European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 02, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday february 2,1993 the stars and stripes b Page 3 o e in d d1 ibid n army training area watched closely 5nv/ronmenfa.sfs, thrill seekers among observers by Dave Melancon Wurzburg Bureau Erlanger Germany when soldiers of the 2nd in 70th Armor regt staged a mock Battle Jan. 14 at the Tenne Lohe training area their Only concern  the enemy. At least that was the concern until a Small Brown car with German License plates raced by their my Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. When the Sedan sped through the restricted area two weeks ago warn Ings went but on the battalion s radio network and a humvee was sent to track the German vehicle. We get thrill seekers who just want to watch and environmentalists trying to find evidence that we re not adhering to nato guidelines on conservation said 1st it. Richard Spainhour battalion operations officer. Signs posted in English and German on the Border and throughout the training area warn of danger but people the soldiers believe to be environmentalists frequently observe training and videotape or photograph the action Spainhour said. Sometimes he said the observers gather soil samples. In this Case the German car left the training area about an hour later. The soldiers did not find out who was inside the vehicle or Why they were at the training site. Although the soldiers believe that environmentalists Are watching them no one appears to know with whom the observers Are linked. There have been no confrontations Between soldiers and environmentalists. The Tenne Lohe training area located next to Fer Ris Barracks and bordered by City streets and autobahn 3, is the Niernberg military Community s primary train ing area. The Pine wooded area has Small arms ranges and room for battalion sized Armor units to Man Euver in its five Square Kilometres. Bird feeders and insect collectors arc scattered throughout the area and several stands of Trees Ponds and wetlands Are marked off  soldiers avoid training in environmentally sensitive areas said capt. Darren Wheeler the battalion s air Liaison officer. Wetlands and animal habitat areas Are fenced off and training is staged away from those areas. Combat engineers repair damaged roads and dig animal habitats. We try to minimize Man Euver damage Wheeler said. Any time a tree goes Down we let the Forest  members of the Tenne Lohe training area work group an informal local group of nature experts went into the area about a year and a half ago to document plants and wildlife there but not to follow soldiers training said Albrecht Leupold 99th area support group spokesman. During its studies the group catalogued several rare and endangered species of plants and animals said Hartmut Altvater who player in the Tenne Lohe when vehicle processing Center opening up in Dallas Washington is defense depart Anent personnel moving to the midwestern states can ship their vehicles to a new processing Center at Dallas. -., military officials announced last week that the military traffic management come was to open the new facility near the Dallas fort Worth International Airport monday. The command operates similar processing Cen ters in los Angeles Oakland Calif. Seattle Granite City 111. Near St. Louis new Orleans Cape canaveral Fla. North Charleston . Norfolk a. Bayonne . And Baltimore. Its operating hours Are weekdays from 8 . To 4-30 p.m., except Federal holidays. The Center provides no emergency or after hour service. Die Dallas Center can be reached by calling 214 436-6474, or by Tel fax 214 436-8662. 16 die in turkish bus crash Istanbul Turkey a a passenger bus fell into a Ravine during a snowstorm monday in Southern Turkey killing 16 people and injuring 25, news Media reported. The Accident occurred near Gaziantep 720 Miles Southeast of Istanbul the reports said. �7 Iii a Bradley fighting vehicle plows its Way through the Brush at Tenne Lohe training area. Is Dave Melancon he was a boy. It is a first class area and should be preserved he said. It is the last natural habitat Here in the Erlanger Are and it has been nearly  his group docs not observe the soldiers training Altvater said. However some members fear soldiers Are under orders to level the area so it can be used As a refuse dump when the . Army pulls out of Erlanger he said. Erlanger City officials Community activists and local conservation groups contacted by the stars and stripes said they Are not following the training activities of the troops. Petr Gertenbach of the Erlanger mayor s staff said the City does not Send people to watch or document the soldiers training. It s news to me that people Are doing that said professor Christoph Schnapper who led a neighbor Hood group protesting noise at the training area. There May be some people there at the training area who try to document How polluted the area May be Schnapper added. Schnapper s group called the Tenne Lohe initiative against shooting noise was formed last year to protest noise created by Bradley fighting vehicles main guns he said. The group Only collected signatures and made its observations from outside the training area. Nobody in our croup observes the training said Anne Garcines spokeswoman for bund a furs ii a group concerned about plants and animals inhabiting the training area. Although the group Natur  wants the soldiers to Stop using Tenne Lohe its members do not go into the training area spokesman Guido Wachtor said through a translator. Army officials meet with German Federal state and local forestry officials to coordinate use of the area and to construct havens for eng angered species living in Tenne Lohe Leupold said. Combat engineers have recently dug fish Ponds called Biot pcs in the area. Environmentalists and to some extent citizens and the environmentalist Green party keep an Eye on the area Leupold said. But there Are always some peo ple who arc never  Europe based troops saying mail to Somalia not arriving by Steve scholar staff writer Beli Dogle Somalia air Force postal clerk staff sgt. Gene Mccook helped sort More than 188,000 pounds of mail his first month in Somalia. The trouble was not one piece was for him. Although Mccook has since received some mail not everyone has been that Lucky and some Europe based troops in Somalia say they Are faring worse than others and Are hopping mad about it. Sgt. It class Fritz Desroches from Niernberg As signed to v corps task Force 5-158, thinks Germany based troops Are getting the Short end of the stick. The conditions i can survive. It s not getting mail that hurts Desroches said. The mail service is Horri ble. My wife sent several boxes weeks ago. They still Haven t  Desroches and sgt. 1st class Joseph holler help sort their units mail shipments that come from a Central processing Point at the Mogadishu Airport. Letters and packages that we receive Are immediately Given to the troops Desroches said. It s discouraging said holler who s stationed i Giessen Germany. Where soldiers from fort drum n.y., who Are also deployed Here receive bags of mail Only five letters May arrive from Germany. Morale re Mains High despite hot weather and blowing Sands. The mail situation is poor and will Start affecting morale soon.".  We just Don t know what the hell is going on in the world Desroches said. We Don t get  despite the rumblings from the troops postal officials in Somalia claim that Europe based troops Are getting 85 percent of their mail within 10 Days. The other 15 percents dissent or misread said chief master sgt. Isaiah rave Nel the assistant postal chief in Somalia. We re dependent on air mobility come flights to get our Germany mail Back and Forth from Frankfurt Avenel said. Most mail sits on the Airport ramp at Mogadishu less than 24  some delays can t be helped he said. We had mail on a plane that broke in England Avenel said. That delayed shipment. Another time the aircrew Gol Chicken pox and was quarantined at  according to Avenel food water and mail Are the top priorities on am aircraft. But once the mail is received in Mogadishu it is sorted by service then Loca Tion then unit. Each service is responsible for picking up their own mail for distribution to Field troops after we sort it Avenel said. / l writer Gary  contributed to this report