European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 21, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday april 21, 1994 the stars and stripes Page 3 Rota a m i lies Wade the Roug h fire c i Aims Navy works to help victims get proper payments Sysu Palumbo Mediterranean Bureau naval station Rota Spain officials at naval station Rota Are scrambling to assist the 39 serv ice members who lost All or part of their household goods and personal effects in a civilian warehouse fire april 11, a Public affairs spokesman said this week. The cause of the fire is under investigation said chief Petty officer Terry Briggs Public affairs officer. The base commander several military organizations and Relief agencies met with victims Friday to pass out information answer questions and assist with filing claims. More than $75,000 in partial claims payments had been distributed As of wednesday to those with imme Diate needs base officials said. Exchange officials set up special payment plans and Home layaway limits for household items and military uniforms. The housing office and family service Cen Ter offered the use of furniture and leaner closets. These people have suffered a horrendous loss said cmdr. Dave White a lawyer with Rota s naval Legal services office. The idea is not to pour Salt in their wounds by making the claim filing process an on Erous one and at the same time be responsible to the taxpayers on How we re spending their  the majority of people lost their entire household goods shipments said it. Cmdr. David Warkentien the materials officer and Relief coordinator. Of the destroyed shipments 32 belonged to sailors and seven to air Force members. Twenty three of the 39 shipments weighed Jess than 3,000 pounds. Those smaller shipments were attributed to single sailors or airmen Small families or those who had put some goods in storage. Petty officer 1st class Cheryl Smith Watkins was among those faced with spending hours checking her inventory sheets and leafing through Cata logs and Navy Exchange receipts to file her claim. The government reimburses families up to.$40,000 for household goods once they have filed a detailed claim that includes proof of Purchase and original Cost or the Cost of a comparable item White said. The personal property office was opened saturday to assist people with claim filing. Navy Exchange officials offered to look through their records and pull out any receipts or paperwork for people who bought items in Rota. When no paperwork was available the Legal of fice accepted affidavits from friends or co workers. I know our household goods were Worth much More than $40,000 Smith Watkins said. I had lots of a fire april 11 destroyed this warehouse near naval station Rota Spain and the effects of 39 sailors and airmen. Is High value items. Lladr6s and Crystal. Are they the government going to pay me for those items or Are they going to depreciate the value the Navy will not charge depreciation on artwork Sand will reimburse their losses up to $750 per piece Briggs said wednesday. However the Navy will pay no More than $2,000 for total Art losses in one incident Briggs said. White said he was Able to get an exception to the $40,000 per family limit for Smith Watkins and her husband because both Are in the military thus both Are entitled to a $40,000 claim. For Many of the victims the real tragedy was dealing with the loss of items that can t be replaced family photos keepsakes favorite toys and gifts from loved ones Are irreplaceable. A Counselor with the family service Center asked members of the Community to help those families leaving Rota by making copies of pictures of places the families had visited or of their children. We connect with objects said Cathy Adams Bomar chief of counselling at the family service Cen Ter. So when we begin to define what we be lost there is a great sense of personal loss. They need All of the support and reaching out from this Community As  army seeks to repair r sponsorship program by Cindy Killion Washington Bureau Washington the army sponsorship program for soldiers and civilians is broken officials acknowledge but they Hope new regulations and in creased command pressure will fix it. The program seeks to match arriving personnel with someone in the Soldier s or civilian s new unit who has the Sam family situation and is about the same age. For instance married soldiers wit elementary school aged children Are connected with others who have similar fam Ilies. The idea is that the sponsor will help the new Soldier Settle in faster wit fewer housing transportation school enrolment and other problems typically associated with a Transfer. Too often in the past the smiling face of the helpful sponsor just was there said a release issued tuesday that explained the changes. Program manager Shirley Brown said anew approach has made some substantial changes in the sponsorship  works for the army Community and family support Center in Alexan Dria a. The renewed emphasis is marked by regulation changes and in creased importance being placed on the sponsorship counselling checklist a form 5434she said. The form already existed but was Seldom used. One of the main concerns about the program was that soldiers were not completing the form during the initial re assignment interview Brown  the 5434 is the trigger for  now she said regulations require that before a Soldier moves to a new duty Sta Tion a reassignment interviewer must have the Soldier fill out the form and ver Ify that sponsorship counselling too place. A copy of the form is kept in the Soldier s reassignment file As a Quality control measure. In the past soldiers were told that they had to have a Spon Sor but that did t mean one would Actu ally be assigned or that the sponsor would do what was required Brown said. To repair that problem Brown said her office has developed a sponsor train ing support package that includes Avideo an instructor s guide for training sponsors and a sponsor s guide. Army lodging to be booked through toll free numbers Washington is defense department travellers even those overseas will be Able to Call a toll free number and make room reservations at nearly every army installation worldwide beginning May 1. The service will connect to a Central reservations Center to Book the rooms. The army runs one of the largest lodging operations in the world said cashes Mattox of the army s installation management office. Yet until now there was no centralized reservation system. To Book a room travellers had to find the phone number and Call the lodging office at each  he said travellers can Book rooms in visiting officers quarters visiting enlisted quarters or guest houses. The Central office also can give information of room rates directions credit cards that Are accepted and room additions such As cribs minibars refrigerators microwave ovens and the availability of nonsmoking rooms. In Germany the toll free number is 0130-81-7065 in Italy it s 1678-70555 and stateside the number is 1-800 go-army-1 1-800-462-7691. Koreans want historic gun Back Seoul South Korea a South korean generals want to retrieve a can non lost in a skirmish with american troops 123 years ago. The Cannon is one of two seized by . Navy ships in 1871, when they at tacked an Island fortress West of Seoul at a time when Western Powers were trying to Force Korea to open its ports to Trade. Retired Mai. Gen. John Singlaub for Mer commander of . Forces in South Korea said wednesday that he was asked by retired korean generals to help them retrieve one of the cannons on Dis play at the . Naval Academy in an Napolis my