes there is an adequate amount of the raw baked goods in european depots and the pipeline to support some but not All 13 bake off bakeries until about the beginning of july. If it appears the Supply is going to run out before a new supplier is found Gomes said three More bakeries will be closed at the end of May. She did not know which bakeries would close next. If supplies Are exhausted before a new supplier is found All the bake off bakeries will close indefinitely said Bill Mackrain another commissary spokesman. In a separate development at Hahn bakery workers at that commissary have left their jobs because they were afraid they were not going to get paid Gomes said. The bakery workers at All 13 stores were employed by the bakery broker Sarvis inc. Of Jacksonville Fla. Gomes said Sarvis which contracts with Rich products wants to get out of the bake off business when the commissary systems Supply of raw baked goods dries up. She did not know the company a reason. Bruce Dubisar Hahn s commissary officer said that a commissary employee will staff the bakery and that baked goods will be procured from a local German Baker until the situation at Hahn is resolved. The suspension also affects the Supply of 17 Rich Slapak corp. Products sold in european commissaries Gomes said. However substitutes for All of those products which include a variety of Frozen fish have been ordered or Are already stored in depots in Europe. The action against Rich Slapak was taken As the result of its conviction in july 1990 on one felony count of knowingly using false documents to deceive the food and drug ambush of Federal Convoy Mars peace talks Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina apr Small arms fire and shelling echoed around the bosnian capital monday while officials tried to Salvage truce talks endangered by the ambush of a Federal military Convoy. Bosnia a Muslim president Alija ize Begovic freed sunday night by the Federal army after being held for 24 hours bad planned to meet with the local Federal army commander Gen. Milutin Kukan Jac. But a Convoy of soldiers who were guaranteed Safe passage to evacuate Kuka Njack a downtown Headquarters in Exchange for ize Begovic was ambushed late sunday before it left town. The Belgrade based Tan Jug news Agency said four bodies a those of two colonels and two soldiers a and 15 wounded were brought to Sarajevo a military Hospital after the ambush. But it said More victims were still on the Street. Tan Jug also said the military Hospital itself had been surrounded and one patient had been wounded in an attack. It did not say who was responsible. The military Convoy apparently was ambushed by Muslim fighters european Community and . Officials said. A it was a stupid move by the muslims a said dec envoy Colm Doyle. The Federal army issued a statement accusing ize Begovic of being behind the attack. But in Sarajevo a chaos it appeared More Likely a militia commander had ambushed the Convoy and hijacked some of its trucks on his own initiative. Fighting also was reported in several other bosnian towns and 10 people a eight children and two women a were reported killed in a Federal air Force attack sunday on the croatian bosnian of the show blindfolded Ben visa Pundo 7, whacks a Pinata with a people turned out to celebrate the anniversary of the baseball hat during Cinco de Mayo Ftp at the Colorado mexican army s Victory in 1862 Over invading French state Fairgrounds in Pueblo Colo. Several thousand troops at Puebla Mexico Pueblos sister City
