Thursday, June 7, 1973
TFHE SUMMER DAILY
Page Five
Luftwaffe's largest
air base is near
Phoenix, Arizona -
By HERBERT F. SURRETT
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE,
Ariz. (UPI) - West Germany's
planned switch to a newer fight-
er plane over the next few years
could phase out one of the most
unique cooperative pilot training
programs in Air Force history.
Since 1964, the Luftwaffe has
given its F104 fighter pilots their
initial combat training at this
desert air base near Phoenix, un-
der a contract with the U.S. gov-
ernment. With the current
trainees, a total of 627 pilots
will have earned membership in
the elite "Cactus Starfighter
Squadron" of the German A i r
Force.
THE F104 PROGRAM has made
Luke a larger Luftwaffe b a se
than Germany maintains within
its own borders. Germany has
had as many as 90 jet fighters
here at one time, a permanent
management staff of 14, and a
backup repair and maintenance
support crew numbering nearly
700.
Lt. Col. Horst Wilhelms, t h e
present commander of the squad-
ron here, says West Germany
will soon begin a gradual trans-
ition from the F104 aircraft to
the newer, more sophisticated
F4. Instructions in flying t h a t
type of plane will start in July
at George AFB, Calif.
He said it is possible the
changeover eventually may bring
an end to German pilot train-
ing at Luke, but that a similar
program probably would be con-
ducted at another base in t h i s
country.
WILHELMS SAID Germany
would be loathe to give up train-
ing in the U.S. altogether, for
purely economic reasons.
The primary decision to estab-
lish a training program so far
from home was Arizona's near-
perfect flying weather. Pilots
rarely are grounded by any type
of weather problem here, and
can complete their training in
the least amount of time neces-
sary.
By contrast, rain and fog in
Europe would nearly double the
time needed to give pilots their
required 125 hours of gunnery
and combat training missions.
A spinoff benefit of the Arizona
weather is one of the lowest
training aircraft accident rates in
the world.
THE GERMAN pilots have be-
come an integral part of the
community around Phoenix and
would be missed.
Squadron leadersare constant-
ly called upon for personal ap-
pearances at civic and school
functions, and the pilots and their
wives annually participate in
.fond-raising events for local char-
ities.
A series of soccer games be-
tween the Germans and the U.S.
Air Force Academy has raised
a total of $26,000 for the benefit
of the Glendale Boys Club, enab-
ling the organization to move
from an old ramshackle ware-
house into a modern, well-equip-
ped facility.
AND, SOME of these German
'unofficial diplomats," as Wil-
helms calls them, have establish-
ed permanent ties with the area
by marrying local girls.
Gubernatorial secrets
Gov. Ronald Reagan of California (left) carries on a little chat with West Virginia's Arch Moore dur-
ing yesterday's final session of he National Governor's Conference at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel in
Stateline, Nevada.
This is Newsprint.
40
Harmless looking, isn't it?
i
All by itself, this innocuous square of paper hardly
ems important. But every week about 170,000
ounds of newsprint comes into Ann Arbor as news-
papers or to be made into newspapers. Well-packed,
that would make a square pile 20 feet on a side and
10 feet tall, solid newsprint. After the news is read,
the paper is buried and both are forgotten. But the
pile of old newsprint will grow until it no longer can
be ignored.
Fortunately, there is a solution. Old newsprint can
be recycled and made into paper products, thus
sparing the landscape and trees that would other-
wise have been cut. In Ann Arbor the Ecology
Center has a recycling station on South Industrial
Highway, off Stadium, just south of the Coca-Cola
bottlers. It's open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednes-
day thru Saturday.
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