European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 24, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                              June 2007 stars and stripes Mideast edition Page Ben and stripes Marie a Crew chief and space console operator with the 12th space warning Squadron at Thule air works monday at the terminal for the satellite and missile tracking isolated unit watches Over from above Greenland troops keep things running smoothly in space by Ben Murray stars and stripes Thule air Greenland Odds Are theres barely a ser Vic member in Europe or Iraq who has Ever met one of the 30 or so people who make up the operational staff of the 12th space warning they dont know the but they know this their satellite phones their atm cards get them Cash from kaisers laut to and the Blue Force tracker systems in their humvee can show them where they Are to within a few feet the 12th Sis geographical about As far removed from other units As it can possibly positioned on a Hilltop in Northern hundreds of Miles above the Arctic the reach of its goes a Long the 12th Sis is part of a satellite and space debris tracking network that keeps tabs on every manmade object in the skies above charting its height and said it 12th Sis the 12th Doest track every object in the sky All the but it is part of a global network that and acts like an air traffic control system for the ensuring the knows the position of every the system helps maintain the order crucial to keeping satellites in orbit and Lincoln if no one tracked the Satel no one would know when two were on a path to or one malfunctioned and began to Lincoln the military and Economy cant afford that kind of careless Ness because almost everything these Days weather surveil phone Calls is All routed through if the space objects Arent tracked youre not going to have that space Lincoln see space on Page 8 passing time in Thule adventure trips abound for weekend warriors by Ben Murray stars and stripes Thule air Greenland the weekend Here begins like it does in Al most any on saturday people Wake up a Little groggy from the night before at the and flip on the throw some Cereal in a they put on comfortable clothes and go Over the list of chores and activities that will make up the next 48 an inventory in almost any runs the Gamut from mowing the Lawn to going out for a night at Thule air base in far Northern there Are no lawns to no mall to shop at and no night to go out in this time of when the clock Clicks Over from Friday to Satur Day at the Sun is nearly As High Over the base As it had been at to most it can appear that theres Little to do with two Days of free time in a weather Bat tired glacial Valley High above the Arctic treeless and but residents of Thule have a Long list of diver Sions to keep them Busy when the weekend Rolls from organized clubs and skeet to occasional dogsled rides offered by nearby Greenlandic first and Foremost among pastimes is Thule a general term used to describe Field trips to Points of one of the most popular is a climb of nearby mount a Tabletop Mountain that rises out photos by Ben and stripes to make it to the Summit of the mount Dundas 600 feet above the surface of North Star Bay near Thule air staff John Comer uses a rope to climb the trails steepest of North Star Bay with shale flanks and a nearly vertical track leading to the sum accessed at the very top by climbing a the Mountain is the site of a Long practice Thule tradition to ferry a Stone from the Bottom to the where climbers write their name on it and add it to a pile several decades in the see Thule on Page 8 Florian watches As coworker Alex Mitchell hurls a Stone off the Edge of a Cliff near a former air defense site called d launch in drays save 10 with promo code bw95e we Only sell gear we would use ourselves molls combat Vest x3 mag Pouch the gear you need the service you