European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 01, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday february 1,1993 the stars and stripes b paqe3 Aviano prepared if Balkan crisis flares  Northern Italy Bureau Aviano a Italy while declining to speculate on what future role if any Aviano a might play in the bal Kan conflict the installation s commander said it is ready at a moment s notice to conduct air operations. Although no aircraft arc permanently stationed at the base in Northern Italy col. Timothy Kinnan said if someone sends them aircraft we will take  Kin. Nan commands the 401st fighter Wing which has its head quarters at Aviano. It has already accepted three e-3 sentry airborne warning and control system Azacs aircraft which Are usually based at Raf Waddington England v the three nato aircraft Are monitoring compliance with a . Ban on flights Over certain areas of former Yugoslavia. The information they gather goes straight to the United nations Kinnan said. It s Nice to have them her and to do our part supporting the United  As Kinnan spoke on a recent cloudless Day Snow topped mountains in Slovenia a breakaway part of the for Mer Yugoslavia jut into the sky less than 50 Miles to the cast. The air base at the foot of the Alps and 50 Miles Northeast of Venice is but a Short flight across the Adriatic sea to where combat has raged for months among rival ethnic groups in the former Yugoslavia it does t take a rocket scientist to look at potential trouble spots in the world and realize Aviano s geographical importance Kinnan said. The 401st fighter Wing transferred its name from Tor Rejon a Spain to Aviano in May 1992. Torr Jon s f-16 aircraft were assigned to Active and Reserve wings in Europe and the United states. Negotiations Are continuing Between the United states and Italy concerning location of the Wing s 72 aircraft. Kinnan said that although he Hopes a decision regard ing the Basing of the f-16s is made soon there Are Many question Marks on How that will pan out. I m not aware of any timetable. A lot depends on the president and con Gress said Kinnan a Pilot with More than 2,500 flying hours in f-4 phantom ii f-15 Eagle and f-16 fighting Falcon aircraft. Aviano is also Home of 16th air Force which moved its Headquarters from Torr Jon in August. While Aviano has Eye Wear service seeing effects of draw Down by Lori Allen Dendy staff writer the Cost of fashion prescription Eye Wear is going up for Many . Personnel stationed in Europe As the army s 7th medical come drops its special order spectacle program. Standard Issue glasses still will be available free to Active duty personnel and retirees. However the Spe Cial order program which provides More fashionable glasses to army air Force and Navy optical shops for As Little As $15, will be scrapped at the end of february. It is just one More casualty of the draw Down in Europe since staff cuts have left the optical fabrication lab in Pir Masens Germany unable to Cope with de Mand according to officials at 7th medical come Headquarters. The Pir Masens lab lost 30 civilian employees As Job authorizations were Cut Back 7th medical come spokeswoman Barbara Slifer said. Military positions have not been affected by the cuts. Currently 22 military personnel and 14 civilians work at the Eye Wear lab in Pir Masens. No further cuts Are expected Slifer said. An undetermined amount of Money will be saved by the lab since it will no longer have to pay the overhead costs involving storage of the frames she said. The special order spectacle program operated for More than 20 years offering bargain priced Eye Wear to All . Army air Force and Navy optical clinics in eur Ope As the program is phased out the selection of frames has dropped from 29 styles last summer to 19 currently. Effective feb. 28, no new special order frames will be available. Aside from providing civilian style Eye Wear the optical fabrication Laboratory at the . Army medical Materiel Center in Pir Masens makes prescription lenses for Gas masks and military St a lenses and Croatia is Bosnia and ?4 Herzegovina yugoslav Sarajevo \ a a Garcia Serbia a Montenegro. , \ no fighter aircraft assigned to it the installation has 53 hardened aircraft shelters and is an operational fighter base. Up to 24 fighter planes at a time have participated in exercises out of Aviano Kinnan said demonstrating that the base is capable of handling air operations. Aviano is the Only . Air Force tactical air base in Italy. In the event of War in Europe officials at Aviano would command and and control a variety of deployed weapons systems according to an air Force fact Sheet. The installation served for years As a training base for fighter aircraft that regularly deployed from Torrejon and other bases in Europe. Aviano periodically hosts Ameri can and nato fighter units on training deployments. Kinnan said such deployments exercise Aviano s capability to conduct operations at a moment s  about 1,800 air Force personnel and 200 . Soldiers Are assigned to the base. The army troops Are assigned to co e of the 502nd aviation