European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 24, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday october 24, 1994 the stars and stripes Page 3 scanners awaiting stamp of approval unite test system by Darrell Lewis staff writer snags in the military postal system May be detected More quickly if a new system designed to keep track of mail from the United states passes a six week test in Europe. A prototype automated system that monitors the time it takes mail to arrive from the United states is being tested at six mail centers and a Central data site i Germany at least through nov. 15. The test May extend through the Holiday sea son.  the system which uses scanners bar codes and computers could be in stalled at military Post offices worldwide if tests show that it quickly and efficiently accounts for inbound mail. The. System is a unique program specifically designed for our military needs overseas said chief warrant officer Joseph Eagle test installer for the military postal service., it replaces the stubby Pencil and ran Dom analysis method Eagle said refer ring to the antiquated method of deter mining sometimes months later or notate All where problems festered. The , postal service paid for the test equipment and helped set up the sys tem in Germany earlier this fall. Mail trucks arrive Early in the morning at military Post offices at Marnstein a and Kapaun air station and at army Ca Serns in Kaiserslautern Heidelberg Stuttgart and Grafe Wohr. There postal workers armed with scanners Zap a laser beam across a 29-digit bar code stuck on packages of containers of mail. The sys Tern is much like those used widely in grocery stores to ring up food and other items. -. The scanners store the data logging each numbered item s Date of arrival. Once the morning s mail has been logged in the collected information then is transmitted to a Central computer at the Frankfurt air terminal. In turn the information is sent stateside to track each package or Container s journey. Once collected stateside the information is made available to Field postal units. The system monitors each coded item arrival at three Points its origin in the states its entry Point into the military postal system and the final Post office. If there s a delay with an aircraft for example we can go Back and say there s this specific problem Eagle said. It gives us a Means to Analyse a prob Lem and fix it. We can also Tell the Cus Tomer with great accuracy How Long Mai should take to arrive he said. The Standard goal is seven Days formal to arrive in people s mailboxes said Jim Iwaniec management analyst for 1st personnel come s postal operations directorate at Schwet Zingen Ger Many. For letters to arrive at Apos in Ger Many it is running at about 96 percent within seven Days he said. The directorate is excited about the Opportunity to test the system Eagle said. They want to continue testing through the Christmas season he said. All our people like it. It s much less labor intensive said Iwaniec adding it s super. I m an old uses Guy and Idon t impress  postal officials say they Are confident that the test will be successful. Eventually they expect the system to be used by the military worldwide. How Long is a delicate Issue. By the end of 1995, i Don t see Why it can t Bedone throughout Europe Eagle said. Typically bugs have to be handled before the system makes its grand Entrance into military and even postal history. There s still some problems with the mainframe Iwaniec said referring to some bumps in the information super Highway Between Frankfurt s Central computer and the . Receiver. We be got some Good computer peo ple working on it he said. We can scan All Day but if we can t translate the data we re no better  at the army Post office at Kleber Ca sern in Kaiserslautern mail supervisor Willie Pettway has More practical con Cerns for the newfangled gadgets that Promise to free us from a lot of paper work he said. %. We Haven t really worked in any col weather and we Don t know How Long the batteries will last Pettway said of the hand held scanners.  Kovlan Dougher Yarmy 1st it. Paul Finley Community postal officer for the 115th adjutant general co postal in Kaiser Slauter tries out new scanning equipment that promises to help spot backups in postal service More quickly. Czech officers visiting unit in Heidelberg Heidelberg Germany is a delegation of four senior army officers from the czech Republic will visit nato s Allied land forces Central Europe Headquarters today and tuesday As part of the partnership for peace program. Dutch army Gen. Marinus Wilmink land cent commander will Host the czech inspector of the army maj. Gen. Karel Kuba and his Fel Low envoys to Foster a Mutual understanding be tween nato and non nato armed forces and to discuss future joint exercises according to a press release from the Headquarters Public in formation office. Wilmink visited the czech armed forces in late september. After an initial Welcome by a nato guard and representatives of seven nato nations at the Heidelberg Headquarters the guests will at tend some briefings then visit the City with lord mayor Beate Weber. On tuesday the group will visit a . Training facility  simulation Center in Schwein Furt and a joint .-German corps. Army no killed in Grafe Wohr Accident bad Kreuz Nach Germany is a 1st army div Soldier died saturday in an Accident during vehicle recovery operations at Grafe Wohr training area. ". Sgt. Jeffrey Smith a 26-year-old Mechanic with the Headquarters of 4th in 12th inf was caught Between a recovery vehicle and an m2 Bradley fighting vehicle about 11 . He was pronounced dead at Grafe Wohr medical clinic at 11 56 . Sergeant Smith was a Superb Mechanic and non commissioned officer. He was Well liked and admired by All the soldiers with whom he worked. The pain of his loss has touched each and every Soldier of this Bat Talion said it. Col. Volney j. Warner Smith s Battal Ion commander. Smith had been selected for promotion so he will be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant. The native of Amarillo Texas entered the  1987 and came to Germany in 1992. Smith is. Survived by his wife Michelle and sons Roger 2, and Jeffrey,-2 months All in Baum older and his. Parents William and Loretta Smith of Amarillo. His battalion will conduct a memorial service at 3 . Today in Grafe Wohr stateside funeral arrange ments have not been confirmed. The Accident is under investigation. Some unaware of no Fly Rule officer says Oklahoma City a Many Crew members aboard radar planes monitoring the no Fly zone Over Iraq did not know that . Helicopters should have been kept out of the area an air Force officer testified . James Saylor was aboard the airborne warning and control system  guard when two . Air Force fighter jets shot Down two army Black Hawk helicopters in april. He said that he and others weren t aware of the Rule to keep Friendly aircraft out of the no Fly zone. Five Azacs officers Are accused of dereliction of duty because they did t warn the jets about the Heli copters. The Friendly fire Downing killed 26 people. Saylor testified at the article 32 hearing the military equivalent of a grand jury that he was in the Back of the radar plane eating when the disaster occurred and did not see radar screens just before the helicopters were shot Down. Previous witnesses testified that the radar Crew should have known about the flight restrictions