European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 14, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Stars and stripes july 2007 the soldiers concern is my concern battalion commander troops have his attention on building Quality life issues by John Vandiver stars and stripes Germany the busted front propped open at All hours of the night so the soldiers of Barracks building 8234 could get is now and Steps Are being taken to streamline How qual Ito life concerns Are reported to we have a Good system in place for Man aging and completing work the key is getting work orders said Igna Cio a spokesman for the army Garrison at we will work to make it easier to submit and get the word out on How to do soldiers at building 8234 Home to the 47th Forward support battalions company a said earlier this week that Treyve made repeated complaints about living conditions at their issues such As an in consistent Supply of hot insufficient cleaning supplies and dirty water have Trou bled soldiers there for those apparently never made their Way up the Chain of com on following revelations about the sentiments of some of the soldiers in the battalion commander Michel Russell walked the Barrack lined examining the facilities and inspect ing the complaints of soldiers had not been made known to Russell i want to confirm and verify what Ive read with what my soldiers Tell Russell referring to tuesdays Story in stars and the soldiers concern is my Russell any concern my soldiers have for their Well being gets the full Atten Tion of this battalion and the soldiers now say they cant comment on the front door that the Steps being taken to make it easier to make their com plaints known or any other Issue with the following tuesdays in which residents of the building described problems with the soldiers said they were told to refer questions from re porters through the Chain of Jason executive officer for the 1st armoured 2nd Bri said there is no such policy within the at the unit there were Likely discussions that turning to the Chain of com Mand and not the newspaper is How to get problems he theres a system in place to get things Kirk late Friday soldiers were Busy cleaning the when asked whether it was the Contention of the Garrison that conditions at building 8234 provide Ade quate Quality of life for Rubalcava responded we in the Garrison and the units Chain of command Are partnering to look Over conditions in this building As Well As others to ensure they meet the High Stan Dards our soldiers where we find we will take immediate Steps to fix the Garrison declined to provide copies of All work orders submitted within the last 12 the army said building 8234 was last renovated in but would not provide information about what types of Ren ovations were done and How those renovations compare with work done at other facile we Are adequately funded for maintenance and repair of our and when we find something not up to we take the necessary Steps to fix Rubalcava would not comment specifically on the situation at building stating he needed to meet with sol pointing to a new health clinic under construction across the Street As an Russell said the Well being of soldiers is top priority for were looking into Russell the Soldier is email John Vandiver at  after the the Blackberry stars and stripes Belgium its a sign of the times and of the humor and practicality of the outgoing commander of army Garrison after the ceremonial passing of the unit Guidon Dean Nowowiejski handed his James the commanders the relinquishment of the wire less computer and phone elicited a wave of laughter from the dais to the doorway of the Community activity Center at chevres air an old tank command leaves after three years to work directly for the three Star general who Heads up the installation management command at the while his predecessor conies from an armoured a worked his Way through the army ranks As an artillery Drago has had two previous Tours in Europe As a fire support officer and Battery com Mander for the 3rd armoured division at Kirch cons and As commander of the 409th base sup port battalion in to Assum ing command of usag the colonel spent 11 months in Kuwait with the operations directorate for coalition forces land component com his decorations include the Bronze Star medal with one Oak Leaf Drago Nowowiejski Seth Robson stars and stripes joint multinational training command safety director Dirk Kellar said thursday that safety precautions mean that new training techniques developed for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have not increased risk to j officials new live fire training Doest pose increased risk by Seth Robson stars and stripes Germany new train ing techniques that allow soldiers to shoot at targets that can pop up anywhere around not just in front vehicles have not increased the risk for according to joint multinational training command offi last Jmc commander David Hogg said the training command was starting to conduct the new Type of live fire Convoy training As a Way to better prepare soldiers for the realism of that includes shooting at an enemy that May not be directly in front of in the old we never shot 360 de Hogg during army Europe sustainable Range program workshop in Amber last Steve Range and training land program said the army is try ing to incorporate Many of the lessons Learned from combat in Iraq and Afghani Stan in the live fire Range infrastructure so ranges become More realistic and More challenging As soldiers prepare to conduct com Bat its not Clear if new raining played any part in the june 9 death of Jonathan Gil who was shot in the head while train ing at Grafen ohrs Range 307 for the 2nd cavalry Stryker regiments upcoming deployment to the army has yet to release a report on Gil berts Jmc safety director Dirk Kellar said thursday safety precautions mean that the new training techniques have not increased risk to for Les experienced units do not Start out doing live fire con he live fire Convoy training starts with tar gets just on one Side of the we say can shoot Between this area and this Kellar when units with More experience come to the training can get More com with soldiers firing at targets on either Side of the Convoy using different weapons systems such As heavy machine guns or Gre Nade he the work of safety officials at Grafe Wohr has changed rapidly in recent years As the training area has transformed from a facility that catered mostly to Bradley and tank units to one that focuses on training dismounted in everything we do in Iraq in the global War on terror is which is Basic infantry Kellar for Grafen ohrs Range 301 was originally designed for mechanized Small plywood towns have sprouted up on the Range so infantry can practice Clearing All doors on plywood Range structures also face up Range to Stop soldiers shooting in the wrong direction once they get and each Man Euver unit involved in training has an observer controller from the unit who is charged with making sure soldiers dont stray into the path of a comrades Kellar but it is the responsibility of a units commander and his platoon sergeants and leaders to keep soldiers Kellar they walk through the training then they do a Blank once the com Mander feels comfortable that his Soldier can perform the work they go do a live he and according to Jmc spokesman Eric new technology also is contributing to Range Jmc runs a simulation Center that allows soldiers to practice training missions using computer Range soldiers practice humvee missions in the same Way pilots practice flying in flight he once a unit has practice a training mis Sion on the computers they will do a Blank fire run on the Range before doing a live fire Bloom email Seth Robson at