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MILITARY FACES NFL New commander takes For nice guy Smith, Success on the charge of Navy’s largest it feels good to be a road this season group of warships gangster in ‘Council’ is uncommon Page 3 Page 17 Back page Report: Suicide bomber, militants attack US base in Somalia » Page 6 stripes.com Volume 78, No. 119 ©SS 2019 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas ANSBACH ARMY BASE Officials: US hiding details about water contamination BY JOHN VANDIVER AND MARCUS KLOECKNER Stars and Stripes The Army is withholding the re- sults of groundwater and soil tests that looked for harmful chemical contamination near its facilities in Ansbach and has failed to fix a public health problem that has lingered for years, German offi- cials have said. “The city of Ansbach greatly regrets that, for the foreseeable future, it will not be possible to report on reliable results from the detailed investigation and solu- tions for eliminating the burden” of chemical toxins in drinking water and soil, a city spokesman, who asked not to be named, said in an email sent to Stars and Stripes. Crew members at the 609th The chemical substance at Air Support the heart of the row, which has Squadron been roiling since 2016, is per- at Shaw Air fluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS. Force Base, Three years ago, the compound S .C., prepare was found in soil samples at the Tactical shift Thursday for airfield at the Army’s Katterbach the operational Kaserne. Amid renewed tension with Iran, US Air Force temporarily transition from PFOS and similar chemicals Al Udeid Air known as perfluorinated com- Base , Qatar, that pounds, or PFCs, are part a group moves its Middle East command center from Qatar to SC took place two of man-made chemicals known BY ADAM TAYLOR days later . as per- and polyfluoroalkyl sub- ‘ The Washington Post In times like today, we can’t have a MATTHEW ROSINE stances, or PFAS. They have been ton of permanent-fixture operating U.S. Air Force found at military bases worldwide AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar — For 13 years, the and, in some cases, have contami- U.S. has used a single building in this tiny Gulf state to bases throughout the area of nated drinking supplies. At bases command fighter jets, bombers, drones and other Air responsibility. ’ in the U.S., the military is spend- Force assets in a region that stretches from Northeast Byron Pompa ing hundreds of millions of dollars Africa through the Middle East to South Asia. AFCENT operations director, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar to mitigate PFC contamination. And yet on Saturday, as 300 planes were up in the Once widely used in firefight- air in key areas such as Syria, Afghanistan and the ton Post was invited to observe, was the first time ing foam, PFCs also are found in Persian Gulf, hundreds of seats at the Combined Air U.S. command and control had been moved out of the stain repellents used in carpets Operations Center at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, sat region since the center was established in Saudi Ara- and clothing and in the nonstick empty. bia during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. coatings of cooking utensils. The Instead, the air power of the U .S. and its allies was While Air Force commanders say moving functions chemical compounds do not break being controlled by teams at Shaw Air Base, S.C. , to a different base was a long-held ambition enabled down in the environment and ac- — more than 7,000 miles away. Though the move was by new technology, it comes amid renewed tension cumulate in the bodies of humans temporary — Al Udeid took control back on Sunday with Iran, a country that lies a couple of hundred and animals. after 24 hours — it was a significant tactical shift. miles across the Persian Gulf from Al Udeid. SEE WATER ON PAGE 4 The unannounced operation, which The Washing- SEE SHIFT ON PAGE 3 PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM •STARS AND STRIPES• Tuesday, October 1, 2019 EUROPE Katie Warrent, of Norwich, England, bowls a strike . PHOTOS BY CHRISTOPHER DENNIS/Stars and Stripes Steven Norman, from Ixworth Thorpe, England, strikes a pose as people clap for special-needs athletes as they arrive to register for the 38th annual Joan Mann Special Sports Day on Friday at RAF Mildenhall. Richard Mills, from Colchester, England, Mildenhall holds annual sports day climbs over the obstacle course. Event features 250 special-needs athletes, a torch-lighting and awards BY CHRISTOPHER DENNIS “I believe that if Joan Mann could be David Smith. Planning took 10 months and Stars and Stripes here, she would be smiling at what this involved 12 committees, said Smith, a rela- event has become,” Col. Troy Pananon, the tive newcomer to the base. MILDENHALL, England — Hundreds refueling wing’s commander, said