European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Page 12 stars and stripes Mideast edition july 2007 Thomas publisher Richard general Europe Stephen commander news and editorial Robb Grindstaff d0ug Clawson executive editor managing editor Joseph Mideast Bureau chief Marni assistant Bureau Europe assistant managing editors Mary news Sean sports Brian features Christopher Patrick news editor Joe wet editor addresses mail unit Apo a 09211 International mail Postrach 64345 Germany fax Dan 3498416 0 email news  letters  Central office 529 14th Street suite Washington do phone on 3127630900 or 202 fax 202 7610890 editorial director 529 14th suite do phone Dan 3127630945 or 202 7610945 email  How to Call us editor Dan 3143498264 0 6155601264 letters Dan 3143498237 0 sports Dan 3143498225 0 circulation Dan 3143498437 0 advertising Dan 0 Mideast news Bureau Bureau chief Joseph unit 29480 Box Apo 09211 Dan 314 3498220 commercial email  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ombudsman protects the free flow of news and reporting any attempts by the military or other authorities to undermine the newspapers the ombudsman also responds to concerns and questions from and monitors coverage for timeliness and the ombudsman welcomes comments from and can be contacted by email at ,, or by phone at stars and stripes 2007 stars and st8ipis wi8 sati email  letters to the editor army planning needs new look i read the article on the housing Short age buildup leads to housing Short june european edition and it re ally upsets me to see How the army is handling this though in not sur it is handling it much like the Glo bal War on terrorism with no i arrived in Europe in May though we were not faced with a housing we were faced with other issues that directly affected our for when we shipped our vehicle no one told us that it would be considered due to an aftermarket we had to pay some of the shipping had the transportation office made this we could have saved a lot of on top of i had to wait for five hours just to be seen at the vehicle registration office to Register my oversized vehicle because there were so Many people coming and and the office had Only one planning if the command knows that this Many people will be moving in and out of the then Why were there not More employees or temporary help assigned planning i still have not received my household goods because there Are not enough movers to support All the the list of complaints goes too Long for stars and maybe just right for the new York the army leadership and planners should be very aware of the logistical requirements of moving soldiers and this is not the first year that the army has been in i highly suggest that the army transformation planners take a couple of Steps Back and look at the effect their Lack of planning has on its the army re Tention rate is not getting any and Messing with the families will not 1st class Joseph Garcia retired Germany rules Hurt soldiers family in writing this mainly because i think this message needs to get out to anyone who i recently got married to a local whom i love very info Stu the wedding was four months be fore my Date ending overseas and army Europe will not commands on Sor my so because of which i still do not my wife and i can not get she cannot get the Correct medical care which i can and a few other so meanwhile were having to live in a Small apartment in the basement of her parents some 25 minutes from where i just try to imagine All of her plus a lot of in a Small its not we Are scheduled to leave Germany this and i have to pay out of my pocket for an airline ticket for her to the United in a and make roughly a do the and it is obvious this is not then i found out trans Tettis what you think stars and stripes welcomes your  on editorials and columns that Are punched in the and values letters on topics of importance in file lives of our All letters must be and must include the writers address or base and Telephone please limit All letters to 300 we Reserve the right to edit letters for taste and Send your letters to mail stars and stripes unit 29480 Apo a 09211 International mail stars and stripes Postrach 1330 64345 Griesheim via fax country code 0 Dan 3498395 email  por tation wont ship our belongings until another month after my Deros because of the backlog caused by so Many people leaving my wife already cancelled her life car sold her car and now she has to Fly to the states on the paid plane ticket without All because of some policies made by big wigs in talk about taking care of they sure Haven for this stressed out combat Usa eur really needs to take its head out of its four Points of Contact and Start helping military families Kevin Kalstek Germany report illegal use of stores in reply to visitors in commissary june 19 complaining about local nationals shopping at Post the writer made no mention of contacting the proper authorities about the alleged actions she the army and air Force Exchange service and the defense commissary Agency do a fantastic Job con trolling Access to our facilities and Check ing id a simple Call to the local Law enforcement desk is All that one need do to deter further abuse if there is the Way that the letter was written leads me to believe that the writer May be frustrated by the spiralling value of the Dol Lar it is quickly becoming a third world i was in Europe when the Dollar was much higher than today and nobody complained when we took advantage of our buying we would go to the French commissary and buy Case upon Case of wine with our mighty we have a More than capable Law enforcement Force and programs such As Eagle eyes in our Community that Are in place to handle cases such As Black Market Petty bickering and complaining about local nationals serves no one if one does not know the status of an individual because of the language they use or the color of their they should ask them doonesbury selves Why they Are if you be Lieve someone is committing illegal you should report it to the we do preach in America that you Are inno cent until proven dont we Charles Baumgardner Germany atheist revival bad for i have to say that i was very disturbed to read the article atheists Are Happy Camp ers at Ohio Retreat july from just looking at the picture next to the article with the children playing you would think that they were just at an out Side function participating in a fun Active but when i read the i found there is a lot More to it than the author of the article seems to be overjoyed and ecstatic about Young teenagers being at a summer Camp where the existence of god is happily denied and refute speaking of a revival of atheism and Camp quest the name of the summer Camp being a training ground for the atheist How sad to see yet another example of god being kicked out and pushed aside in our and Young kids being taught in my brainwashed to do i wonder How Long it will be before America becomes a completely secular society when i see and read things like the Camp quest we already have peo ple fighting daily to remove god from our the pledge of allegiance and As one girl who was quoted in the article this i stopped getting up and saying the because it includes the words under god in like it or our nation was founded under upon Christian principles and and yet it seems such As the ones who founded Camp continue to ignore and defy it and encourage oth ers to do the it seems to me a nation that forgets what made it great is destined to Matthew Cravens Germany thanks to concert promoters i just wanted to say a big thank you to stars for stripes for its help in bringing us the Josh Gracin concert Here on july Josh mentioned that he tried a lot of times to get out and play for but had no but he gets in touch with stars for and gets the concert was a and a huge uplift of my and everyone else spirits for the i probably would have sat in my room a bored and depressed if he want Here to the fourth has always been a big holi Day that All of my family gets together for and in glad i had something to go and do and celebrate the Holiday thanks again for helping Josh help with great music and some Lacy Romero contingency operating base Iraq by Garry Trudeau in not say ing that