European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 3, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday june 3, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 9air Force bids Sac grand Farewell new streamlined strategic come initiated Offutt fab neb. Apr the strategic air come was put to rest monday As the United states sheathed a but did no to Shelve a the nuclear sword it has wielded through four decades. At the same time air Force and Navy nuclear weapons came under the control of a single strategic come a streamlined military creature born of lean budgets and an easing nuclear threat. A the horror of world War Iii never came. You kept the peace a Gen. Colin l. Powell chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said during a ceremony at Offutt fab. The base has been Sac Headquarters since 1948. Navy dress White uniforms mixed with air Force blues As 2,500 people gathered in a hangar to bid Farewell to Sac. With its Force of bombers and missiles Sac was the nations nuclear sentry during the cold War. For years it was responsible for the nations nuclear bombs and missiles and planned for Long Range or strategic wars. A since 1946, Sac has had to get it right every hour of every Day a said Gen. Merrill a. A a Tony Mcpeak the air Force chief of staff. Also attending the ceremony were air Force Secre tary Donald b. Rice and Gen. George Lee Butler sacks last commander and the strategic Comdr a first. A Blue shroud was placed Over the familiar Sac Emblem of an armoured fist clutching thunderbolts and an Olive Branch. The new commands Flag was unfurled and Powell presented it to Butler to Mark the Start of the new command. Howitzers outside the hangar thundered out a 19-Volley Salute. Sac was glorified in movies such As strategic air command in 1955, starring Jimmy Stewart and june Allyson and bombers b-52 in 1957, starring Karl Malden. Sacks Mission was to deter nuclear War by posing such an enormous threat of reprisal that no one would dare risk an attack on the United states. President Bush announced the formation of the strategic come on sept. 27, 1991, when All of sacks bombers and minuteman ii missiles were taken off nuclear Alert. A Sac really lost its Mission with the end of the cold War a said David Sorenson professor of National Security at the air War College at Maxwell fab Ala. Sac was one of three commands being phased out in an air Force restructuring. The planes pilots and other assets of Sac the tac air come Ana the military Airlift come were redistributed among two new commands the air combat come at Langley fab va., and the air mobility come at Scott fab Iii. The strategic come will focus solely on planning. Land air and submarine based nuclear weapons will be under the command of a single unit for the first time. The new command is a fraction of the size of Sac which had 103,000 airmen at 21 bases worldwide. The strategic come will have 2,900 people All based at Offutt. Air Force generals and Navy admirals will alternate As commanders of the new command. The air combat come will provide fighters and bombers in time of War and will train combat pilots and Crews and maintain warplanes in peacetime. It controls More than 2,000 aircraft and 950 intercontinental ballistic missiles on 37 bases. The air mobility come comprises Airlift and air refuelling  club go plays springtime Santa to kids by sue Harper staff writer bad Kreuz Nach Germany a a bad Kreuz Nach Soldier saved playtime for 120 kindergarteners in Eastern Germany. When staff sgt. Rufus f. Henson jr., coordinator for the bad Kreuz Nach Kontak club and other club members recently visited bad Kreuz Nacho a sister City Neu Ruppin they discovered that someone had stolen the school funds from a kindergarten in the former East German City. Kontak clubs work toward fostering relationships Between germans and americans. Henson a nuclear chemical and biological instructor immediately offered his clubs help and jotted Down some items the school needed said Bernardine Mair Klein Public affairs officer for bad Kreuz Nacho a 410th base support in. From local German merchants soldiers and their family members the club collected toys handicraft items and office supplies. The club collected enough supplies to fill a garage. The problem of How to move the goods from bad Kreuz Nach to the school was solved when a local German car rental company Lent the club a  to move the goods to the school he said. A after we finalized some leftover business with City officials we went Over to the kindergarten a Henson said. A was boxes were handed to me i could hardly put them Down there was such a crush of children. When the boxes were All unloaded the children seemed to be afraid to touch them at first. When they realized that they could a it was like  the children expressed their thanks by performing songs and skits and by putting together a Book of their drawings. The bad Keu Zach Kontak club was not always so responsive. When Henson arrived at bad Kreuz Nach in november of 1990, he soon Learned that the 5-month-old club was not in the same league As a similar club he had known during his earlier tour in Germany. Because of budget cuts the bad Kreuz Nach club had lost its full time