European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 02, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday february 2, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 3 army training area watched closely environmentalists thrill seekers among observers by Dave  Bureau Erlanger Germany when soldiers of the 2ndbn, 70th Armor regt staged a mock Battle Jan. 14 at the Tenne Lohe training area their Only concern was killing the  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 out 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 an 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 , 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 Are about an hour later. The soldiers did not find out who was inside the vehicle or  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 Nurnberg military Community s primary train ing area. The Pine wooded area has Small arms ranges and room for battalion sized Armor units to Maneu Verin its five Square Kilometres. Bird feeders and insect collectors Are 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 meisters  members of the Tenne Lohe training area work group an informal local group of nature experts went into the area about a year Ana 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 played in the Tenne Lohe when vehicle processing Center opening up in Dallas Washington is defense depart ment 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 Ope 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 , a. Bayonne . And Baltimore. Its operating hours Are weekdays from 8  4 30 p.m., except Federal holidays. The Center provides no emergency or after hour service. The 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  Accident occurred near Gaziantep 720 Miles Southeast of Istanbul the reports said. 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 Zerlang Eri Are and it has been nearly  his group does not observe the soldiers training Altvater said. However some members fear soldiers Are under orders to level the area so it can be used Asa refuse dump when the . Army pulls out of Erlanger he said. V 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. Pct Girt Inbach 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 group observes the training Sadianne Garcines spokeswoman for bund Natur Schutz a group concerned about plants and animals inhabiting the training area. Although the group  wants the sol Diers 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 an local forestry officials to coordinate use of the area and to construct havens for endangered species living intent Enloe Leupold said. Combat engineers have recently dug fish Ponds called Biot pcs in the area. Environmentalists and to some extent citizens an the environmentalist Green party keep an Eye on the area Leupold said. Out there Are always some peo ple who Are never  Europe based troops saying mail to Somalia not arriving by Steve scholars att writer Deli 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 no everyone has been that Lucky and some Europe based troops in Somalia say they Are faring worse than other Sand Are hopping mad about it sgt. 1st class Fritz Desroches from Nurnberg 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 Mai 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 d9sroches 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  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 official sin Somalia claim hat 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 Roget our Germany mail Back and Forth from Frankfurt Ravenel said. Most mail sits on the Airport ramp a Mogadishu less than 24  some delays can t be helped he said. We had mail on a plane that broke in England Ravenel said. That delayed shipment. Another time the aircrew got Chicken pox and was quarantined  according to Ravenel food water and mail Are the top priorities on am aircraft. Cut 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 Ravenel said. Slate writer Gary Minier contributed to the