European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 8, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday february 8, 1993 the stars and stripes b Pago 3 a a a. A a. Buyers suits on furniture must wait by Kevin Robinson staff writer customers who paid thousands of dollars to stateside furniture corp. Must wait until there is proof that the company will not Honor Purchase orders before taking Legal action against the firm a spokeswoman from the . Air forces in Europe said Friday. Quot right now there is no proof of the company defaulting a capt. Felecia Tavares a Safe spokeswoman said from Ramstein a Germany. Quot from what we be Learned once the furniture goes into the warehouse it belongs to the person who ordered stateside furniture caught overseas customers by Surprise when the .-based company suddenly closed its 16 european offices in december. Recently the company also announced that its Greensboro n.c., warehouse is to close March 31. The company advised customers by form letter to arrange for pickup and shipment of their furniture at the warehouse before its scheduled closure. Legal officials from Safe and the . Army Europe Are advising customers to take their contracts and any other related paperwork to their nearest Legal assistance office. There they can determine through the details of each contract what options arc available for customers if stateside defaults on its furniture orders military officials said. These options Tavares said May include a filing a claim against the furniture company. A filing a complaint through the consumer Protection Agency in the state w Here customers arc to be reassigned. A As a last resort those who ordered furniture on a military installation can Contact the morale welfare and recreation office there for assistance. Transportation officials at fort Bragg n.c., said Friday that their office has moved 14 orders from the stateside warehouse for customers returning from Europe since january. Another 114 shipments remain on hand at the warehouse. Because the stateside warehouse is near fort Bragg that posts transportation office handles overseas requests for pickup and transportation of furniture from the warehouse. However some service members who have since returned to the United states have voiced complaints about stateside practices. For example maj. Curtis Supan now on temporary duty at Kingsley Field ore., ordered $2,500 Worth of furniture from a stateside outlet in Vicenza Italy when he was stationed there in october. According to Gloria Leonarduzzi a Friend of Supan the major and his wife Haven to received their furniture. When sgt. 1st class Lorrie of Neal of Stuttgart Germany Learned that stateside had closed its overseas offices she did no to want to risk losing the $3,000 she had paid for furniture. She contacted her brother in Missouri and he agreed to drive to North Carolina and pick up her furniture from the warehouse. Quot you just done to know what Wilt happen to stateside in the future a she said. Being overseas Quot you arc in no Many a land. You feel Safe when you have your hands on your s career gets Start with Scotland Yard by Nancy Torner . Bureau 1 Raf Lakenheath England first it. Jeffrey Thorburn gave up a Job As a London Bobby about 10 years ago to move to the states. Today he a Back in England wearing the uniform of a Security policeman with the . Air Force. Thorburn 33, is a shift commander for the 48th Security police so at Raf Lakenheath. Although born in the United kingdom he became a naturalized . Citizen in 1987. Working in Law enforcement in different countries and returning to his roots after a 10-year absence has Given Thorburn perspective regarding the changing crime scene in England. Quot crime in the . Always is More deadly a Thorburn said. Quot but we re the . Escalating too. I think its a change in society. The Small town and family values arc deteriorating.�?�. Adjusting to an american Law enforcement system has been easy for Thorburn. Granted looser British Laws allow bobbies to exercise More discretion on the of and they rarely carry guns. But the personalities of is co workers including their sense of humor is Simi a he said. For instance Thorburne a indoctrination As a Bobby included being sent to Eaton Square in London to Rescue someone who reportedly had fallen Down a manhole. After tapping his Truncheon on about a dozen of the 100 or More manhole covers in the Square he realized that veterans on the Force had duped him. In turn it is common at Lakenheath for Security police rookies to be handed a trash bag inflated with air and told to Rush it to the weather Section for analysis. Some new officers fall for the bogus order Thorburn said but All come away from the prank a Little Wiser. Thorburn said he decided to work in Law enforcement when he was 15, after listening to a Scotland Yard officer speak at his school. He joined the metropolitan police Cadet corps in 1976 and spent his first two years As a Bobby Quot directing american tourists who were lost Quot he said. He was promoted to the crime squad in 1979 after making an arrest that led to the recovery of stolen goods Worth about $38,000. He resigned his Job in 1982. Quot had i not married my wife id probably still be with Scotland Yard a Thorburn said. Thorburn