European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 11, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday july 11, 1994 the stars and stripes Page 3 Sisouda Bay by sue Palumbo Mediterranean Bureau. Souda Bay Crete a Navy officials at naval support activity Souda Bay have done everything possible to discourage sailors from bringing their families to the Small isolated duty station. Despite their Best efforts there arc a few who Are determined to keep their families together. A at first All people would Tell us is a you re not supposed to be Here a a said Sondra Frazier wife of Petty officer 3rd class Charles Frazier. A no matter what question we asked that was always the  Souda Bay has always been an unaccompanied one year tour for most military personnel said capt. Mike Fenn the commander. Except for a handful of military positions the Navy will not sponsor family members. Souda Bay 15 Miles East of the City of Chania is the Only military base left on the Island. Charles Frazier had been working As the bases weather officer for about six months when he decided to Send for his wife and daughters Kayla 5, and p.j., 3. His military supervisors strongly discouraged him from bringing his family Over but stopped Short of ordering him not to. Lack of a family support network is one of the main reasons Souda Bay is an unaccompanied tour finn said. Some spinning by j. King Cruger. Northern Italy Bureau a Vicenza Italy a the . Army a Southern european task Force has come up with a wheel solution to the problem of moving soldiers and equipment Over Hilly and rough terrain. The command which has its Headquarters in Vicenza recently tested several different italian off Road vehicles and is nov looking to buy a few. A they of setae officials were very Happy with the tests and have made a decision to buy providing that Money for the vehicles can be found in the budget a said Giuliano do Andrea the commands science adviser. A a the various vehicles sell for $5,000 to $7,000 apiece. They Are All built by a single manufacturer in Northern Italy. The setae testing was part of a continuing project under the army Materiel come program for Field assistance in science and technology. Do Andrea one of 19 science advisers serving major army commands worldwide introduced setae to the off Road vehicles. The italian army has been using the vehicles for its Mountain troops for several years do Andrea said. The off readers could be used As scout vehicles and Battlefield couriers or to resupply Forward positions where larger vehicles could not go according to do Andrea. Recently the 81 my mortar platoon from set aft a 3rd in 325th inf airborne combat Tea deployed with three of the vehicles to an exercise in Germany. The vehicles were an Alpetre a wheeled motor tricycle towing a trailer an alpe Para a kind of dirt Bike driven by a Belt of revolving Teeth and the summer version of the alpe Scooter a motorcycle Type vehicle is can the base medical and dental clinic is not equipped to care for family members. There is no department of defense dependents schools facility. A Small combined Exchange and commissary is the Only base shopping facility. Although the Exchange is designed to support unaccompanied personnel Sondra Frazier said it has an adequate selection of family items such As children s shoes and clothes. She said Exchange personnel go out of their Way to support All of their customers. A Navy officials warned Charles Frazier that bringing his family to Souda Bay would create a financial hard ship. But the Frazier family decided that continued separation posed an even greater hardship. More than three quarters of the 300 permanently air signed personnel receive an extra housing allowance to rent apartments on the Economy. Despite the. Allow Ance the fraziers said the Strain of supporting a household both in the states and in Crete was sinking them deep into debt. A you would think that if they Are going to make them live off base then the Money they get should cover All of their expenses a Sondra Frazier said. A but it  the Lack of official support for families the fraziers said they made the right decision. They pay less for a three bedroom House with a Yard in Crete than they did for a smaller place in the states. Electricity is expensive about $700 every four months but in general the Cost of living is Low they said. The fraziers Are not alone in bucking the system. Charles Frazier said there Are about a half dozen people who have brought their families Over for at least a portion of their Tours. Several defense department civilians also brought their families to Souda Bay. There Are no regulations requiring them to be unaccompanied. A a we re Here because of a Lack of information a said Terri Thomas whose civilian husband works Amhe fire station. A we Khew it May be a hardship duty but this concept did not enter my mind. There Are 18 More people on their Way to the fire station and you know that some of them will have families. You can to continue to ignore the problem Lack of family support facilities because its not going to go away.�?�. She said it is the Lack of medical facilities a school and children a programs that has her up in arms a the Navy has no plans to make this an accompanied tour a Fenn said. A whenever you have families you have to add an Exchange a Hospital a school and countless other support facilities. It ends up becoming much larger than it is supposed to. The military is under a lot of pressure to reduce costs not increase  a. A. A a for a amp is Arrn sgt. Alar Moore Cpl Donald Gowin left and spec. Terry Bennett prepare to take the Alpetre off Road vehicle for a spin around the obstacle course at Vicenza Italy. Off Road vehicles arc being tested for use by some . Troops. Specially made to venture where other motorized vehicles cannot. By replacing the front wheel with a ski the alpe Scooter can be changed in a very Short time into its Winter version capable of towing sleds or stretchers Over Frozen slopes. Both the Alpetre and alpe Para Are particularly suited for airborne troops because both vehicles can be parachuted do Andrea said. First it. Jason e. Kelley the mortar platoon Leader who led the testing in Germany noted that the alpe Para with its few moving parts can be made operational in about five  one Soldier after an Airdrop. Kelley who came up with a list of suggested modifications for the vehicles judged that if the changes Are made the vehicles a can fill the Gap Between the foot Soldier and larger  Avia no officials seek to rid radio station of hot Ai r by j. King Cruger Northern Italy Bureau Aviano a Italy a officials with the air f orce broadcasting service at Aviano a Are hoping to get pne of their radio stations Back Oil the air sometime this week. High temperatures overwhelmed an ailing air conditioner and silenced american forces networks pm >07, one of two . Radio stations serving  area around the air base said officials with the air Force broadcasting sen ice at the base s det 8. To restore the network the bases 31st civil engineering so is installing a More powerful air conditioner at the transmitting site. Quot hopefully pm 107 should be Back up on thursday a said air Force master sgt. Larry Palmer the detachments chief Engineer. The station has been off the air for More than two weeks the detachment was forced to pull the plug when temperatures in the upper 80s on june 23 threatened to damage the stations transmitting equipment located High above Aviano on mount born ass. Transmitting equipment there sends signals not Only for pm 107, but also for a pm 106 and the television station. The temperature inside the transmitter building hit 106 degrees Palmer said. A that meant that the temperature was reaching 120 to 130 degrees within the equipment Racks and such High temperatures could Fry the equipment Quot Palmer said Friday. The real threat to the equipment came not so much from the hot weather but from the poor performance of the building s air conditioning unit he said. Although the unit has been replaced by a temporary one it Isnit powerful enough to Cool the transmitting equipment used by the two radio stations and the television station. The detachment could sufficiently Cool Only two of its three transmitters. It chose to close Down pm 107, leaving a pm 106 on the air because 106 is considered the More important of the to to radio stations. A pm 106 is used As the air bases command information station Palmer said. A even though it is Cool and Rainy out today we can to switch pm 107 Back on because the transmitters Are in a sealed room that is not that much affected by outside temperatures Quot he said a the heat simply builds up because of the running of the electrical