European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 27, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday april 27 2007 stars and stripes Page 3 Darmstadt announces closings Cut in hours by Matt Millham stars and stripes Darmstadt Germany yes the Garrison supporting the Community is inactivating but most services Here will remain open for at least another year even As the population dwindles that was the Gist of the Mes Sage it col David Astin com Mander of us army Garrison Darmstadt delivered at a town Hall meeting wednesday an april 19 announcement from the army listed the Garrison among communities facing restructuring in fiscal 2008 we Are still committed to sup porting the Community even though we Are going to be inactivated Astin said Astin anticipates that medical dental postal Legal and virtually All other services provided by the new operating schedule shop Pette at Cek beginning june 29 8 am to 8 pm monday through saturday 10 an to 7 Ptel sunday Gas station at Lincoln Village 29 8 am to Pon monday through Friday 10 amto6 Pis saturday and sunday Burger Kings beginning Jobse 29 7 am to 6 pm monday through Friday 11 am saturday and sunday Bastia Robbins and Vescovi Coffee june 29 is last Day of operation Anthonys pizza beginning june 29 11 an to 2 pm monday through Friday closed saturday and sunday Yacobell As of mails 11 am to 6 pm monday through Friday closed saturday and sunday closes june 29 Langen shop Pette closes june 1 Garrison should continue to oper ate deep into summer 2008 with the exception of one facile possibly two Garrison operations will shut Down no later than sept 302008 but a Date for the inactivation has not been set personnel who work at the functioning facilities the Dagger Complex and possibly the de sense threat reduction Agency at Nathan Hale depot will move to Wiesbaden and be shut tied to work in the near term some retail facilities run by the army and air Force Exchange service and two facilities run by army morale welfare and recreation will close or see their hours Cut because of a Lack of customers Baskin Robbins Vescovi cof fee and Taco on camb Rai Fritsch Kaseane will close june 29 the cafes shop Pette in Langen a Small housing area North of Darmstadt will close june 1 wingers and the escape club both run by morale Wel fare and recreation close May 31 hours Are not changing at cafes facilities at Kelley bar Racks nor is the on base movie theater affected the commis sary located on Nathan Hale depot wont close anytime soon either it is Decas policy to be among the very last services to leave said Geri Young a deca spokeswoman deca and installation management command work together to figure out a Clos ing Date and then that Date must be approved by Congress she said she noted however that fewer of each Type of product will be offered As the population declines and hours will be reduced email Matt Millham at us artillerymen take look at dutch vehicles weapons by Seth Robson stars and stripes Grafe Wohr Germany us artillerymen checked out some of the latest High tech tools of the Trade when some dutch troops came to the training area the dutch soldiers from Bat Tery a 4th artillery battalion showed off their newly fielded Panzer howitzers and fennel for Ward observation vehicles during a live fire exercise this week the Battery a commander capt Jan Steller said the new Panzer howitzer 2000nl155 my self propelled gun weighs 60 tons with a Range of More than 25 Miles making it the Long estranged ground weapon in the world except for missiles Steller said the gun is similar to the us crusader howitzer which was under development be fore the program was cancelled in 2002 despite the weapons size it can be deployed inside a c17 Globe master aircraft and has been used successfully in Afghani Stan since april last year he said the Panzer howitzers which Are used in conjunction with the dutch army new advanced fire support information system have their own global positioning sys tem that allows them to move to a position aim at a target fire and corrections april 25 Story on the Marine corps purchasing mine resistant ambush protected vehicles should have said that Force Protection industries is based in Ladson so army it col Bryan Hal Mertys name was misspelled in a april 26 Story on marines under 18 not being allowed to deploy zonies any More Steller get away without out Side help it Means we Are very accurate rapid and Man Euver Able in not sure if there is anything else like it in the world at this Point Steller said during this weeks training the Panzer howitzers fired with the help of another new weapon the fennel Fox Forward observation vehicle the armoured wheeled vehicle slightly larger than a humvee a top offload Speed of nearly 100 Mph it carries a Crew of three and an array of Day and night sensors that enables it to Over watch an area and quickly target the enemy for the big guns in Afghanistan i can Tell you the Taliban hate it Steller added us troops who checked out the new dutch gear were impressed it was High Speed and some thing i think our army would Benefit from having said staff sgt Brad Wagner an artillerymen working for Range control at Grafen Wuhr Wagner got a closeup look at the Panzer howitzer which includes a robot that moves ammunition around inside the vehicle safety Wise if s an excellent vehicle and if s unmatched in our army he said the Battery a gun commander staff sgt Leon Van Huizen 29 is a Veteran of the new Panzer howitzers first deployment to Afghanistan last year during the mis Sion the Battery participated in operation Medusa with Canadian troops in uru Zgan province in Southern Afghanistan the Howit Zers fired 500 rounds Over two weeks accounting for what a photos by Seth and stripes the dutch army new Panzer howitzer 2000nl 155mm self propelled gun weighs 60 tons with a Range of More than 25 Miles making it the Long estranged ground weapon in the world geared to be a Large number of dead Taliban he said normally the dutch artillery men train at the Bergen Hohn Emun Ster said training area in sax ony Van Huizen said training at Grafe Wohr is a Good l Van Huizen Way for his men to pre pare for downrange missions because of the unfamiliar environment Ernail Seth Robson at the dutch army new fennel Fox Forward observation vehicle carries a Crew of three and has an array of Day and night sensors for observing and targeting the enemy