The Army and Air Force Hometown News Service’s annual Holiday Greetings program begins next week in Europe, with daylong visits planned to nearly two dozen locations over a six-week period.

This is the program servicemembers might want to link up with to send a holiday message to family and friends back in the United States.

A team of technicians from San Antonio, where Hometown News Service is based, is scheduled to arrive in England this weekend. After visits to RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath, the crew will move to Germany, where there are more bases and military personnel.

Air Force Tech Sgt. Brady McCarron, this year’s team chief for the European theater’s Holiday Greetings program, indicated last month that the war in Iraq has heightened interest in the project.

“Families and TV and radio stations alike are already asking when they will be out,” McCarron wrote in an e-mail, referring to the audio and video tapes provided free of charge to local stations.

“Every year we get better and better numbers of not only greetings — but more and more airings from TV and radio. This year will be no exception.”

Check with local installation officials for specific taping locations and times at the following bases:

• Monday — RAF Mildenhall, England;• Tuesday — RAF Lakenheath, England;• Thursday — Heidelberg, Germany;• Sept. 12 — Hanau, Germany;• Sept. 13 — Friedberg, Germany;• Sept. 15 — Giebelstadt, Germany;• Sept. 16 — Würzburg, Germany;• Sept. 17 — Schweinfurt, Germany;• Sept. 18 — Kitzingen, Germany;• Sept. 19 — Ansbach/Illesheim, Germany;• Sept. 20 — Mannheim, Germany;• Sept. 22 — Darmstadt, Germany;• Sept. 23 — Kaiserslautern, Germany;• Sept. 24-25 — Ramstein Air Base, Germany;• Sept. 26-27 — Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany;• Sept. 29-30 — Vicenza, Italy;• Oct. 1-2 — Aviano Air Base, Italy;• Oct. 6-7 — Kosovo;• Oct. 10, 11, 13 — Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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