European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 20, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                June 2007 stars and stripes pages and Italy still at Odds Over permits process by Kent Harris stars and stripes the number of americans living in Italy illegally continues to grow As a dispute Over residency per mits nears the six month Italy implemented sweeping changes to the process on the United states objects to hav ing americans in military communities go through the process As it is bases continue to accept per Mit but they Are holding onto them until the Issue is Katherine a embassy said negotiations were ongoing Between the two countries and there were no new developments to Caserma Ederle has 860 applicants according to Jon a Public affairs officer with the army Garrison i that represents about because children under the age of 14 Are generally included on their parents per Aviano air base had 303 new applications pending and 141 requests for renewal in Early according to Jennifer chief of Public affairs for the 31st fighter naval air station Simonella is holding about 200 permits and naval support activity Naples has about 375 on according to Wendy spokeswoman for Navy Region bases Are supplying letters to those who have to travel without valid permits in an attempt to pro vide some documentation for ital Ian authorities when travellers re turn to attempts to reach italian officials at the immigration office in responsible for Avi were but according to a web site set up by the ministry of the Interior and Post Italiane the italian postal service the rules were established to conform to european Union a new card that can be read electronically also has been a per Messo i Soggiorno is generally required for foreigners who plan to spend More than a few months in foreigners Are supposed to have passports with a Soggiorno in Side with them at All american Active duty military in the country under nato Are but family members and american civilians Are until this they received permits by meeting with italian police officers on base or submitting paperwork to a designated Mih tary no fees were under the process introduced by that would no longer be the foreign residents Are required to obtain application pack ets from participating Post the packets contain an eight Page a separate three Page application and three supporting All Are in in addition to a 30euro process ing applicants Are required to obtain a 14euro stamp for official documents which can be bought at tobacco shops or Newsstands and pay a euro fee for the new applicants eventually would be notified by the local immigration office each province has pick up  need to bring four passport Pic applicants who Arent eur citizens would be Valetina Scheu provided translation for this email Kent Harris at  web i big push f by phone 180023 love graduation Teddy bears tall fast worldwide shipping say Ilove you in a big Way made in Brookh gourmet italia the Pursuit of excellence in your commissaries rudeness is the weak mans imitation of Eric Hoffer philosopher cooking courses on the Mediterranean diet info gione@gourmehta4ia.com lifeline to the outside a dc8 rotator aircraft from Balti More glides into the Airfield at Thule air base in Northern along with bringing mail and supplies to the re Mote outpost hundreds of Miles above the Arctic it brings in personnel for a Lucky few each serves As a Way Ben Murray stars and stripes Arctic air base scans skies for missiles and satellites by Ben Murray stars and stripes Thule air Greenland if theres one thing that lets visitors to Thule air base know Treyve reached one of the military most isolated its the presence of floating in the Bay hear the Shoreline of the in the Shadow of four major glaciers that creep Down to the water from a colossal the icebergs Are an authoritative sign that you have come about As far North As humans can place a permanent As the military northernmost Thule is a place of superlatives High Low temper 24hour sunlight and dark Ness but its the details that Tell the most about the nature of the the runway is painted Bright visitors Are because to keep it Asphalt Black would allow it to absorb heat from the Sun and melt the permafrost beneath causing it to Warp and most buildings Are either raised off the ground or under pinned with Cooling pipes to keep them from sinking into the Tun to keep heat in during the the buildings have Small blackout curtains help people sleep during the there Are no and two years ago a Polar Bear took advantage of it to visit the local the Arctic Hare and Arctic Fox that roam the dirt roads at Thule do the new airmen learn that about 700 Miles to the South on their Thule air base military personnel 140 contractors 90 Greenlandic and danish contractors 450 aircraft landings annually More than distance to North pole approximately 950 Miles distance North from the Arctic Circle 700 Miles average july temperature 40 degrees f temperature Range q to40 degrees f source 821st air base group Public affairs office flight they crossed the Arctic and they Are closer to the North pole less than Miles than they Are to the nearest Amer ican at first its hard to see Why the Mih tary would need a presence in such a Remote Loca or what it could do for troops and it is Home to Only a cadre of about 140 military bolstered by about 600 danish and american but As Small and isolated As it has a longer history than Many foreign bases and a current capability far larger than its Small the first american presence in the Northern Greenland location dates to when the army air forces built a weather station at operated by danish per arid later supplemented by a rudimentary dirt air Thule acted in a weather and Arctic resupply role for about five years until the grip of the cold War took and things rapidly began to Accord ing to a base in the began operation Blue a feverish attempt to quickly build and establish a radar station and Northern staging area for Strate Gic bombers and Tanker planes to mitigate the threat from the soviet within two a runway was Complete and the local population was on the Way to its eventual High of about military and contract per but in the late the focus of the base changed with the development of soviet intercontinental ballistic set at a Loca Tion about Midway Between and Thule became an Early site for the american ballistic missile Early warning system and to this Day that re Mains one of its primary fun Thule air base is Home to three major units detachment 3 of the 22nd space operations which tracks and controls Polar satellites the 12th space warning which runs the mews radar system and the 821st air base which oversees the facile the base also runs the worlds northernmost Deepwater which can handle everything from cargo ships to email Ben Murray at army rejects proposed month off for every 3 months in a War zone stars and stripes Washington com Manders in Iraq have rejected a proposal by mental health experts to give troops a monthlong vacation for every months in a combat according to a report in Usa today on tues the newspaper said the recovery similar to a policy used in world War was suggested by army psychologists As a Way to combat increasing men Tal stress related to Long but instead of that commanders will work to give troops two or three Days off duty inside Iraq for every eight Days in the Usa today Joseph chief aide to the ground forces commander in told the newspaper that with the pro posed on month break we would never get the Job army psychologists who studied troops in Iraq told the paper that forces in Iraq spend More time in combat without a break than those who fought in Vietnam or world War army Carl a re search psychologist who co wrote the told Usa today that military stress has been aggravated by multiple Tours of duty and the longer 15month deployments soldiers now according to data from the operation iraqi Freedom mental health advisory 30 per cent of soldiers who spend an average of 56 hours a week outside fortified areas show signs of men Tal health