European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 07, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes bosnian crisis thursday september 7,1995 Jet repairs " by Effie Bathen staf writer Aviano a Italy the a 10 tank killer Pilot flying Over Bosnia and Herzegovina last weekend quickly saw that nato airstrikes had failed to per Suade serbs to withdraw their heavy weapons from the . Safe  -. C a " a ". The roads were empty a lieutenant colonel said wednesday As he returned to the Avian flight line from what he called his Dawn patrol flight. Had that first round of attacks been successful the roads would have been Busy with bosnian serbs pulling heavy equipment out of the 12-mile zone around the bosnian capital of Sarajevo he said. The air Force has asked that combat Crews not be identified by name because of Security considerations. The Veteran of 28 years in single seat aircraft said the decision to resume air raids tuesday was made Well above his pay Grade but that he agreed with it. No one really wants to pull the trigger he  he called the four Day pause in bombing a double edged sword. On the one hand it provided a Chance to negotiate an honorable  but on the other hand it gave bosnian serbs time to stall. The Pilot is with the 104th fighter group from West Field mass., an air National guard unit deployed to Aviano while the a-10 unit from Span Dahlem a in Germany is on an exercise in the United states. The a-10 Thunderbolt ii affectionately called the warthog is also known As the tank killer because its usual task is close air support of ground troops. The warthog has a 30 my seven barrel gun capable of piercing the top Armor on heavy tanks. The rounds remade of depleted uranium the Crews at Aviano said that since bombing started last week they have been working the warthogs hard. The unit brought 12 of its own planes. Crew Mem Bers know one another and their planes very Well. Some have More than a a Tarter of a Century in the  Are not manned to do a 24-hour operation said maj. Tony Gwosch the commander of maintenance operations for the unit. He said he has resorted to using one of his warthogs As the can plane theone they tear apart for parts. I m at the end of the Supply line he said noting that on occasion parts sent by Federal express from the United states have taken More than two weeks to arrive. Although there had been no . Casualties As of wednesday morning flights have not been without incident. On the first Day the 104th had a plane damaged by Hail. Also one of the 30 my Gau-8/a Avenger guns had a catastrophic failure because of bad amino ground Crew members said. Explosives and ordnance. A Crew members of the . Aircraft Carrier Theodore Roosevelt inspect the launching track for debris tuesday after a series of take offs by jets on missions to hit serbian positions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbs from Page 1 of those bombs Don t  where they presupposed to hit he said. As of wednesday morning about 1,500sorties had been flown in the air opera Tion against the bosnian serbs in War torn Yugoslavia officials said in Naples Italy. Almost 4,500 personnel from 12nato nations have been part of opera Tion deny flight As Well As the airstrikes Smith said. Nations taking part in the operation Are Belgium Canada Denmark France Germany Italy the Netherlands nor Way Spain Turkey the United kingdom and the United states. Before the suspension of airstrikes bosnian serbian police and military officials reported raids on military installations in Han Piesak 30 Miles Northeast of Sarajevo in Kalinovik 25 Miles  Sarajevo and Foca be Vesinie and Carnice in Southern Bosnia. Mladic military commander of the re Bels whose refusal to ease his grip on Sarajevo led to the airstrikes is from the Kalinovik area. We gather he s in a defiant mood,". Spokesman Alexander Ivanko said of Mladic. But we Hope this mood will change and he will Start complying with  every Day of nato airstrikes Means his army is being clobbered and clobbered and clobbered. For this clobbering to Stop he has to remove the heavy weapons from around  the United nations and nato de Mand that serbian big guns be removed at least 12.5 Miles from Sarajevo. Other demands include the reopening of Sarajevo s Airport a Stop All attacks on the capital and three other bosnian Safe areas and guarantees of free movement for the United nations and Aid workers. Ivanko said the United nations had had no Contact with Mladic and added that there could be a split Between the bosnian serbs military and political leadership. On monday a senior aide to Bosnia serbian Leader Radovan Karadzic basically accepted the . Demands but hours later Mladic rejected them. One bosnian serbian source close to the Pale leadership reported late tuesday that a serious split had Arisen Between Mladic on one Side and Karadzic and serbian pres ident Slobodan Milosevic on the other that could signal a shift in the serbian Power Structure since Mladic recently had been Allied with the powerful serbian pres ident against Karadzic. Karadzic sought to diffuse the indications of disarray and growing signs that Mladic was calling the shots on the Battle Field. He was recently forced to rescind Mladic s demotion after most general lined up behind the rough Hen Tough talking bosnian serb commander. I am in charge and. And our relations with general Mladic have improved he told Cable news network. On wednesday bosnian serbian to showed footage it said was shot the previous Day of several tanks and armoured personnel carriers attempting to leave the exclusion zone. They were being blocked by women and children. If they leave who will de fend us shouted one woman. Com buting to this report a Ian Hamilton. Med Terra in Dur do. Specialists had to blow the nose gun up like a grenade after the plane returned safely said master sgt. Wayne Tower ". It was the first time in his career Tower said that head seen an a-10 gun destroyed. He and other munitions experts said they Don t give much thought to which people their bombs might hit. We can t afford to. We think about the kids Tower said referring to civilians who have died at the hands of bosnian serbian rebels. Those in the unit also Point out that they Are not new to nato having taken part in Alliance  than a dozen years. They also boast that they have More continuity than most other fighter units be cause they Are All Hometown  services specialist tech. Sgt. Keith Parent who is i charge of feeding the Crews said it was a struggle to serve Chicken to 200 people let alone Cook it on on stove. That was real difficult to get he said. At the commissary they re running out. And the Crews were getting a Little lean and hungry they said because it s hard to find a place to eat after their Long shifts. The base has closed dining facilities for renovations. They fight better when they Are fed one office said. Bosnian croat chief is indicted the Hague Netherlands a the yugoslav War crimes tribunal wednesday announced the indictment of a Bosnia croatian commander the . Court s first indictment of a non serb suspect. The tribunal has now indicted 43 suspects including bosnian serbian Leader Radovan Karadzic but has just one i custody in its Hague cell Block. Ivica Rajic a commander in the croatian defense Council is believed to be in a bosnian croatian run jail in Mostar and the tribunal says it s fairly confident he will be handed Over for trial. Rajic faces War crimes charges relating to the destruction of a Muslim Village in october 1993 by bosnian croatian Force allegedly under his command. So far we do not have any specific indication As to what they bosnian croatian authorities will or will not do Tri Bunal spokesman Christian chartier said. We Are fairly confident i think behave Good reasons to be fairly confident he added later without elaborating. Wednesday s announcement was a apparent attempt to put pressure on the bosnian croatian authorities. The tribunal s optimism appears to debased on the Loose federation that has developed Between the bosnian govern ment and bosnian croatian authorities. The Muslim dominated government has indicated in the past that it would hand Over suspects sought by the tribunal. The indictment Marks the first time the tribunal established by the . Security Council in 1993, has pointed the Finger of suspicion at anybody other than an ethnic serb. The indictment illustrates fully the prosecution strategy to go for perpetrators from All sides chartier  have Al ways said it is an evenhanded  Rajic s indictment issued in augus but kept secret alleges that he was in charge of a defense Council group that at tacked the Mountain Village of Stupnik do in Central Bosnia killing at least 16 civil ians and torching houses oct. 23,1993. At the time the defense Council forces were fighting bosnian government troops. Tribunal officials kept the indictment secret until they were sure it had reached authorities holding Rajic