THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 7, 1994 TAG: 9409070439
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
The last two flights carrying Navy and Marine Corps family members and civilians out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, arrived in Norfolk on Tuesday.
It brought to 2,194 the number of people sent back to the United States because of rising pressures on the base from housing Cuban and Haitian refugees.
The Navy in Norfolk processed 1,879 people on the first 17 flights that arrived at the Norfolk Naval Station between last Wednesday and Monday evening.
Although 315 people arrived on Tuesday's flights, the exact figures for how many of those were processed were not available.
Termed Operation Sincere Welcome, the Norfolk-based program was designed to give the uprooted American dependents and civilian defense workers a friendly reception, plus numerous services that would help them proceed to their final destinations.
Most of those who stepped off the huge transports spent very little time in Norfolk, leaving almost immediately on commercial airliners that took them throughout the continental United States, plus Puerto Rico and Canada.
``The average time from when the wheels went down on the plane to when they departed Norfolk International Airport, or went to the processing center was 46 minutes,'' said Beth Baker, a spokeswoman for the base.
Of the first 1,879 to arrive here, 1,223 left on other flights, generally on the same day. An estimated 790 people were provided temporary lodging while awaiting further travel plans.
Some 168 families - about 460 people - were being put up in hotels, Navy lodges and Navy bachelor quarters on Tuesday, the Navy said. Another 30 families, with 79 people, were staying in the Hampton Roads area with friends or family.
About 450 people were given additional services, ranging from medical care to financial assistance, at the hospitality center, which was staffed 24 hours a day by a variety of specialty personnel.
The average time those people spent going through the processing center was 57 minutes, Baker said.
Overall, the seven full days of assisting the displaced Guantanamo residents went very well, Baker said.
``I think it went a lot faster and more smoothly than we had anticipated,'' she said. ``We had rehearsed it and prepared for it so much that we were ready for it. But I think those figures still impressed a lot of us.''
The Navy, using Army veterinarians, also took care of 218 family pets that came aboard five cargo flights.
KEYWORDS: CUBA GUANTANAMO BAY REFUGEES by CNB