program the change of station to southern europe is an exciting opportunity for soldiers and civilians of the army you'll find in southern europe some of the most interesting countries you will ever see but it's not unusual to be concerned about how you and your family will get along living in and around such different cultures in a lot of ways being in southern europe is like army life in the u but there are some differences and you're going to enjoy it a lot more if you know what those differences are ahead of time so you can pla there are all kinds of ways to find out what it's like in southern europe before you come from the personal sponsor your new unit as signs to you from orientation material the army puts out and from a c s army community services taking the time to use these resources will really pay off when you get here whether you are military or civilian if your assignment takes you to italy you'll find yourself in one of the most interesting exciting picturesque countries in the world in some ways it's like a living museum filled with images you've seen in textbooks ever since you were in grade school they are all real right here before your eyes you will be here in italy as part of the united states army southern european task force and fifth support command an important part of the nato defense team that has been stationed in europe since one nine hundred fifty five usa the tariff and fifth the forward command are sub com has the job of defending the southern front and providing support to italian greek and turkish installations from a is about a forty five minute drive northwest develops like most the talian cities it is a fascinating blend of all the news buildings dating back to the thirteenth century that today houses modern boutiques large contemporar buildings not far from small picture book ins that look centuries old and really are ancient narrow streets leading out of the city to high speed highways or autostrada a truly interesting place to live instead of the chances are your orders may assign you to a different station in italy camp darby for example near livorno on the western coast in the province of tuscany just a few miles from peta and an hour's drive vacation spots in southern europe it is also possible that you may be assigned to a unit of the five hundred fifty ninth u s artillery group with a station on an italian base in a smaller city or town in northern italy often referred to as remote sites they are called remote because they may be one or two hours drive away from a chance of some of these remote sites a located in beach resort others are picturesque outside of italy to the five hundred fifty eight u s army artillery group in greece there you may be located at group headquarters that greases a left us air base about a half hour's drive from athens the cradle of western civilization your orders to see cast and system could assign you even further east of italy to the five hundred twenty eighth artillery group in turkey and exotic land where the cultures of east and west come together assignment to turkey which is you could be assigned to group headquarters near istanbul or to one of the other remote field artillery detachments spread over a twelve hundred mile area across the country facilities in turkey are scaled down versions of what you would expect in the chance of the biggest concern most families have when they learn they're coming to italy is where they're going to live and shop and how much things are going to cost you can get many answers to your questions by corresponding with the sponsor seek half assigns to you or ask your local a c s to request a welcome packet from your new duty station but generally you will find that life for us army people in c cast including civilians focuses on military communities associated with the installation where they are assigned at the gym that community is on the base i guess there as well as those assigned to remote sites an hour or two away in many ways because sermon at early looks like an army base community in the state there was a well stocked commissary that carries many of the brand names you're familiar with in the states a post exchange that bothers large as many on larger u s installations but is generally adequate for the number of people it serves a convenience store that stays open late specialty remote site places costs at these installations are comparable to those back in the states you're a sponsor will be able to tell you what facilities and services are available where you will be stationed and what you're going to expect them to sermon at early as well as clinics for a variety of special needs additional specialized quality care is provided by italian a physician consultants and civilian hospitals at camp darby most  healthy can be met in a modern medical and dental clinic with back up for more specialized care of a little inventions of those stationed at remote sites generally use the medical and dental facilities on kasama elderly faiths and they provide a wide range of recreational services and sports activities the county is understandably a major concern for everyone coming to italy because government provided accommodations already such short supply single soldiers normally find barracks space available if you're married the availability of housing is what determines the kind of orders you receive and the kind of travel plans you should make in player areas and sports fields swimming pools a convenience store a community center and regular shuttle busses ducasse or my elderly if the lodge your housing is not available to you you might be assigned a five hundred fifty ninth us army artillery group and in most other instances in italy your orders will require you to live on the local economy that is you will get quarters from an italian landlord some seventy percent of the families in the chans area live in economy quarters many individuals and their families prefer to live on the economy it enables them to get closer to the local culture and to have more family privacy than is possible  government provided housing civilian army employees almost always live on the economy