European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 18, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday May 18, 1993 the stars and stripes Page 3 act for a tour of duty Navy personnel get Good Chance to experience City by Muri Ditri Winder . Bureau London London is visited by thousands of tourists each year eager for a firsthand look at everything from Buckingham Palace to Fleet Street but for .  assigned to naval forces Europe Headquarters there s a simpler Way to describe the City on the thames it s Home. The location is excellent said Navy it. Roland be. A Casque. You re in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. The experiences that you run into throughout your tour Here. You can t beat  la Vosque is among about 340 Navy personnel assigned to the seven Story Navy Headquarters building in the heart of the City s shopping District about a mile from Piccadilly circus. Life in London presents the americans with Many of the problems found in any Large City but most of the americans appeared to give the experience a thumbs up. Among the most visible drawbacks is the traffic. I catch the tube subway or bus and would t think of driving to work said Petty officer 2nd class Octra Reeder. I have a car and i still would t drive. There s too much traffic and nowhere to Park just like new  it. . Ann Leonard also finds the traffic unbelievable. In the states you just jump in your car drive to work or the store and a few minutes later you arc there she said. But that s not the Case Here. I be sat for hours just to go a couple of  Leonard 25, hails from la Crescent Minn. She lives about five Miles from work but finds the tube the fast est Means to get there. It takes 20 to 25 minutes to arrive at the office by subway by car it takes More than hour. Re Cdr 29, a Washington d.c., native has lived in London about 18 months. She said parking spots arc few near the building that houses . Navy Europe and those that exist Are accompanied by parking me ters. You d have to keep going out once in a while to feed Money into the meters she said. And my under re Cdr Jones is Davo Aldio it. . Ann Leonard checks her map near Hyde Park in London. She is one of about 340 . Navy personnel assigned to the Navy forces Europe Headquarters. Standing is that if you find a garage it s pretty expend  but traffic in t the Only problem for those who work at the Navy Headquarters. For example transit strikes and Security alerts can be daily headaches. And while the strikes May cause them to seek alter native travel routes Security alerts prompted by Irish Republican army bomb threats can cause entire areas of the City to be blocked off and traffic re routed. I usually wait around for a taxi or wait until things open up again Leonard said. I be Only gotten stuck two times and it is a hassle. All the streets arc blocked off and traffic is backed up. You just have to wait it  but re Cdr said the alerts arc something you Don t dwell on. You just Bear  housing also can be a Challenge because while there arc Many places to live it s Tough to find one that is affordable. I had to adjust to the Small houses Here said Levesque who s been in London two years. That was t much of an adjustment because i was used to the Small rooms in  but because Levesque is administrative assistant to the chief of staff a Nav eur he must live close to his workplace in Case he s called in on Short notice. With his rank he could Only afford a Small place two years  since they Are  a higher housing allow Ance i can afford to get a larger place he said. Levesque 29, is married with no children. He lives in what an american would Call a in bedroom apart ment although the British consider it two bedrooms. It s quaint and in a Nice location he said. But i could use a bigger  Leonard who is not married has a larger place a Little farther away. Her two bedroom apartment costs about $1,200 a month. A three bedroom apartment near Raf Lakin Heath and Mildenhall costs about half that much. It s expensive but with the Money we receive for Cost of living it s not that bad she said. Yet despite the traffic and the prices most of those assigned to the Navy Headquarters believe they re Tor Tunac to be assigned to London. I be always wanted to come Here said chief Petty officer Jeffrey Jones who has been in London just three months. It s a Challenge and something different from the other 18 years i be served in the  when it comes to the Job most people find it re warding. Working Here is such a learning experience Levis que said. On previous assignments you just took or Ders and did your Job. But Here you Sec How the orders arc made the decisions that go behind them and All the politics involved. It s All the things that affect a   and when it comes to relaxing there s something for everyone. During your first year Here you kind of visit All of the tourist attractions like Windsor Palace and West Minster Reeder said. But after that it sort of Var ies.". Seaman Christopher trimmer likes to visit pubs and discos and meet the people who frequent them. I find it More fun because you can meet people from other places in the world the 20-year-old St. Petersburg Fla native said. I Don t know How Many limes i be gone to a club and talked to people from Germany or  most of the people volunteered to come to England while others were selected As part of the regular assign ment process. But despite How they got Here few seem to regret the move. The actual Job Here is As hard As any other Job la Vosque said. The Day can be 12 to 13 hours Long. But after you re finished there s All kinds of things to do. I love it  visionaries guess wildly at societies of future by Mike Robinson the associated press Washington people dwelling in undersea colonies 1,000 feet deep. Military biological agents to destroy an enemy s will to resist. A base on the Moon artificial life control of the weather. All that was supposed to happen by the 1990s, according to futurists scientists economists govern ment officials and free Lance visionaries who make a habit of peering up the River of time. Of so foresight in t always 20-20. When it comes to anticipating Chat s going to happen in the larger world a year from now 10 years from now a Century from now we become increasingly uncomfortable said Edward Cornish of the world future society a 25,000-member group that meets Here june 27-july 1. Sessions will focus on schools health jobs any thing with a future. And based on the track record there Are sure to be on target predictions to go Alon with those whose a rightness produces optical delusions. The society was launched in 1966, that year vice president Hubert h. Humphrey a charter member offered these predictions in its first report artificial human organs Organ transplants psychiatric drugs teaching machines and an american base on the Moon. Only the Moon base is missing. Among the fumbled forecasts undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau envision cd Ocean dwellers living More than 1,000 feet deep. Science fiction novelist Isaac Asimov agreed and wrote that the Chance of catching a dinner in your front Yard once possible for Early americans will once again be possible  Athelstan Spilhaus Dean of the University of Minnesota Institute of technology said conventional oceangoing ships would be junked in favor of submarines eliminating the problem of wind and Waves. One writer suggested that by the year 2007 re searchers would develop a drug to regenerate arms and legs. Author Dave Walter of the Montana state historical society in a new Book then today tells How american leaders were asked in 1893 to envision the world of 1993. They included a 3,000-mile pneumatic tube to deliver the mail across country and a dirigible in every garage. But they also foresaw a Telephone in every House and the coming of the air plane