regt a part of the Southern european task Force. The unit with an authorized strength of 16 ch-47 Chinook helicopters provides cargo and Airlift support for nato personnel and equipment in the Mediterranean area. Hole yawns in dam sabotaged by serbs Perucca Croatia a a gaping Hole formed Early sunday on the Crest of a dam dynamited by re treating serbs indicating the Structure was sinking fur ther and increasing the danger to 20,000 croatians Liv ing downstream. Meanwhile Croatia s president Franjo Tadjman warned that his army would broaden its attacks on ser Bian held areas unless . Peacekeepers disarm ser Bian militants. We have to get rid of those serbian in posers As soon As possible with the help of the peacekeepers and if not with them then. With our own forces Tudja Man told 2,000 cheering people in split. Pavlic Stojic who has overseen repair and maintenance operations at the Cruca dam  concern As he inspected the dam with three  who had arrived from London on saturday night. He said a 5-Yard-Widc Hole formed on top of the dam and a crack in the dam Wall opened just 5 Yards away. I am afraid that the water is still flowing through the base of the dam meaning it keeps eroding its Clay base Stojic said adding this is nothing  danger appeared to have lessened saturday after emergency Crews plugged holes to keep the Structure from bursting. The dam is 22 Miles North of the Central Adriatic port of split. Serbs had rigged the dam with Mir yes after capturing it in the War that broke out after Croatia seceded from Yugoslavia in 1991. Croatian soldiers took the dam Back thursday but serbian troops set off the mines As they retreated. Fighting in Croatia renewed last week As croats launched an offensive to retake some of the territory captured by serbs in the civil War. Croatian and serbian forces declared a cease fire saturday in their Battle for the Cruca dam. But clashes raged elsewhere in Croatia and in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cafes optical shops in Europe cafes optical shops in Europe Germany and Turkey image i and ii at cafes single vision glasses Start at $44.95 bifocals average Cost $185 # England cafes single vision glasses about $50 t bifocals about $90 on the Economy in England single vision glasses Start at about $100 bifocals $110-$ 160 lenses Only Italy cafes single vision Start at about $70 t bifocals about $160-$220 on the Economy in Italy single vision Start at about $85 bifocals about $110 prices Are estimated v estimated lowest Price Germany Augsburg Baum older Berlin Pitburg Darmstadt Frankfurt Furth Fulda Giessen Hanau Heidelberg Karlsruhe Mannheim Ramstein Rhein main Schweinfurt Stuttgart Vilseck Vogel Weh Wiesbaden Wil Flecken and Wurzburg England Alconbury Ben Waters Lakenheath and upper Heyford Italy Aviano and Vicenza Turkey Izmir source aps a source a s4s frames for Active duty and retired service members. Remaining staff members will continue this work. Officials at the army and air Force Exchange serv ice said they Are trying to meet customer needs in face of the draw Down shortages by offering some discount priced glasses at their optical stores. We Hope our my program is adequate cafes spokeswoman Barba a Kirsch said. It s certainly the Best we can do in today s draw Down  . Forces personnel in Germany and Turkey will be Able to select discount priced frames and lenses at cafes optical stores from two special selections called image 1 and ii. Prices for image i and ii glasses Start at $44.95. For regular single vision glasses $54.95 for tinted lenses and an average of $185 for bifocals. Image i and ii frames Are similar in Quality to those made by the Pir Masens lab Kirsch said. The discount image i and ii collections cannot be offered in England or Italy because the materials needed to Muke glosses Cost More in these countries according to Kirsch of. We limit the amount that concessionaires could charge and they could t buy to hts materials for what we want them to sell the glasses for she said. At the cafes optical shops in England regularly priced single vision glasses Cost $50 and up and bifocals Cost about $90. In Italy s cafes shop prices for a Complete pair of single vision glasses Start at about $70. Bifocals Range from around $160 to $220. Glasses purchased on the Economy in England Cost about $100 for single vision glasses. For bifocals lenses alone can Cost from $110 to $160, according to a clerk at Rollond & Aitchison opticians in Cambridge eng land. On the Economy in Italy prices for single vision glasses Start at about $85 and bifocals at about $110, according to a sampling of opticians. Cafes can deliver finished glasses a bit More quickly than the special order program at Pir Masens allowed said Slifer of the 7th medical come. Single vision glasses which take about eight Days under the special order program arc delivered by cafes in five to seven Days according to officials at cafes and at the optical fabrication lab in Pir Masens. Bifocals which take up to 22 Days or More under the special order pro Gram arc delivered by cafes in nine to 12 Days. N