European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 1, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday saturday january 1/2 1993 Somalia the stars and stripes t Friend and foe look alike on Border a by Joseph cd Ven stuff writer Belet Huen Somalia a . Special forces soldiers and Canadian paratroopers Are patrolling uhe so malian ethiopian Border Region guarding the .-led operation restore Hope efforts from roving bands of ii men. Y a y a. A some gunmen have crossed the Border into Ethiopia and the special forces now Are try hug of make sure the canadians Don t confuse the somalian gunslingers called a technical Quot with ethiopian military or Paramil. Tary  a y a a the ethiopians look just like the technical Quot said it capt. Dan Attis of 1st special forces group airborne fort Lewis Wash. Quot they look the same they dress the same their weapons Are the same. They drive Toyota with machine guns on the  the special forces Are operating both in Somalia and Ethiopia acting As go Between for the canadians and Semi autonomous ethiopian troops he said. Quot essentially we became another asset for the canadians to exploit Quot Alvis said. \ the . Itch Mountain div Light and the Canadian airborne regt Battle group occupied Belet Hun on monday. The town a a provincial capital 200 Miles North of Mogadishu a is key to the military a monitoring of the Border in the so called a starvation Belt Quot . Troops departed from the area wednesday leaving control to the Canadian unit that was expected to reach its full complement of 850 troops Friday said army col. Serge Lobl commander of the Canadian joint forces Somalia. Belet Huen sits on a Flat Plain where stiff shrubs with Nail like thorns struggle to stay tooted in the Rocky soil. A 2-Inch layer of dust Coats the ground billowing into choking Clouds during gusts of wind or blasts of Jet exhaust from transport planes. The Region is 350 Miles North of the Equator and temperatures reach about 105 degrees at midday. A a it a hard to believe its the 20th Century Quot said master Chi. Donald Mouland As he took part in a two mile foot patrol through the crowded streets of the. Town. At times More than 100 curious somalian men women and children followed the dozen paratroopers As they passed by. Grass huts and open air markets where villagers were butchering goats and Selling meat. In addition to watching for the bands of gunmen the canadians also Monitor the flow of refugees into Sas John Bohn Wrhen a off for Mogadishu sgt. 1st class Rodrigo Carlos part of v corps task Force 5-158, says goodbye to his family wednesday through a window at Rhein main a Germany. Carlos of the 7th medical come s 159th medical co was Belet Huen. Many of the returning somalis fled to Ethiopia during the civil War and began returning when operation restore Hope forces started arriving last month. The Canadian presence in the country is open ended even though the nation is moving to put specific time limits on its involvement in other . Actions. A among the.first.254 soldiers from the task Force who left wednesday no ghz for Mogadishu Somalia As part of operation restore Hope. Another 276 soldiers were to leave thursday night. Restore and while the Mission was conceived As a . Cacick coping Effort Cut. Colin Choquette a Rifleman rom Thunder Bay Ontario said no was glad the americans turned it into a temporary occupation of the country. Y a it is better in a sense because we be got an open fire policy Quot he said. A a you done to have to wait for  to get snot in the head before you can fire  by Gary Miller Mediterranean Bureau the . Air Force support facility at Lajes Field zones has Long been termed the a biggest Gas station in the world Quot but Tanker aircraft Are taking that service to the air in support of operation restore Hope. Since dec. 4, Lajes has been Home to a dozen or More Kc-135 Strat tankers providing midair refuelling for aircraft returning to the United states after carrying troops and cargo to Somalia. Tanker air Crews at Lajes usually know How Many aircraft Are coming every Day but not necessarily when because . C-141s, c-5s and Kc-10s in Africa Are sometimes a delayed while unloading cargo said col. Larry Evanoff commander of the 43rd operations group. The operations group usually operates out of Malmstrom fab mont., but three of its squadrons now operate at Lajes. Lajes tankers Are refuelling Only westbound transport planes because their path takes them close to the azores. Eastbound aircraft usually Fly farther North. / a the azores Are so conveniently aligned that we can maximize the offload of fuel Quot Evanoff said. It also Means the tankers done to have to Burn As much fuel to get to the .-bound aircraft. Lajess proximity to the return route to the United states also Means Tanker trips last less than three hours allowing Crews to Fly More than one a Day if needed said it. Col. Bob Atkins who. Commands an air refuelling Squadron at Lajes. On the average Strat tankers from Lajes Fly 12 to 18 trips Ai Day seven Days a week Atkins  busiest 24-hour period for Lajes air Crews began at. 6 . Christmas eve when tankers transferred 845,000 pounds of fuel Atkins said. A at any Given time we have three to four aircraft in the air some pipes As Many As six Quot Atkins said. The version of aircraft and the squadrons associated with the air fueling operations at Lajes Are changing. Older�?TKc-135a versions of the tankers from the 46th air refuelling so from  Sawyer fab Mich and the 906th air refuelling so from Minot fab n.d., were the first to arrive at Lajes they became the 65th air refuelling so provisional named Fiir Lajess 65th support Wing. Italian irate at reports of Rome apr a . News account of the italian contingents performance in Somalia has sparked a spirited defense of the Force by top military officials. An associated press dispatch from Gail Alassi Somalia said that part of the italian Convoy changed with securing the town and ensuring Aid delivery got lost in route and that a truck Driver fell asleep and slammed into a tree1. It also quoted a . Army escort As criticizing the Convoy As slow and noted there were stops to dip into rations including pasta Pate and  italian officials said the Story was denigrating. A the soldiers Are nourished with combat rations which also include a Small bottle of Cognac a Gen. Gof Fredo Canino the armed forces chief of staff said on italian state to. A we weren to at the Folies Vergere. Toasting with Champagne a the general said in remarks carried by several italian dailies wednesday. Also joining the chorus of protest was defense minister Salvo i do. A a we re dealing with criticisms so blatantly denigrating that they done to Merit any reply a the italian news Agency Ansa quoted him As saying. Italy has been sensitive about its Mission in its former african Colony especially after state to quoted the top . Diplomat in Mogadishu Robert b. Oakley As saying Mission those aircraft Are departing and newer Kc-135r aircraft from the 91st and 97th air refuelling so both from Malmstrom fab and the 28th air refuelling so from Ellsworth fab , Are replacing them and will stay at Lajes for the duration of operation restore Hope Evanoff said. The fueling operations arc keeping aircrews Busy. A the activity in just one week Here far exceeds our activity in a month of a training scenario Back in the states Quot Sid senior master sgt. John Randall a bpm operator with the 91 s. / but his squadrons temporary duty at Lajes has compensations Randall said. A a everybody a real eager to participate in As worthy a cause As restore Hope Quot he said. A italians done to have a Good image in  state to wednesday showed . Marine Gen. Robert b. Johnston who commands the multinational Force there visiting the italian contingent at Gail Alassi it reported that he said the italians weren to responsible for any delays. Italian sensitivity about their military was also raised during the Gulf War when Rome sent Navy vessels and a Squadron of Tornado jets but no ground forces. A Jet was shot Down and its two crewmen captured using the first bombing Mission. The limited Gulf participation prompted self criticism that led to proposed legislation to make the military More professional