European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 16, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes War in the Balkans a wednesday february 16,1994 by Vince Crawley staff writer Camp Pleso Croatia a the . Air Force has done its Best Over the past five months to turn the spartan military tent City Here into a Small american town. The Camp at the Edge of Zagreb Airport now boasts an american club a Burger King a general store style base Exchange a pizzeria a hotel if you done to mind sleeping in tents and a movie theater Well its really a 51-Inch television slated to show first run videos. And since it is the site of the .-. Tent Hospital in Croatia Camp Pleso boasts excellent Access to medical care. When the Navy moves in next month to take Over the medical Mission from the air Force there seven talk of moving out of the tents and into buildings. Quot we started with nothing a said air Force tech. Sgt. Michael l. Woods of the 48th air transportable Hospital from Raf Lakenheath England. Quot now anything that a base would normally have we have a said Woods who serves As chief of morale welfare and recreation at the Camp. Still most americans say they will be glad when their six month tour finishes next month. A a everybody a anticipating going Home a said senior airman Preston d. To Esau Johnson 23, from the 48th, the Brooklyn native a medical technician who handles the hospitals blood Supply said the continual improvements at Camp Pleso have the unit Well prepared. A we can Deal with just about anything at this Point including the serbs retaliating to the threat of being bombed a he said referring to sunday s nato deadline for the bosnian serbs to pull their. Is amps John Bomor senior airman Preston d. To Esau Johnson who handles the hospitals blood Supply said the Campos improvements have the unit Well prepared. A amps John Bohmer air Force tech. Sgt. Michael la Woods is chief of morale welfare and recreation at Camp Pleso. Artillery Back from Sarajevo. Nato has threatened airstrikes against serbian positions around Sarajevo if the serbs done to pull Back by the deadline. Although Well outside Bosnia and Herzegovina the . Tent Hospital is within missile Range of serbian forces in both Bosnia and Croatia. The . Military presence in Croatia began in november 1992 with the Short notice deployment of the 212th Mobile army surgical Hospital from Wiesbaden Germany to Zagreb a Pleso Airport. The 48th is the third unit to occupy the tents which were set up on Concrete in front of an Airport hangar to avoid minefields still present in the area. The Navy will take its turn beginning in March when it will staff the Hospital with sailors from 10 bases on the West coast of the United states. Woods said facilities at Pleso Likely will keep improving As each successive unit leaves its Mark. A when we first arrived everybody was sleeping in cots a Woods said of the air forces deployment to the Hospital five months ago. Every other contingency of . Troops had Beds a but we were told we were not authorized to have Beds a Woods said. He challenged the . Bureaucracy and within two weeks everyone at the Camp swapped their army cots for bunks. Every resident at Camp Pleso also has a private a room a thanks to cloth partitions inside the tents. / however the living quarters remain plagued by frequent Heater outages and heavy snows nearly collapsed the tents in november. Thus the Navy medical people say they will Hunt for buildings to stay in when their staff arrives next month. A i get a feeling a Woods said a that this operation Here is probably going to go on for a w  . Envoy Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina apr an american Diplomat expressed Confidence tuesday that a nato ultimatum aimed at ending the 22-month-old siege of Sarajevo will open new avenues for peace in Bosnia. Charles Redman the . Envoy to bosnian peace talks made the comment As diplomatic efforts to Avert More fighting intensified fewer than six Days before a nato deadline for removal of artillery from around the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nato has threatened to bomb gun positions if bosnian serbs besieging Sarajevo and Muslim led government troops defending the City do not remove howitzers and mortars or put them under strict . Control by Midnight sunday. So far few of the heavy weapons have been taken out of commission. But with a tense truce still holding in the City after five Days Redman and russian Deputy foreign minister Vitaly Churkin appeared intent on avoiding nato air attacks and the possibility of the War escalate. Gang.  a a a a a a a. A from what i have heard Here i think we can be confident the United nations is going to accomplish its Mission in a Way that is consistent with what nato has asked for a Redman said. He said there is a new momentum with which diplomats might be Able to Spur the bosnian peace talks which have entered on dividing Bosnia into Muslim serbian and croatian states. Churkin whose government opposes nato air  tacks said he was hopeful diplomatic efforts will disc Gage the warring forces around Sarajevo and avoid outside military intervention. A a should there be a failure in this process. The worst things will happen a he warned. In two other developments a . Officials said they were bringing More troops to Sarajevo to help the 1,400 peacekeepers in the City Monitor compliance with the nato deadline. A warplanes from Raf Lakenheath England arrived at Aviano a Italy As part of nato plans to in-., crease firepower. A . Spokesman it. Col. Bill Aikman said about 170 soldiers from a nordic battalion in Northern Bosnia Are due in Sarajevo on thursday and peacekeepers from neighbouring Croatia also Are expected in the next few Days. He declined to give a total for the reinforcements. In a sign of the delicate state of affairs Aikman said the United nations would no longer release Fig ures on weapons surrendered to . Control. As of monday Only about 40 heavy weapons mostly from the serbian Side had been reported turned in. Bosnian serbs Are believed to have As Many As 500 howitzers and mortars around the City. The outgunned government has 50 or so. Nato issued its ultimatum feb. 9, four Days after a mortar Shell killed 68 people in Sarajevo scentral Market. The attack is widely believed to have been made by bosnian serbs despite their denials.. Denies plans to open Tula s Airfield by Wayne a Hall staff writer officials with the . High Coninis sooner for refugees denied tuesday that agreement was reached on reopening the Tula Airfield in Bosnia and Herzegovina for humanitarian Relief flights a there is no specific Date for the opening of the Airfield a said Ron Redmond a spokesman for the Agency during a Telephone interview from Zagreb Croatia. A the Unher has recommended that it be opened and would like to see it opened and operated in the same manner that the Sarajevo Airport  a we do not have anything on that flights to Tula yet a said capt. Ray Cornelius a spokesman with the operation provide Promise joint information Bureau at Rhein main a Germany. A your involvement is at the request of the Unher. When we receive the request that show Well  the comments came in response to news reports primarily from the associated press that . Commanders had completed plans to open the Tula Airfield and defend it with air Power if necessary. Negotiations to free the serbian besieged Airport have been under Way among. The . Refugee Agency the . Protection Force and the regions three warring factions a the serbs croats and muslims. An open Airfield is not the Only ingredient involved in bringing Relief flights to Tula. An air corridor must be established for the planes to follow safely to their destination said Redmond adding a so far we re not having much  Tula has about 450,000 people needing humanitarian assistance including 7,425 metric tons 8,167.5 tons of food monthly according to the Unher. Last month Only 1,837 metric tons 2,020.7 tons of food reached Tula. The Unher has been relying on ground convoys to deliver the Relief but officials believe that Airlift operations could go a Long Way to increase the amounts that can be delivered. Airlift operations provide about 90 percent of needed Relief for Sarajevo the bosnian capital. Redmond did not know which country would ultimately Fly the Relief missions to Tula noting that nations Volunteer to Fly the missions. The intent is not to divert Relief flights that Are going to Sarajevo but to increase the number of planes involved in the Relief Effort. As of tuesday Airlift operations out of Rhein main have delivered More than 37,290 tons of food and supplies into Sarajevo and air dropped More than 15,480 tons of food 192 tons of medical supplies and 412 bundles of cold weather Aid into Eastern Bosnia