European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 8, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday november 8.�?T1993 a a d f the stan9 Ano stripes Page 3. A. A. Sas Gary a we a a night vision scope provides a shadowy View of a Rescue Drill by the provide Comfort joint special operations task Force. Task Force in Turkey ready to drop in to Rescue victims by Gary Miller. Mediterranean Bureau in Ciurlik a Turkey a the Hump Hump Hump of a Rotor disturbing the night silence was the Only Giveaway that a helicopter was flying Over an open Field just inside the perimeter of the air base. On the ground a woman pretending to be the survivor of an air crash waved a glow stick at the incoming copter. Members of the provide Comfort joint special operations task Force were practising for a situation they Hope never happens the Downing of a coalition aircraft enforcing the no Fly zone Over Northern Iraq. A fortunately its been a pretty Safe program a air Force col. Thiery g. Curtis said of the no Fly Effort to protect kurd in Northern Iraq from the forces of president Saddam Hussein. A your jobs been to wait until something happens a said Curtis the special operations task Force commander. He added that besides training five Days a week task Force members Are on standby when coalition aircraft Are flying. If a plane should crash in Iraq task Force aircraft would conduct recovery operations at night giving rescuers the advantage provided by their night vision systems. During the practice at the air base incur like a lights illuminated the Field brighter than an Aresu Puld be during an actual Rescue. But even with tag highter lights the practice could be seen Only wit Hwght vision goggles. The Rescue took Only a few minutes and was an eerie sight As seen through the goggles shades of Green. An Mh-60g pave Hawk helicopter moved close to the crash survivor. Army Green berets and air Force specialists then Slid Down a rope from the aircraft to the ground. Two of the soldiers provided Security while an air Force medic tended to the survivor and a combat air controller established Contact with the Rescue copter which had pulled Back and was circling several Hundred feet overhead. The team members then determined that it was Safe for the helicopters return to the crash site to retrieve the victim and her rescuers. Task Force members conduct these practices weekly said sgt. 1st class Bill Tolley the first person Down the rope during the drink a we interact with the air Force a Tolley said. A we decide what we re going to do then work out the  Tolley and his fellow soldiers from co a 3rd in 10th special forces group airborne practice different operations including Parachute drills. Such practices Are intended mainly to maintain troop proficiency said army maj. Jim Yeager commander of Coc. A parachuting into a crash site would complicate the situation Yeager said because the Only Way out then would probably be by foot. A there Are a lot of different scenarios we practice a said air Force chief master sgt. Scott Denton. A tonight we were operating As if we were in an envy Sas Zafy Mitor task Force members practice their Parachute skills. Rosment with terrain where the Helo can to land a Denton explained. A the Best Rescue situation would be for a helicopter to land and crash survivors to walk Over to the chopper and climb in Denton said. Helicopters assigned to the special operations task Force Are from the ssh special operations so from Hurlburt Field Fla., and the 71st special operations so a Reserve unit from Davis Monthan fab Ariz. The pave Hawks carry a variety of radar and navigational systems night vision and imaging systems min machine guns on each Side and a so Caliper gun. The special operations choppers also Are equipped with probes for in flight refuelling. They get their fuel from Hc-130 combat shadows aircraft which would Fly with them during a Rescue Mission. Combat shadows which special operations troops can use for parachuting and other procedures also can help the helicopters search for a downed aircraft and deploy flares to illuminate the area said air Force maj. Kirby Locklear of the 9th special operations so from Eglin fab Fla. A we stay flexible a said army master sgt. Michael Garvey. A that Way the environment does no to limit our capability to do our  pay snafus for med teachers eased officials say by Jimi Jones education writer air Force finance officials say they have solved Many of the payroll problems that have plagued Dodds teachers m the Mediterranean Region though perhaps not enough of them to Avert a planned protest this week. A spokesman for the overseas federation of teachers said the group will decide tuesday whether to picket an air Force finance office at Ramstein a Germany on thursday. The Union said about 50 protesters from several european countries intend to picket and distribute leaflets near the Ramstein Exchange for about four hours beginning at noon. Ramstein a 26th regional accounting and finance office which was activated in april As part of the draw Down restructuring serves about 850 employees with the department of defense dependents schools. Over the past year complaints from the Mediterranean have included incorrect pay no pay deductions without explanation and slow assistance in resolving problems or no assistance at All. Emest Lehmann the unions european director said last week that the finance office has tried to address some of the complaints. A individual problems Are being handled but we re concerned about systemic problems a Lehmann said. In a nov. 3 letter to Michael Ayers regional accounting and finance officer Lehmann spelled out specific institutional problems that affect teachers pay. They included inadequate explanations of changes to net pay fica Federal insurance contribution act computations and reconciliation of both living quarters allowance and annual salary. A i think the service they Are getting is much improved Over say six months ago a said col. Chuck Bouboulis chief of the . Air forces in Europe accounting and finance division. Bouboulis said he and various financial representatives met to try to resolve the problems. The unions decision to picket also got the attention of Dodds Headquarters based in Virginia. Labor relations chief Martin Frantz told Lehmann in an oct. 29 letter that service had improved a dramatically from last  at the time of the letter Frantz said there were about 10 unresolved pay problems. Dodds med employees pay was handled by the civilian pay office at Tor Rejon a Spain until 1988 and then was shifted to Ramstein a base level finance office. It was transferred to the regional accounting and finance office when it was established around april complicating the process Bouboulis said. Several initiatives have been installed to improve pay services a direct Deposit of civilian pay to individual Bank accounts to enhance timeliness and eliminate lost checks. A installation of an automated time and attendance system to improve the processing and accuracy of time and attendance data for updating the payroll system. A linking with the Dodds electronic mail system to answer pay inquiries. R