coordinator and the club died. The club was revived with the appointment of capt. Jac Higgins As the Kontak clubs project officer. However Higgins had other duties and the Job of coordinator Henson for the club was unfilled. Then Henson entered the picture. He burst into Higgins office rattling off dozens of ideas on How to improve the club including projects he believed the group could perform Higgins said. A it was Rufus leadership that really got the club rolling a Higgins said. Some of Henson a ideas stemmed from experience such As those in 1985 when he was a member of Geln Hauseng a Kontak club where he said he was a a volunteered by his command. A a initially i did not like the idea of being in Kontak a he said referring to his experience in Geln Hau sen. A a. I done to like being told you will do this and you will have  a but he later grew fonder of the club which elected him As president while he was training in Vilsick. Henson left the army in 1978 and returned to his Hometown of Montt cello ark., where he attended Arkansas state University full time and worked full time at a local factory. J a then one Day i woke up and wanted to go Back to Germany a Henson said a and i knew the army could get me  five months after rejoining the army Henson returned to Germany. In less than three months after becoming the Kontak club coordinator at bad Kreuz Nach Henson steered the clubs activities from discussions about culture to experiences with culture. Those included fund raisers for the poor and taking underprivileged German and american children camping. Club members plan to spending june 25 with several children from the former soviet unions chernobyl area where the worlds worst nuclear reactor Accident occurred in april 1986. The club invited the children who Are sponsored by the bad Kreuz Nach City officials for a cookout and games. No jailed fined for falsifying travel voucher by Kevin Dougherty Kaiserslautern Bureau Ramstein a Germany a a military photographer assigned to Ramstein a has been sentenced to six months in prison demoted and fined $3,000 for making false claims on a 1991 travel voucher and disobeying an order. Staff sgt. John Kevin Goss pleaded guilty to the two charges during a two Day general court martial that ended thursday said staff sgt. Doyle Tillman a Ramstein spokesman. A third charge involving an alleged false statement by Goss was dismissed before the trial. Goss of the 86th comm group said he disobeyed an order from july 21 to aug. 19 of last year while on a temporary duty assignment to Adana Turkey Tillman said. The airman had been ordered to move from a hotel in Adana to the tent City at in Ciurlik a Turkey. After returning to Ramstein Goss tried to defraud the air Force of $6,561 by filing a false travel voucher Tillman said. The total claim a from june 16 to aug. 19 a amounted to $14,825. Goss fraudulently claimed $4,849 in hotel expenses which included $650 he sought to cover a bad loan he made to a . Army Soldier Tillman said. His voucher also included $780 in hotel costs from aug. 19 to aug. 31, when he was staying at in Ciurlik. In addition Goss claimed $1,712 in cab fare for times when he had not used taxis for official business Tillman said. The 11-year Veteran has been at Ramstein since july 1988. He is being held at the correctional facility in Mannheim Germany pending an automatic review of his Case by maj. Gen. James e. Chambers. If the charges Are upheld Goss is to remain at the Mannheim prison pay a $3,000 Fine and be demoted from e-5 to e-3.some Early outs to leave sooner than planned by the stars and stripes some soldiers who received the army Sok to leave the service under the two voluntary separation programs will have to depart up to six months earlier than planned department of army officials said tuesday. The decision was made last week affecting soldiers scheduled for Early separation during the first Quarter of fiscal 1993 under the voluntary separation incentive or the special separation Benefit. Those soldiers must now leave the service before sept. 29, with some separating As Early As july a . Army Europe personnel official said. The official said it was not yet known How Many Usa eur soldiers will be affected. The Early separations will save the defense department Money said maj. John Bressler of the commands personnel office. A was Long they Are in the service they have to be paid a Bressler said. Usa eur officials had not responded by press time to questions about the accelerated separations. However a command news release indicated that soldiers previously scheduled to leave the army Between oct. 1 and dec. 31 will begin separating july 1. Most soldiers who received approval to leave the service under the two separation programs Are already scheduled to be release from service before sept. 29, Bressler said. Unit commanders can establish new separation dates. According to the release the key Factor Tor commanders in determining who leaves Early is How departures will affect unit missions. The release also indicated that it May take longer than usual to replace those released Early. Other considerations for commanders Are the workload of transition centers and individual soldiers needs according to the release