European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 22, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday april 22 2007 stars and stripes pages germans Monitor possible threat to us bases by Matt Millham stars and stripes German authorities have been closely watching persons they be Lieve might be planning attacks on us bases in Germany Accord ing to a us official last month a message was circulated among some departments in the us military that the German  or aka was monitoring a group of people who Are believed to be planning the at tacks the official said stars and stripes Learned of the message which contains More specific details about three weeks ago but agreed not to re lease the information for fear its disclosure could Compromise the German investigation the Mes Sage known As a be on the look out not publicly released or disseminated throughout the ranks a aka spokeswoman reached saturday in Wiesbaden  comment on or confirm any Pend ing investigation the us embassy in Germany posted a message on its web site Friday that americans in Germany face an increased threat of terrorism and warned them to be on the Lookout and bolster their own Security the warning did not appear on embassy Sites in other european countries Interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said German police have stepped up protective Mea sures outside american bases the us military in Germany has not changed its Force Protection condition said Navy capt Jeff Gradeck a spokesman for the us european command in Stuttgart however Neucom officials announced Security exercises would Start saturday night at a number of military bases throughout Europe but did not list specific locations the release announcing the exercises also cited the us embassy warning but did not say whether the exercises were in response to fridays Alert the exercises called Spring sex 2007 Are designed to randomly test and evaluate Force Protection procedures at us military instal lations to assure the readiness of Security personnel and base Resi dents according to the release since september 11 2001 we have conducted Many similar Force Protection exercises rear adm Richard Gallagher us european command director of operations stated in the release the exercises Are one of Many prudent measures to ensure these purity and safety of our soldiers sailors airman marines civilians their families and our resources German newspapers report Ira based Ansar a Sunna an islamic terrorist group made up of Radical kurd sunni arabs and foreign fighters could be involved in a terror plot against us bases in Germany the Ger Man daily Der Tage Spiegel re ported that american Security officials warned Germany earlier this month that suspected Mem Bers of the group had attempted to stake out us installations in Southern Germany and that officials had information that attacks in Germany had been planned in its Friday warning the us embassy refused to say if there was a specific threat against americans state department spokesman Sean Mccormack would not specify the nature of the threat but said the us took it seriously enough to review Security at the us embassy and missions across Germany it is serious enough and Credi ble enough that we believed that we were obliged to put out the Warden message warning Ameri cans in Germany to be vigilant and exercise extra caution he told reporters email Matt Millham at Ben and stripes tech sgt Adam Jensen a joint terminal attack controller assigned to the 1st air support operations squad Ron at Ramstein air base Germany enjoys gazing into the eyes of his 7monthold son Cayden after return ing Home saturday from a six month deployment to Baghdad Jensen is surrounded by his wife Altona fore ground his Mother Darlene Center and his Mother inlaw Katerina right 8 air support airmen Back at Ramstein by Steve Mraz stars and stripes Ramstein Germany eight air Force joint terminal attack controllers returned to Ramstein air base Early saturday after six months in Iraq but the members of the 1st and 2nd air support operations squadrons who Are stationed around Germany could have easily been mistaken for sol Diers because of what they were wearing the airmen who worked Handi hand with army units to arrange air support were Clad in the muted dig camouflage of the army combat uniform their name tapes however were stitched in Blue with one of them identifying the service members Branch As the us air Force and their air Force ranks were visible on their chests air Force maj Michael Dodson 1st air support operations Squadron detachment 3 commander said he normally got two questions from airmen and soldiers on his uniform while downrange the first question both ask is if Dodson is wearing the new air Force uniform the answer is the second question from airmen is if Hes allowed to Wear acus the answer is yes because of the Nail you never know whats going to happen but were always ready 99 air Force maj Michael Dodson Ture of the squadrons the second ques Tion from soldiers is How can they go about joining the air Force uniform questions aside the eight airmen worked Side by Side with army units in Iraq from As far West As ramada to As far East As the iranian Border with in a few minutes of us troops making enemy con tact the airmen could have air Power overhead to provide surveillance firepower or Low sweeps in a show of Force Dodson likened the Job to being a fireman were there on Call he said you never know what s going to happen but were always ready upon exiting the Ramstein Pas Senger terminal saturday tech sgt Adam Jensen hugged his family and then spent minutes gazing into the eyes of his 7monthold son without saying much when Jensen deployed Cay Den was just a month old now the child has grown considerably when asked How it Felt to be Home Jensen had Only a few words Nice he said great its hard to explain clearly the specific emotion was hard to express in words yet easily recognizable to anyone observing Jensen while he held his son and smiled email Steve Mraz at troops living off base in Germany to get allowance boost by Steve Mraz stars and stripes Ramstein Germany if you filled out one of those Utility surveys a few months Back put correction in an april 19 Story in the american Roundup the associated press erroneously re ported a St Paul Minn woman offering nearly All her belongings on Ebay her list ing was pulled because Ebay frowns on Charity auctions Ebay said Lisa perrys listing was pulled because it did not meet certain site rules Down your Coffee and Pat your self on the Back if you didst fill it out but Are a troop in Germany who lives off base and receives a housing allow Ance thank those who did be cause they saved you a Bunch of Money soon troops of All services Liv ing off base in Germany who receive a housing allowance will have More Money to pay for heat ing Oil water electricity garbage collection Etc the Utility portion of the Over seas housing allowance is increasing by nearly 31 percent on May 1 for troops in Germany who live off base and receive an overseas housing allowance said maj Brian Kehl acting chief of the financial services division at head quarters us air forces in Europe financial management troops will see the increase in their May 15 paychecks he said prior to the change accompanied troops received the us Dol Lar equivalent of 415 euros a month to cover of base utilities while unaccompanied service members got the equivalent of 311 euros a month the new rate will give accompanied service members the equivalent of 543 euros a month while unaccompanied will get 407 euros that works out to Between s125 and using the service members current Exchange rate the last update of the Utility portion of the overseas housing Al Lowance occurred in june 2004 since that time Utility costs have risen particularly for heating Oil which is used in older German Homes every year troops living off installation and receiving a housing allowance Are asked to fill out a Survey and provide what they pay for utilities we did not have enough participation in 05 or 06 to actually get an increase or to see any kind of change increase or decrease Kehl said this year we pushed really hard the air Force did As Well As the army out of Heidelberg to try and get the participation rates up in 2006 Only 15 percent of those living off base and receiving a housing allowance in Germany completed surveys this year 49 percent did thank you to commanders first sergeants and members who filled this questionnaire out be cause there the real heroes in this Kehl said there the ones who made the difference and provided the data we need to make sure troops get paid what there deserving when it comes to Utility expenses the department of defense per diem committee is still evaluating the data for Italy Belgium and the Netherlands email Steve Mraz at