Where Are They Now? 6 Stories Revisited : Desert Shield: Radio and TV programming for U.S. troops will mention the holidays sparingly.

The holiday season is usually a time for special programming on the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service, headquartered in Sunland, which provides entertainment and information to U.S. military personnel around the world. But this year, because of Operation Desert Shield in the Middle East, holiday programming will be severely limited.

As reported in September, several shows with religious overtones were cut from the AFRTS satellite-delivered, international radio service because it was feared that they would offend devout Muslims in the countries hosting the troops. “It has gotten even worse because of Christmas,” said Gerald Fry, the civilian director of programming for AFRTS.

Not surprisingly, the planned broadcast on Christmas Eve of services from a church in Illinois and one in Germany was canceled, but even mentions of the holiday have to be monitored.

“We’ve been told that the word ‘Christmas’ on a broadcast is OK,” Fry said, “but references to the Nativity or Bethlehem or anything like that have to be cut out. Secular songs like ‘Sleigh Ride’ or ‘Jingle Bells’ are allowed, but the religious carols can be played only in their instrumental versions.”

AFRTS now has 10 radio transmitters serving the troops in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Seven of them broadcast the international service that is relayed from Sun Valley via satellite. The other three mix AFRTS programming with locally produced, disc jockey, “Good Morning Desert Shield”-type shows done at mobile studios.

Television is now also part of the AFRTS programming in the same Desert Shield area. Three low-powered AFRTS stations there are broadcasting news, sports and special events programming from a satellite feed 12 hours a day.