European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 02, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday august2,. 1993 the stars and stripes s u is v vehicles belonging to the theater Reserve units army readiness package South stand at the i Hora Amy depot nor Uvora to gets a from Page 1 by army maj. Gen. David j. Baratto commander of the army s Southern european task Force of which the 8th sup port group is a key element. The face of Europe is changing and As Usa eur shrinks the 8th support group promises to grow in importance Baratto wrote in a recent command Mes Sage. Encompassing a 700-acre depot and a2,000-acre ammunition storage com Pound Camp Darby is a huge installation with easy Access to every Mode of trans port. A canal links Camp Darby with Liv Orno Italy s third largest seaport seven Miles to the South. More than 10 Miles of train tracks Snake through the base and connect it with Europe s main rail to Italy s Autostrada or High Way network Are minutes from Cam Darby and the Airport at Pisa just six Miles away can handle the . Air Force s largest transport planes. We at Camp Darby and they . Army Europe Headquarters think Camp Darby is absolutely critical strand said. If there n another depot like it i can t think of the Mission that has brought new vitality to Camp Darby is the theater re serve units army readiness package South. Started at Camp Darby in 1990, tru arps As it is better known is an enormous logistical package of pre positioned vehicles and equipment organized into sets for Quick Issue. Tru arps Homade up of enough pre positioned equipment to fully outfit two armoured two mechanized infantry battalions according to army 1st it. Michael Maahs Supply and operations officer at Camp Darby s general support Center. The value amount of stored material is in the billions of dollars said Maahs a 25-year-old resident of Wausau wis. We Are authorized 4,000 rolling Stock up Call items everything from my tanks to water trailers Maahs said. Vehicles Are stored outside in line stretching for hundreds of Yards. My tanks Are stored in hermetically sealed bags with controlled humidity. Bagging the tanks Means we can store them a whole lot longer without maintenance. The plan is to bag most of Pur tracked vehicles Maahs said. When a tank is needed it s a simple matter of taking off the bag and turning the key so to speak Maahs said. Storing and maintaining stocks Fortu arps plus stores for state department humanitarian Relief operations is carried out by 280 italians 30 . Mil itary personnel and 167 american civilian contract workers. The american civilians work for Lockheed support systems Light and heavy wheeled and tracked to 10 army Reserve components deploy to Camp Darby from . Annually to assist us. They Are a tremendous asset Maahs 250 engineers from the 30th engr brigade of the North Carolina National guard just wrapped up a deploy ment to Camp Darby while there the conducted several construction projects. Camp Darby is named in Honor of Brig. Gen. William q. Darby vice commander of the army s 10th Mountain div in world War ii who was killed while leading his troops in action in Northern Italy. The army established Camp Darby in1951 As a logistical support base for liberation forces stationed in Austria. These Days Gamp Darby s population including 850 . Military personnel numbers 3,700. Millions of dollars have been invested at Camp Darby during the last 10 years to improve warehouses and other storage facilities. Although Camp Darby is not immune to downsizing strand said the installation is looking Forward to being Here forthe indefinite first u. Michae Maahs above Supply and operations office rat Camp Darby s Gen eral support Center inspects a deployable con Tainer at the leghorn army depot an army reservist left help with a construction project at the depot. A american civilian employee below with Lockheed support sys tems inc. Repairs humvee. Photos of Michael Abrams
