European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 29, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The Sims Anco Csc ripes 1942-1992 vol. 51, no. 195 350 50 years of service siits-r3�2 thursday october 29,1992 b of is  d 8693 a commissaries lacking items because of warehouse woes by Rosemary Sawyer Brussels Bureau Bare spots have appeared on commis sary shelves around North Central Europe Over the past couple of months because of a breakdown in a new distribution sys tem according to a top commissary offi Cial in Europe. However customers at affected locations in Belgium Germany the nether lands and Norway should not despair said Charles Wiker director of the de sense commissary Agency s european re Gion. Problems linked to a centralized warehouse including a shortage of work ers Are being worked out and lots of groceries including Holiday supplies Are on the Way he said. Each week will be better than the week before and within the four to six week period we should be Back where we were before we had this disruption of service Wiker said. The stocks Are in country for those items that Are  the distribution system which was started last year allows commissaries in Europe to order items from a Central distribution Center in Sermersheim Ger Many rather than from the United states. The breakdown occurred when the Center was unable to Stock its warehouse quickly enough to fill orders from the stores. At one Point stores were receiving an average of 65 percent of their or Ders of Semi perishable items such Asce real crackers and cookies Wiker said. At first commissaries filled the gaps with Stock from their own warehouses but eventually items on the shelves thinned out. Over the past weeks stores have stocked on average of 86 percent to 90 percent of items normally available to see woes on Page 2 army grounds chinooks Mh-47s in Wake of crash by Ray Rowden Washington Bureau Washington the army has halted All flights of its ch-47 Chinook and re lated Mh-47e helicopters while investigating the failure of a screw suspected in an alaskan crash. The grounding affects All 387 of the medium lift Heli copters in the army s world wide inventory according to Dan o Boyle a spokesman with the service s aviation systems come in St. Louis. The Fleet grounding was announced in a message sent to the Field last Friday o Boyle said. The screw suspected in the Alaska crash was in the upper boost actuation control valve. Failure of the screw would affect the Pilot s ability to control the aircraft o Boyle said. According to initial re ports the Pilot of the Chinook that crashed earlier this month near fort Rich Ardson Alaska lost directional control of the aircraft and crashed into Trees with 17 soldiers on Board. The soldiers were treated for minor injuries and released according to an army spokesman in Washington. The army has 48 ch-47 Chinook helicopters in Europe said Millie Waters spokeswoman for the . Army Europe. In Germany the 21st the Ater army area come has 16 at Coleman army Airfield in Mannheim and v corps has 16 at Schwabish Hall. The Southern european task Force has 16 at Aviano a Italy. The action will have no significant Impact on the army in Europe Waters said As units work around see chinooks on Page 2 ch-47 Chinook medium lift transport helicopter manufacturer specifications Rotor diameter each fuselage length weight empty performance maximum Speed Boeing 60 loot 51 feet 23,402 pounds 185mph source Jane s a the world s air Mit a Hoss Toro chapter ends As Russia pulls last combat unit from Poland Warsaw Poland up the last russian combat troops a torpedo boat team based on Poland s Baltic coast withdrew permanently wednes Day. The departure leaves troops from the former soviet Empire in Only Eastern Germany. However 5,936 unarmed russian communications forces re main in Poland to help the former soviet army forces move through in route to Russia in 1993. Undoubtedly this is our greatest Success presidential spokesman Andrzej Drzycimski said wednesday. Finally Poland is  Norbert Blum Germany s minister for labor and social affairs the 24th torpedo Cutter brigade comprising 24 stands on his head tuesday at a party in Disseldorf. The event was boats left the Northwestern Baltic port of Given for delegates of the Christian democratic Union who were in swing Uscie after ceremonies led by polish vice town for a party convention. Defense minister Bronislaw Komorowski and Sovi Topsy Turvy politics it ambassador Yuri Kashaev. The ceremonies were delayed for two hours by Rainy weather stiff winds and Choppy Waters in the port. The former soviet Union began troop withdrawals from Central Europe after its communist Empire col lapsed in 1989. Hungary was the first to report the withdrawal of its 65,000 foreign troops in july 1991. The last of the 73,000 troops once based in Czechoslovakia pulled out a few weeks later. There were 59,000 soviet soldiers in Poland when the pullout began in april 1991. Under an agreement signed in Moscow last May by polish president Lech Walesa and russian president Boris n. Yeltsin Russia agreed to pull out its remain ing combat troops from Poland by nov. 15. I -. \ of l y the City Wagner put on the map