at the About $10,000 in donations was raised of special-needs athletes were welcomed opening of the event. to support the event, which included an last week with cheers and applause at RAF The sports day kicked off with an Olym- awards ceremony and lunch for all par- Mildenhall for an annual competition that pic-style ceremony, complete with torch- ticipants, the organizers said. Athletes re- the air base has hosted since 1981. lighting and a parade of athletes. Since its ceived T-shirts and goodie bags too. The 100th Air Refueling Wing, 48th founding 38 years ago, it has grown to be- Events included a basketball shootout, Fighter Wing and 352nd Special Opera- come one of the larger events held on base, obstacle course, bowling and golf. tions Wing helped put on the 38th Annual said Tech. Sgt. Emerson Nunez, a refueling “I liked the bowling and golf,” said Katie Joan Mann Special Sports Day for nearly wing spokesman. Warrent, a participant from Norwich 250 athletes. Some of the athletes come from as far Mann, a British Defense Ministry em- away as Norwich, about 50 miles to the This was her second year participating ployee who worked at the base, began northwest, and Colchester, about 60 miles in the event, said her father, Stephen War- organizing the annual event to offer com- to the southeast, coordinators and partici- rant, and they plan to come back again. munity members with special needs a day pants said. Each is paired up with a volun- “We’ll be down every year, as long as we of fun and to bring the military and area teer from an Air Force unit. get invited,” he said. Amber Paynter, of Culford, England, residents closer together, the 100th ARW About 650 base volunteers helped put [email protected] tosses a football through a hole in the said in a statement. Mann died in 2006. on the event, said lead organizer 2nd Lt. Twitter: @chrisbdennis football toss competition . T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ............ 16 Business .......................... 15 Classified ................... 19, 23 Comics/Crossword ............ 22 Faces ............................... 17 Opinion ....................... 20-21 Shifting Gears................... 18 Sports .........................24-32 Weather ........................... 15 Tuesday, October 1, 2019 •STARS AND STRIPES• F3HIJKLM PAGE 3 MILITARY New Task Force 70 commander takes charge BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS conference Thursday, according to a tran- Stars and Stripes script. “We urge the U.S. side to respect the security concerns of countries in the YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — region and make positive contributions to Command of the Navy’s largest group of the peace and stability in the South China warships changed hands Sunday aboard Sea.” the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan Ren would not comment on whether the in the South China Sea, according to the apparent battleships shown in the satellite Navy. images were Chinese but said, “The Chi- Rear Adm. George M. Wikoff took nese military will earnestly perform its charge of Task Force 70 from Rear Adm. duties and missions and firmly safeguard Karl Thomas, who led the group, based in national sovereignty and security,” accord- Yokosuka, Japan, through several tense ing to the transcript. operations and major multinational exer- Comment from 7th Fleet officials was cises in his 14 months at the helm. not available Monday. Task Force 70 is the battle arm of 7th China has been building and militariz- Fleet, the Navy’s largest numbered fleet. ing islands and reefs since the start of the The 7th Fleet, also based at Yokosuka, decade. About a third of world trade passes includes 70 to 80 ships, including the per- through the South China Sea, which is rich manently deployed aircraft carrier USS in oil and fishing grounds, and the U.S. pro- Ronald Reagan, its air wing and carrier tests China’s internationally unrecognized strike group, 140 aircraft and 40,000 sail- claim to the waters. ors and Marines, according to the 7th Fleet ALEXANDRA SEELEY/U.S. Navy website. The Ronald Reagan and its strike group regularly sail through the South China Sea. The task force commander also com- Rear Adm. George M. Wikoff exits the stage after taking command of Task Force 70 The carrier passed through the waters in mands the Ronald Reagan strike group aboard the USS Ronald Reagan in the South China Sea on Sunday. — or Carrier Strike Group 5 — and has op- August en route to a port visit in Manila, erational control of any other carrier strike biography. He is also a naval aviator with Sea circulated on social media Saturday. Philippines, before returning to Yokosuka groups or independently deployed naval extensive command experience and ser- The carrier’s presence in the region drew for a brief break from deployment.

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