European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 29, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday March 29 2007 stars and stripes Page 3 dining h drop troops disappointed As budget shortfall forces change Jennifer h and stripes Petty officer 3rd class Albert Hughes 23 said he usually gets takeout for breakfast and lunch preferring to eat at work or elsewhere Over the dining Hall after april 1 takeout will be eliminated at Misawa air bases Grissom dining facility and Falcon feeder due to budget constraints by Jennifer h Svan stars and stripes Misawa air base Japan Togo meals Are on their Way out the door at Misaras two enlisted Din ing facilities beginning april 1 citing a budget that even sparser than last years 35th services Squadron officials said the new policy is necessary to stretch Supply dollars through the end of the fiscal year we took a significant Cut just like everyone else across the Wing said Ricky harness the squadrons Deputy director we Are trying to apply the funding that we have in the most efficient manner to keep our activities running harness said carryout materials such As Styro foam Clamshell boxes plastic silverware paper napkins and condiments eat up nearly 30 percent of the Supply budget for Grissom dining facility on the main base and the Falcon feeder near the flight line but Only about 10 per Day of custom ers use takeout he said its a pretty goo size expense which supports a fairly Small number of diners he said declining to discuss specific Dollar amounts the Chow Hall policy change is the second in a year due to budget constraints last March takeout was limited to uniformed personnel with an estimated monthly Cost savings of to officials said then those expected to be most affected by the new Rule Are aircraft maintainers firefighters first respond ers and Security forces personnel who often must eat on the run due to Mission requirements officials said that group also should include 35th logistics readiness Squadron airmen who work with Petro Leum Oil and lubrication systems according to air Man 1st class Noah Kelley it is a huge Deal for those of us in fuels because were out on the flight line a lot and sometimes we dont have time to get our lunch he said tuesday while carrying a Togo Box Kelley and his colleagues often eat while fueling up their truck now that take out is going to be taken away from us we May not get anything to eat Between breakfast and dinner airman Daniel Morrow 20 a radio maintainer with 35th communications Squadron said he uses carryout mostly at lunch its More of a necessity because my shop is Low manned and were heavily tasked during deploy ments he said i usually take it Back to work and eat there services officials said they looked at other ways to continue takeout with limited funds but came up Short harness said air Force regulations prohibit charging dining Hall users for takeout supplies while pub Lic health requirements dont allow airmen and sail ors to bring their own containers we put food in it and its dirty and airman Snuffy gets sick now All of a sudden its a food poisoning Inci Dent possibly coming Back to us harness said another option discussed was allowing squadrons with the primary takeout users to funnel funds to the dining Hall for supplies harness said but unfortunately were All in a Tough fiscal condition this year and they have other priorities that they have to focus on those units he added will have to make some adjustments to give troops the time to eat in House email Jennifer h Svan at sailors apologize await sentence for assault by Allison Batdorff stars and stripes Yokohama Japan two us sailors apologized in japanese court tuesday after prosecutors said they should serve six years in prison for ditching a restaurant Bill and assaulting the manager who chased them Seaman Brian Matthew Bur Gess 21 and Petty officer 3rd class Casey Joe Turner 24 both assigned to the Yokosuka based uss Kitty Hawk spoke to the judges after attorneys for both sides gave closing arguments tuesday in Yokohama District court the sailors Are not contesting the charge of robbery resulting in bodily injury which carries a minimum six year prison sentence the charge stems from a dec 10 incident in which the men drank More than in alcohol at seed less restaurant in Kamakura and tried to leave without paying the full amount according to the indict ment when the 41yearold seedless manager chased them the sailors punched and kicked him in the face and inflicted injuries that took a month to healer caught Bur Gess and turned him in to police Turner was caught later and indicted feb 8 both sailors said in previous testimony that they didst re member the As Sault because they were drunk in sorry for what Ive done Burgess said tuesday at the Tri als conclusion it was not my in Tention to bring any bad feelings on my government and my Navy in sorry in very sorry for anything everything i never wanted any thing like this to happen Turner said i feel like i failed As a per son in sorry the prosecutor asked for a six year sen tence saying there was no justifiable reason for not paying the Bill and that the sailors behaviour was inexcusably dangerous us service members Are Strong and Well trained compared to the average Japa Nese person the prosecutor said he also contended that alcohol re lated incidents by service members Are on the Rise and referenced the Jan 3 2006 robbery murder in Yokosuka by a Kitty Hawk Sailor who had been drinking for hours saying that it very sorry for anything everything i never wanted anything like this to happen i feel like i failed As a person in sorry99 Petty officer 3rd class Joe Turner defendant was the courts duty to make sure punishments for alcohol relat de violence Are severe defense counsel countered that the sailors had clean records had not planned the assault and would face a Navy discharge after being returning to the states according to Navy policy the manager also accepted a 625000yen about civil settlement from Bur Gess and the owner of seedless has forgiven the sailors the attorneys said he  afford the Money and asked his family to Send it from Home said Burgess attorney Midori Tanaka he Bur Gess has also promised never to drink again Turners attorney Kazunari Watanabe added that the sailors were under stress from Active duty As the Kitty Hawk had just returned to Yokosuka from a two month deployment hours before the assault the men Are to be sentenced april 24 email Allison Batdorff at voyage overseas customers unaffected by litigation stars and stripes voyage customers overseas should not be affected by the internet voice company re cent Legal troubles according to a company spokesman we dont anticipate any changes or interruptions in phone service As a result of this Liti gation so we advise customers to continue using their service As they always have said John yocca voyage Public relations manager in a written response to a query from stars and stripes there Are Many options Avail Able to us and we Are prepared to implement them As necessary rates for the voice Over internet protocol or voip technologies that allow Consumers to make Calls Over the internet Arent expected to change either he added last week a Federal judge said he would Issue an injunction barring voyage holdings corp from using internet phone Call technology patented by Verizon communications inc but delayed signing the order for two weeks voyage currently offers service in the United states Canada and United kingdom but yocca said customers can take their voyage devices anywhere in the world where voip is Legal and a High Speed Cable connection is available service members arriving in South Korea before june 1 can continue using voyage and other us voip companies to make International phone Calls those arriving in country after june 1 will be required to use a South korean voip provider Misawa f16s taking out the bad Guys on Iraq missions stars and stripes Misawa air base Japan Misaras deployed f16 pilots got Back into the fight last week in Iraq while supporting some major army operations reported it col Chuck Toplikar the 14th expeditionary fighter Squadron commander we killed some bad Guys destroyed some ant Iraq forces weapons caches and found an ant Iraq forces Headquarters where the army seized nearly 200 pieces of weaponry and in proved explosive device making material Toplikar said in his lat est Telephone recording from Balad air base Toplikar also provided an up Date on renovations by Misaras airmen to enhance their work and living quarters at Balad tons of mud and debris have been cleared out of one facility through which at the outbreak of the War the us air Force sent a 2000pound bomb the Hole also has been patched to keep out the rain Toplikar said plans for a Down Day Are in the works which will give us a Chance to relax for a Little while and refocus for the downhill Side of our ref he said in reference to the squadrons air expedition Ary Force deployment the More than 400 airmen deployed from Misawa Are Halfway through their deployment and Are expected Home sometime in May Call Dan 315 2261400 to Lis ten to Toplikar latest recorded message