European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 28, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday May 28, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 11engineers help others while they train by Ron Jensen in Imburg Bureau Aviano a Italy a it. Col. Monnie Gore or. Smiles when he talks about How local mayors ask for help from his civil engineering Squadron Here. A about the time we re finishing up a Job in one Community a letter arrives from a mayor in another town asking us to help a said Gore commander of the 401st civil engr so. The local officials have Learned that getting help from their american neighbors in everything from Road repair to putting up Christmas lights is simply a matter of asking. A a it a been an ongoing thing for 40 years or 50 years or however Long we be been Here a a Gore said. The engineers Supply the heavy equipment needed to a a do any number of projects for local towns and farm Jers. In return the americans get training for their i wartime Mission which is rapid runway repair. A it s beneficial for us Jand the local communities a said tech. Sgt. Rick Baird who has helped out with Many local pro injects in his nine years at the base. Master sgt. George Webber said a without this we could never gets amps Michael Abrams them trained to go out and Gore do their Job. What we would have to do is set aside specific time from our work on the base to do this  in april the engineers completed perhaps their largest project for their italian neighbors. At a cancer Hospital they prepared a site for a facility that will House patients families while the patients Are hospitalized. A we probably doubled our Effort this year with this one Job a Gore said. A i could not believe All the dirt that we took out of  Baird said about 12,000 cubic meters of dirt were removed in the 10 weeks it took six engineers to do the Job. The project took 3,000 Man hours to Complete Gore said. Most projects Are not so ambitious. A typical one is grading and smoothing gravel roads damaged by heavy use during Harvest season. The italians a Supply the gravel and the Gas a Gore said. A and they feed the  without the americans help the Small towns would have to hire private contractors an expense Many cannot afford. Not Only do the italians feed their american helpers a amps Michael Abrams master sgt. George Webber left and tech. Sgt. Rick Baird stand in front of a construction site at a cancer Hospital near Aviano a Italy. The 401st civil engr so helped prepare the site for the building. During a project they usually have a big feast to celebrate its completion. A every time we finish a Job they have a Little spread with wine a Gore said. A the Farmers have a big dinner once a year for us. Its an unbelievable feast. A a it a embarrassing for me. They invite me to All these things and i done to do any work. In a the commander. Its the Guys who drive the  there is almost always a project going on outside the Gates of the Aviano base. A we just finished one wednesday a Baird said on a recent Friday. A and we re supposed to Start grading roads around Aviano on  the engineers will soon help the italians Widen the Street Between area 1 and area 2 of the base. The Street is under italian jurisdiction and is used by italian civilians. Walking from the billeting area to the Exchange Bookstore and clinic is dangerous because of the Lack of sidewalks. Gore said his people will move the Walls Back a few feet before the italians put in the sidewalks. Another sidelight to the working relationship is that Many of the engineers learn italian while on the Job. A if the Guy does no to speak italian lies going to have a hard Job out there a Gore said. Often an airman might be the Only american on the Job site. So Many of the service members learn the language. Baird did not meet his italian wife Sandra while on the Job but some of her relatives Stop when they see americans working and ask for him. A i have met relatives that i did t know i had a he said. Gore said the relationship is not All one Way. The italians help the civil engineers on the base if they arc asked. For example if a Well supplying the base goes dry or a water pump Breaks the italians will ensure a water Supply for the base. A it goes both ways a Gore said. The Good will that the engineers have developed is a big reason for the positive relationship Between the base and the Community Gore said. A there Are military towns where you done to have a Good relationship. We have a Good one a he said. A most gis can go into any store in this town and buy anything they want and pay for it when they can. You can to put a Dollar value on  portable computers May get new life by Peggy Davidson Kaiserslautern Bureau Kaiserslautern Germany maintenance soldiers in Europe May soon use bar codes and scanners to Check out army vehicles cutting work time by hours. Dennis Heath science adviser for the 21st theater army area come found some a rugged Izeda Laptop computers during a visit to the Hohenfels training area Southeast of Niernberg. A they were just sitting on a shelf not being used a said Heath whose Job is to find time and Money saving ways for soldiers to do their jobs. He decided the computers might be used to streamline vehicle maintenance checks. The computers which weigh about 15 pounds each use a Standard is Dos program said Scott Buck an electrical Engineer from the Veronics div of the army tank automotive come in Warren Mich. He helped develop the computer program for the system. Last week Buck and Heath took a prototype of the a electronic clipboard system to the Sermersheim maintenance Center and ran three tests for officials in the 21st theater logistics Section 29th area support group maintenance and a amps Peggy Davidson this unused Laptop computer could help Speed up army vehicle inspections. The combat equipment group Europe. A it works perfectly Well a Buck said. Some minor programming glitches took about an hour to Clear up he said. Heath said did no to know when the army might implement the new system noting that budget constraints always play a role. Before the computerized system soldiers were a still using the a stubby Pencil system from the �?T50s,�?� Heath said. An inspection of an my tank could take up to 60 hours using the a Pencil and paper system Heath said. A Soldier using a checklist form and a Pencil would inspect the vehicle noting any problems. After the inspection the Soldier would spend hours searching through technical manuals to find parts and their Cost and to figure out How much time was needed to Complete repairs. Using the Laptop a Soldier can use a hand held scanner to Register vehicle information. The information Calls up a menu or checklist on the computer screen that the Soldier can follow entering information As needed. That information is then transferred to a larger computer data base to automatically determine costs parts needed and a repair time estimate. Heath and Buck said the system would save from one to six hours inspection time per vehicle. Eventually the system also could Monitor maintenance trends such As which vehicles need repairs most often which problems Are most common How Well soldiers maintain vehicles what parts Are needed and maintenance schedules for each vehicle. Each Laptop system is estimated to Cost about $5,800, including the computer Battery packs and memory cards needed to link the portable computers and the data bases