European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 20, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                My of Var i a it to <8 no it s not a closet. It s the Lampedusa Exchange open for your convenience 3d minutes a Day. Duty station a an Island on an Island Lampedusa a Small Island in the med is Home to a 17-member coast guard contingent it it Vamp it % vow  / to Ai a i1 amp pm Rwy it Chi 4t a m lava it is i % Quot i it. Re a a. Of Mem i. A i in Jet m psf str Etc a a Ltd a Law a a s a 7/re Lampedusa Harbor is quiet most of the year frequented mostly by fishermen. Sul in summer up to 30,000 tourists arrive. The Loran station with its distinctive Tower sits at a Barren tip of the Island. A amps photos by Gary Miller by Gary Miller Mediterranean Bureau from the air the italian Island of Lampedusa has the color and the shape of a dinner Roll. As air planes approach for a Landing passengers note that the Barren landscape is broken by an occasional Patch of grass or the few shoulder High Trees that Dot the Island like sesame seeds. Quot Quot it looks like Miami after Hurricane a Andrew Quot observed a recent visitor to the Southern end of the Island. Lampedusa is in the Mediterranean Between Malta and Tunisia. It s actually closer to North Africa 90 Miles away than to Sicily 120 Miles to the North. A prominent feature on the 8-Square-mile hunk of Rock is the 625-foot Antenna protruding from the Island s least inhabited Point. The Tower is the reason 17 . Coast Cuard men and women Call Lampedusa Home. They spend one year isolated Tours living and working at Lampedusa s Long Range Aid to navigation Loran station to keep the radio Beacon radiating from that Antenna. Operating 24 hours a Day 365 Days a year the station s transmitters help ships at sea determine their positions. It is one of four such installations the coast Cuard operates in Europe but it is scheduled to be turned Over to italian authorities by december 1994. Quot those plans Are etched in Ell of though Quot said the installation s commander it. . Dominic Catalano. Loran stations once the state of the navigational Art have been eclipsed by satellite systems. Hand held receivers linked to the newest global positioning satellite system can determine a vessel s or person s location to within a few meters said Lampedusa s senior electronics technician chief Petty officer Stephen Collins. Quot these Days Loran in t used by Navy ships or big merchants Quot Collins  and smaller ships use  the station that the Crew Calls Home is in some respects an Island on an Island. Although Lampedusa has 5,000 year round inhabitants people at the station generate their own electricity make  fresh water and receive most of their supplies and food from helicopter combat support so 4 at Nas Simonella Sicily. Quot they brought doritos and chips Quot noted Catalano recently As he watched a Crew unload a helicopter. Quot never mind whether or not we got any gear we needed everyone s Happy because we have doritos and  besides the regular delivery of snacks several other measures have been taken to make the service members feel As much at Home As possible. All Crew members who Range in rank from Petty officers third class e-4 to lieutenant Junior Grade o2have private rooms. Each room is wired with Cable outlets that carry an television which is received by satellite. A closed circuit video system also provides at East three movies a Day from tapes provided by the Navy motion picture service. Quot we get about 12 new tapes a month Quot said chief Petty officer Marty Liese the station s chief Engineer. The Are same ones circulated among Navy ships. Other facilities include a swimming Pool and a Sauna off the Crew s dining facility is a room that would pass at most bases As a storage area. Here though it qualifies As the main Exchange and it s open for about a half hour each evening. Another Small room serves As a soda and Beer locker which usually opens briefly after the Exchange closes. Surprisingly some Crew members spend most of their one year tour at the station rarely venturing into the Community said Marco Bartulo one of six italian employees at the station. Bartulo a native of Lampedusa who has worked at the station As a clerk and translator for 10 years said those americans who do make the Effort to get out and meet the town Are rewarded. Quot a storekeeper who left Here recently got out into town As soon As he arrived Here Quot Bartulo said. Quot in a couple months he was speaking the local Lingo and had invitations to friends Homes for dinner every night Quot Bartulo said. For some Crew members who have served at other Loran stations the Mere presence of people other than a station Crew is unusual. Petty officec.1 St class Jan Freeman Lampedusa s current storekeeper served two Tours on kure Island. Quot you can find it on some maps Quot she said of the. Land mass less than 2 Miles Long and a half mile wide near the International Date line in the Pacific Ocean. Though kure Island is even More isolated than Lampedusa Freeman said there were some pluses to the Pacific assignment. Quot i miss Trees i guess i m just accustomed to a r tropical environment Quot she explained. Freeman and Petty officer 2nd class Cindy Bookhammer Are the first women to be assigned to Lampedusa since 1986. In april of that year Libya launched an unsuccessful missile attack on the station. In retaliation for . Bombing raids on the North african nation after the missile attack the Loran station officially became a nato base the Only Alliance installation operated by the coast Cuard. For Freeman and Bookhammer isolated installations Are old hat during her initial tour on kure Island Freeman was one of the first women to serve at that Loran station. And Bookhammer has served at Sellia Marina a Loran station on the Southern italian Mainland far removed from any other . Military base. The loneliness associated with Lampedusa makes the Crew anxious to stay in touch with folks Back Home Petty officer 3rd class John. Pluemer left and Petty officer 2nd class Cindy Bookhammer Are serving one year Remote Tours. Quot the average Guy s phone Bill is Over $ 100 a month Quot Liese said. To help the Crew stay in touch with Home the station also has a military affiliate radio system Mars station. Since the radio link to a radio operator in the states is free users pay Only for the Cost of the phone connection from the operator s location to wherever station members Are calling said Petty officer 1st class Severen Jablonski an Amateur radio operator and the Mars station manager. A daily italian airline flight from Palermo Sicily carries the station mail. In the summer additional flights bring the 25,000 to 30,000 tourists who invade Lampedusa each year something most members of the Loran station Crew have yet to experience because they have arrived since the visitors left. Those coast guardsmen who have spent a summer on the Island say that is the time to be on Lampedusa. Quot it s been a lot better Here than i thought it would be Quot said Petty officer 3rd class Sean  carnival we were invited to a lot of parties Quot Mccaughran said the activity on the Island especially during the summer was was a pleasant Surprise Mccaughran said. But one summer is All most coast Cuard men and women have Ori the Island before they Transfer. Wherever they go however they can count on one thing it will probably be Greener than the Rock in the Mediterranean known As Lampedusa. 18 a the stars and stripes wednesday january 20,1993 the stars and stripes a 19