gave up his Truncheon and whistle when he married Joanne Turner an american who was assigned to Raf Alconbury As a staff sergeant. The couple had met earlier in the United states while Thorburn was vacationing. Thorburn left England in Early 1983 when his wife was reassigned stateside. Thorburn wanted to continue working in Law enforcement in the United states and began working toward that goal by earning a degree in criminology and criminal Justice from Ball state University in Muncie ind. However he was delayed in attending officer training school at Lackland fab san Antonio Texas because of military cutbacks. It Quot a so i went to work for the Navy a Thorburn said. He was assigned to the Kings Bay naval submarine base in St. Mary a a. He was employed As a shift com. A amps Dave Didlo first it. Jeffrey Thorburn displays the constables helmet he wore As a Bobby in London before he joined the . Air Force and became a Security policeman. Mander of Security and Law enforcement under a contract with the department of defense. Thorburn left the Navy Job in 1989 to enter officer training school and was assigned to Malmstrom fab mont., As a flight Security officer. While based in Montana Thorburn was deployed to saudi Arabia where he guarded a munitions storage area for operation desert storm. The storage site still lacked fencing and other Security measures when about 30 trucks arrived with various munitions he said. There were two attempted penetrations by the enemy but no shots w Ere fired. Quot that was an interesting experience a Thorburn said. Quot one of the biggest threats when we deploy is terrorist socially adjusting to american ambiance sometimes has been difficult Thorburn said. Quot i had no idea How to Register a car and the procedure for making Job applications was entirely different he said. Language differences also have gotten him into trouble. For instance the British phrase Quot ill Knock you up at 7 of clock in the morning Means that you la pick someone up. Thorburn said he received some strange looks when using the phrase around american women. Given Thorburne a background one might wonder where his loyalties would lie if . And British ties disintegrated. �?~�?~1 suspect that if Britain and America Ever go to War the world will be in such a terrible state that it wont really make that much of a difference a Thorburn denies he s battling Washington a defense Secretary los Aspin said sunday that he is not at War with the Pinta Eonis top generals Over homosexuals in the military or budget matters. Quot i think we re working together Well a the new Pentagon chief said in one of his first interviews since taking office. Aspin said that while differences of opinion exist Between the administration and the nations top military leaders some common ground is being found and he wants to hear the military a Point of View. A a we do want the military to give us its honest opinion. And we want to hear what they have to say Hon costly on the inside Quot Aspin said adding quickly Quot on the other hand if the president makes a decision we expect it to be carried Aspin who developed president Clinton a Campaign plan for slashing some $60 billion from the Pentagon scoffers in the coming years spent his first weeks in office wrestling with an explosion of military opposition to lifting the Oan on Gays in the armed forces. Not Only did Gen. Colin l. Powell chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and one of americans most highly respected military officers oppose the change but the joint chiefs All came out against it but in an interview with reporters returning from a weekend conference in Germany Aspin argued that the military was doing its Iob in expressing its views a albeit within certain Bounds. Aspin said any attempt to portray the joint chiefs recent open rebellion against the administration a and against a commander in chief who never served in the armed forces a Quot is asked whether he believed the military a highest ranks were attempting to scuttle administration proposals or were attempting to influence the National debate on military matters Aspin responded Quot i done to think that for a in fact Aspin said the military a and the army in particular a has begun to respond to Liis Call for reducing the number of troops in Europe to 100,000 by 1996. Quot the army is rethinking its timetable. For budget reasons they themselves might want to accelerate the Pace of the withdrawal from Europe a Little bit a Aspin said. Despite moves in Congress to Cut the deployment in Europe a which reached a Peak of some 350,000 troops at the height of the cold War a the Bush administration and military officials staunchly opposed cutting troop strength for years. But Aspin said the military is changing its approach on a number of matters. He said he thinks the nations military Structure sees Clinton Quot As a moderate democrats whose views on military matters Quot Are not out of the Range of things that they think is within the acceptable boundaries of what is consistent with our National Security but that is not to say that deep disparities do not exist Between the uniformed leaders and their new civilian Bosses Aspin acknowledged. A we need to work All of this out and we will work on it a he said. A a
