European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 21, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 4 the stars and stripes thursday july 21, 1994army Europe to switch travel agent ousted Sato says change illegal readies Gao protest by Mark Kinkade stall writer. The . Army Europe will end its 11-year association with sat travel opting instead to award a two year contract to Wagon lit travel according to Sato officials. Sato plans to protest the change to the government accounting office claiming Usa eur contract requirements Are illegal because they Call for the travel agent to give the government a rebate on both official and Leisure travel said Graham Monk Sato s contracting director. A we have a whole series of protests a Monk said wednesday. A there s a Strong body of opinion among attorneys that the contract is illegal and we re preparing to take it to the Gao and Federal court if the new contract estimated to be Worth about $76.3 million in government and personal travel costs starts oct. 1. The contract gives Wagon lit exclusive official travel booking rights in Usa eur in Exchange for guaranteed travel fee rebates to the government Monk said. Concession fees go to the commands morale welfare and recreation fund. Since 1989, Sato travel sales tallied More than $300 million producing More than $18 million in mar funds according to Usa eur officials. _ Usa eur officials said Wagon lit will take Over Sato operations in Germany Italy Belgium and the Netherlands satos contract with the air Force is still in effect. The army command expects the Agency to operate put. Of Sato buildings with a new logo and new staff of travel agents according to a command statement wednesday. With the new contract the army will get a Concession fee of 6,15 percent on Leisure travel bookings according to Usa eur. Under the old Sato contract the Concession fee was 6 percent of the amount paid for airline or train tickets and bus Tours. Also Usa eur gets a 3.15 percent discount rate for official travel with Wagon lit. Sato did t offer a discount on official travel Usa eur said. According to Monk Sato offered to rebate the gov eminent 3.5 percent of All monies collected for official travel 4,5 percent for Leisure travel and 25 percent of All commissions the Agency would have earned on hotel and car rentals. A it looks like the awarding of the contract was strongly influenced by Concession fees called for in the army a request a Monk said wednesday. Quot what concerns us is you have a contract award dictated by unofficial the most recent travel Agency change brings familiar woes to the army. In 1985, Barbarossa travel service sued the army in Federal court to Stop Sato then known As the scheduled airline traffic office from taking Over the commands travel arrangements. The suit alleged that Sato took Over As exclusive travel agent for the army without bidding on a contract. Since then Sato has expanded its operations providing ticket issuing services on most major military installations in Europe and the United states. In 1990, Sato operated 67 offices in Germany alone. As of june 1, that number dropped to 40 offices throughout Europe. Sato has operated stateside since the 1950s. The new contract does no to affect stateside Sato opera Lions Monk said. However the Gao protest could result in changes to future contract terms with the army if the accounting office rules in favor of Sato he added a the army should be concerned with securing official travel a Monk said. A it be part and parcel to what a going on now. Leisure travel and official travel should be considered the current . Army contract in the United states is similar to usage urn a contract. The Navy is the Only Branch of the service that separates Leisure and official travel in its contracts Monk said. Navy official travel is contracted solely to Sato while Leisure travel is open for smaller travel agencies to bid on a Leisure travel is the Domain of smaller travel agents a Monk said. He added that Sato is chiefly interested in official travel but could not say How much Money government travel generated for his company Las year. By Kevin Robinson staff writer As stars and stripes and cafes officials prepare for the september inventory and Transfer of the bookstores the two organizations Are still negotiating How much of the books and magazines Are part of the Deal. The inventory and Transfer a mandated by Congress to be completed by oct. I a will be done on schedule Exchange officials said in a recent statement from their Dallas Headquarters. Before oct. 1, personnel from the army and. Air Force Exchange service and stars and stripes will conduct a september inventory of the individual stores Stock of books magazines and other merchandise. What Isnit Clear is How much of. The existing Bookstore inventory will be accepted by cafes and what will happen to merchandise left unclaimed by the military retail organization. Air Force maj. Gen Robert of Swarts cafes commander is currently visiting Exchange officials in Europe. However he was unavailable for interviews an cafes Europe spokeswoman said. Stars and stripes has provided Exchange officials with a listing of the merchandise available in its bookstores said air Force col