Action Line #91001 – Stars and Stripes

  • Published
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Complaint:

Can someone please explain why we are no longer receiving the Stars and Stripes until two to four days later? We used to receive it the same day. As a result of this, the Commissary has stopped carrying the Stars and Stripes altogether. I seldom even buy or read it anymore. Also, I have heard sales on base are way down as a result of this issue.

Response:

Thanks for the question. This is something I have been looking into for several months now. Yesterday, I called the distribution department at the Stars and Stripes in Germany, and asked what was going on. Here is what I learned:

The Stars and Stripes is constantly looking for better ways to ensure timely delivery of their newspaper to all subscribers. They have just entered into a new contract for space available mail service for delivering the paper from Germany to all points in Turkey, and will watch the results closely. Unfortunately, there have been numerous delays recently in transporting the daily editions from Frankfurt to Istanbul, which has resulted in the untimely delivery of the newspaper to Incirlik, Ankara, and Izmir.

I did ask about the possibility of contracting out a printing service here at Incirlik to ensure more timely service option (there is a similar service in Spain). While the Stars and Stripes is examining this as a potential future option, it is not fiscally feasible at this point in time. I am committed to periodically continue to ask this question.

While we may not be able to get same-day delivery of the Stars and Stripes, they do offer digital editions for Europe, Mideast, Korea, Japan, and Okinawa so, news is still available the same day. The papers can be accessed at http://epaper.stripes.com/