European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 16, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A inauguration Day big Flay can be a cold one by Bob Dart Cox news service anybody planning to join the inauguration Celebration better be ready to bundle up. Weather can be an inaugural killer. Indeed a hatless William Henry Harrison delivered the longest inaugural address in american history during an 1841 sleet storm and caught pneumonia. Thirty one Days later he became the first president to die in office. Seven inches of Snow fell the Day before John f. Kennedy was inaugurated in 1961. The bitter coid drove Ronald Reagan indoors for his swearing in ceremony in 1985 and forced the cancellation of the inaugural Parade. Over the years such occurrences have been commonplace enough to make the phrase a inaugural weather a local description for a dreary cold wet wintry Day. Weather Wise mid january is a pretty miserable period in the nations capital summed up Jim Belville a spokesman for the National weather service the average High temperature for Jan. 20 inf Washington is 42 degrees. The average Low is 27 degrees. In the past 100 years it has snowed 20 times on this Day. A bad weather is a real concern Quot Belville said. Quot they re expecting 250,000 people at the swearing in ceremony and some of them could be exposed to the elements for eight to 10 hours Quot if they hang around for the Parade. Before 1937, Sunshine accompanied inaugurations More frequently. That a because presidents were sworn into office on March. 4. The Date was changed to Jan. 20 by the 21 St amendment to the Constitution. Event sunday q America s reunion on Trie malt q a Call for reunion a monday r q Tho american gala. Reunion on the mall continues outdoor festival including regional food music crafts concert and fireworks features internationally renowned entertainment. Tickets required. The mall Lincoln memorial Trie capital Center the mall 1 a Tuatay a a Salute to children and q saute to youth shows win also be broadcast on Disney Channel. Juk Center for the performing arts John f. Kennedy hatless in the Snow. Wad Naday p inaugural ceremony q Parade oath of office for vice president West Side of the . Capitol and president inaugural address begins 2 . And follows traditional Capitol to the White House route along Pennsylvania Avenue thursday p a presidential open House invitation to the Public to visit the new president and first Tady in their new Home. The while House source presidential inaugural committee a ass readers action Lineu Sarteur toughens movers guidelines q. Articles in the slats and stripes regarding theft of household goods by the packers and movers hired by Usa eur have left Many of us feeling very insecure about moving anything of value through these movers. I done to understand Why crates cannot be sealed at the residence rather than sealed later at the warehouse. Why can to this be a provision of the contract with the movers ii contracting does not think this will solve the problem have studies been done to determine if such a practice would deter pilfering if not. Why not does the contracting officer maintain a list of movers that pack and move household goods from which there later is found to be a loss can individuals ask to. See this list and request that their move be done by a mover whose name does not appear on the list does the contracting officer have a certain Standard such As three complaints or five complaints whereby he suspends a specific company from moving household goods what is this Standard it if we have very special one of a kind items May we mail them through the Apo system and have these postage expenses reimbursed to us As part of our moving expenses and finally what Steps Are now being taken at the Usa eur level to study this problem and implement solutions so that other families Don t experience the horrors laced by the capt. Ten cart family please address this As it applies to Active duty military and department of the army civilians. Susan Livingston Heidelberg Germany. Ernest Mitchell traffic management specialist office of the Deputy chief of staff logistics he Usa eur replies thank you for your Tetter which allows us the Opportunity to address your concerns. We re Well aware of concerns Usa eur soldiers have As a result of the recent Media attention concerning theft of personal property. International household goods contractors Are required to meet certain standards when providing transportation services to the department of defense. These standards Are too numerous to discuss in detail however Security precautions Are essential for a firm to participate in the transportation of Dod personal property. The banding of personal property containers is a precaution required by Dod regulation. Steel banding is normally accomplished at the contractor s warehouse alter the loaded Container is removed from the truck. Beginning Early this year however banding of containers will be accomplished at the property owners residence. The household goods carriers agent will place two Metal bands vertically around each Container and two additional bands around each Container horizontally. Property owners will be provided an electric engraving tool to apply their signature to the Metal banding. As an additional safeguard accountable Security seals Are placed on All exterior containers at the Point of pickup residence the contractor must place these seals to ensure Security of the Container and enter the Security Seal numbers on the household goods descriptive inventory Cross referencing the Container number. These seals Are placed on the containers after the containers have been nailed shut. Usa eur is working with the military traffic management come a tic to develop a More durable Security Seal As the present Seal frequently Breaks in transit. The installation transportation officer Ito has the responsibility to Monitor the performance of contractors. Servicing their area. Thefts reported to destination its Are documented on the do form 1780, shipment evaluation and inspection record and the do form 1840, joint statement of loss or damage at delivery. Completed by the customer and destination agent. A completed copy of these forms is forwarded to the origin Ito. The Ito takes action in the form of a letter of warning allowing the firm to take corrective action As appropriate. The Ito can suspend a firm from do business in his area and if sufficient evidence exists recommend disqualification of a firm. In Juty 1991, Usa eur established procedures allowing soldiers and department of the army civilians reimbursement of parcel Post postage fees except postal insurance when mailing unaccompanied baggage items. The customer must request this authorization from the local Ito prior to mailing articles through the Apo system and must remain within the authorized unaccompanied baggage weight limit. Reports from stateside its indicated that Many of our former Usa eur soldiers experienced significant damage to their property As a result of poor packing by the owner. Avoid shipping or mailing valuable items which can be hand carried. Although you can mail unaccompanied baggage and claim reimbursement of the parcel Post fee the preferred method is contractor packed. He Usa eur will continue working with the Dod proponent for personal property traffic management a tic to identify additional safeguards to prevent theft of Dod personal property. We Hope this answers your questions. To write us readers action line is the readers1 a court of last resort Quot Fri wig to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers actin line co the stars and stripes unit 29480, Apo a 09211. Ail Fetters must be signed. Please include address and Telephone number. Preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our a a readers. A Page 20 0 the stars and stripes saturday january 16, 1993