Steve Hoffman commander publisher of the european stars and stripes. A based on the cafes management pledge to customers on selection there should be Only a very Small portion of. Our current inventory which May not be transferred a he said. V. Hoffman said stars and stripes will continue ongoing Bookstore discounts. And a if it becomes necessary a it will have warehouse sales to liquidate merchandise that cafes does not accept. On monday stars and stripes Bookstore officials received a memorandum from the Exchange that spelled out cafes conditions for the books and magazines it will accept said Chris Ryan director of stars and stripes Bookstore operations. A the final Fate of any unaccepted merchandise will be an Issue for the department of defense to decide Ryan said. A since we Only received this information cafes memorandum monday we arc still in the process of reviewing their officials say their buyers Are c an Vassi no com m u in tie s to dete r m i tie a based on Bookstore size sales and customer makeup a How they Wilt individually Stock their Book Marks. In september stripes bookstores Are expected to close individually during the inventory and Transfer process for about two to three Days on a rotational schedule. Dates of Book Mark openings will be announced at each location the Exchange statement said. Sex crimes suspect met kids As Volunteer aide army says Augsburg Germany a amps a military platoon Leader accused of to testing children Over a period of nine months met them while volunteering for various Community organizations according to an Augsburg Community spokeswoman. First it. Andrew g. Aull assigned to the 66th military intelligence brigade faces More than a dozen counts of sex re lated offences with children 11 to 14 years old said spokeswoman Karin Johnson. Although she would not discuss the sexes of the children nor which organizations were involved Johnson said that the alleged incidents occurred in Anil s bachelors officers quarters from september 1993 to june 1994. A we can to give any More specific information because we done to want to jeopardize the Case a said the spokeswoman for the 236th base support in. At this Point in the investigation no one else has been implicated she said. The investigation by the criminal investigation come known As Cid and a family advocacy team from the . Army Europe a Headquarters in Heidelberg resulted in charges against Aull including indecent acts and indecent liberties and language with a minor. Charges also included one of sodomy one of extortion and two of assault. The 24-year-old lieutenant from Oswego 111., also was charged with conduct unbecoming an officer. Sergeant hit by car Dies of injuries bad Kreuz Nach Germany a amps a a a 26-year-old. Army sergeant stationed in Mannheim died tuesday afternoon of injuries suffered Early saturday when he was hit by a car according to a statement from the 1st army div sgt. Leslie w. Payne was crossing Bun de Strasse 38 in Mannheim a Kafer Tal District on foot at about 1 05 . Saturday when he was struck by a car driven by a 24-year-old German woman said the statement citing i reformation provided by the 293rd base support in in Mannheim. Payne was a medic with he co 3rd in 77th Armor regt. The unit is part of the 1st army div which has its Headquarters in bad Kreuz Nach. A memorial service will be held for the Rocky Gap va., native at 2 . Friday in the Benjamin Franklin Village Chapel in Mannheim a 1st army div spokesman said wednesday. Also severely injured in. The Accident was a 22-year-old German woman who was a passenger in the Drivers vehicle. Payne and the passenger were taken to Mannheim Jim Kurt where both were initially listed in critical condition. The Driver of the vehicle sustained minor injuries Payne is survived by his wife Karen a daughter Amanda 7 and a son Kevin 4. Parents Kenneth and Brenda Payne live in Bluefield w.Power failures strike Aviano a after thunderstorms Aviano a Italy a amps a an electrical Power surge Likely caused by a lightning strike brought intermittent Power losses tuesday to Aviano a. The Power failures were confined to the base s areas 1 and 2, the most congested of the widespread base and did not affect the flight line area according to capt. Bart Barnhart chief of maintenance engineering for Aviano a 31st civil engineering so. The Power losses began at midday during one of the frequent thunderstorms that have swept through the area in recent Days. A a 1. The affected areas located in the town of Aviano about three Miles North of the main base and flight line facilities suffered lengthy Power failures from Early tuesday afternoon until Well into the evening. A your problems were not cleared up until about Midnight a Barnhart said wednesday. A the surge More than Likely storm related caused a High voltage switch to fail in the main substation in area 2. It took several hours to get a new switch and have it the Power failures interrupted Normal activities in the affected areas. Area 1 contains the Post office and most shopping outlets while area 2 features living dining and recreational facilities. Although storms continued in the area wednesday Barnhart reported no further electrical problems. A everything is fixed now and we Are Good to
