European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 06, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday december 6, 1994 Center Deal program offering ways to Cope with spouses absence by Nancy  . Bureau Raf Lakenheath England Laura Wall whose air Force husband has been away frown Home on deployments for a total of one year out of the last 3viyears, knows How it feels to be left alone. It s hard because you re in a foreign country and you re not close to family at All Wall said. People whose husbands Are never gone Don t  Wall and other spouses at Lakenheath pre pare for their mates deployments is one reason that family readiness briefings Are mandatory for All in coming service members within 60 Days of their arrival said Katharine to Thomas director of the family support Center a position created in May to put life into an old pro Gram. Military families have always had to Cope with deployment Thomas said. However temporary duty assignments have be come More widespread in Wall recent years she said and there s now a 50-50 Chance that someone in the  forces in Europe is going to be deployed. As Christmas approaches about 450 of Lakenheath s total population of about 5,000 service members Are deployed said capt. Leo Devine chief of Public affairs. About two thirds of these people Are married. The briefing which lasts More than three hours helps service members plan their Legal and personal affairs before deploying officials  Means they and their families Are ready for the routine As Well As emergency situations said Bill Sokolis family Readi Ness program manager. The program is not hew but it was t used much Sokolis said. I think this expanded readiness pro Gram grew out of necessity. We Are deploying so Many people the readiness briefing covers wide Range of topics including financial matters children and separation the emotional Side of deployment and important documents such As Powers of attorney and wills Sokolis said. We Haven t seen humongous problems among spouses of deployed military members other than i the stars and stripes Page 3 to families aids a Dave Olulo Katharine to Thomas. Heads up family support Effort Mancial Thomas said. It s real important for families to discuss How finances Are going to be  each briefing participant receives a 98-Page folder written by Sokolis and other family support Center staff members that covers a variety of redeployment topics. Several air bases in Germany including Ramstein and Span Dahlem have requested copies of the folder for their own use Thomas said. Part of the briefing is designed for both married an single service members. Another part is specifically for married members and their families and covers help available to spouses while their partners Are deployed. Sponsors Are appointed to help family members whore left behind. Numerous commercial discounts also make life easier while spouses Are away such As Cou Pons for discounts at the base Exchange reduced video rental rates and a free lube Oil and filter for the car Thomas said. Sokolis also holds a weekly group support session called hearts apart which allows spouses of  to meet informally. Free baby sitting services Are offered during and for several hours after. Is Dav Eddlo Bill Sokolis. Helps sort out financial issues the session he said. We talk about things that Are stressful said Carrie Ashby a military family member. One of the most stressful situations for group Mem Bers is single parenthood and the free baby sitting service helps alleviate some of the Strain group Mem Ber said. I would t enjoy this group session if they did take the kids Elizabeth Maranto said. Gina Adams said that the group also helped get members through holidays and that some members celebrated these events together. Mary Kirton said the group made it possible for her to socialize with people her own age who shared similar lifestyles. We re not in base housing and i m sur rounded by older women she said. Making people feel As if they Are part of a family is an important goal of the family support Center Thomas said. We be got about 60 percent of Pur personnel living off the base Thomas said. These coupons and these services draw people Back to the  americans in Vicenza area to gain Utility tax exemption by j. King Cruger Northern Italy Bureau Vicenza Italy american forces personnel can look Forward to big savings on Utility Bills thanks to an agreement Between the . Army s Southern euro Pean task Force and the largest provider of utilities in the Vicenza area. The agreement scheduled to be signed this morning will exempt participants from taxes on electricity an natural Gas Bills said Bart Drakulich,.director of the tax Relief program for the 22nd area support group in Vicenza. The big beneficiaries of this program will be people who heat with natural Gas Drakulich said. The Way taxes get computed on Gas Bills is really complicated even the Utility representatives have a hard time explaining it. But the program will save participants 45 to 50 percent of the amount of their Gas  _ although All. Military members of Vicenza s nato Force and its civilian component Are eligible to take part in the command s utilities tax exemption pro Gram participants must enrol to qualify. Members Are required to pay a refundable Deposit of $150, plus a $25 service charge per Utility Bill. Bills arrive about every four months Drakulich said. Unless Consumers of electricity have extremely Large Bills they probably would t save anything by Tak ing part in the program because taxes Only constitute about 10 percent of the Bill he said. Initially the program is limited to Community Mem Bers whose utilities Are provided by the azi Ehde Indus trial municipal Lizzete or ., the largest provider of utilities in the Vicenza area. Drakulich said provides utilities electricity Gas and water to most of Vicenza and its outlying areas. He estimated that about a third of the Vicenza military Community is supplied by . Unfortunately the other areas where we have peo ple residing Are covered by about 10 other Utility com panics Drakulich said. We Are trying to make similar agreements with those  under the new agreement the Community morale welfare and recreation fund will act As Liaison be tween program participants and the italian Utility companies eliminating difficulties in language administrative procedures and Billing. Program participants will receive their Bills trans lated in dollars by mail and will be Able to pay the directly to the base s financial management division rather than having to pay at italian Banks or Post offices. ". Participants must pay off their outstanding Utility Bills before they can enrol Irv the program Drakulich said. When participants sign up for the program they will get their original deposits Back from the Utility  Petty officer found dead at scene of Rota Accident naval station Rota Spain is a Sailor attached to Rota was found dead at the scene of an on base car Accident saturday morn ing base officials said. The body of Petty officer 3rd class Paul  was apparently discovered about 9 . Near his wrecked car by a passer by Security officials said. The 25-year-old was declared dead at the scene about three quarters of a mile from one of the entrances to naval station Rota Saida base spokeswoman Navy it. Elizabeth Felix. Montealegre was assigned to the naval station Security department Montealegre is survived by his parents who live in Houston. _ a memorial service for Montealegre is planned at the base Chapel today at noon. Shalikashvil begins trip to learn about Israel Tel Aviv Israel a Gen. John m. Shalik Ash Vili chairman of the . Joint chiefs of staff arrived in Israel on monday and met with military leaders. My purpose is to learn As much As i can and to understand Israel better he told reporters after meeting with his counterpart it. Gen. Ehud Barak at the de sense ministry in Tel Aviv. He did not comment of the talks