The Region - News from March 6, 1986

More than 8,000 officers and enlisted men of a fleet unit scheduled to visit Japan this summer are undergoing AIDS testing. Sailors stationed in Japan and the Philippines have already been checked for AIDS antibodies, but Navy officials in San Diego said this is the first time the tests have been ordered for a fleet based in the continental United States. The aircraft carrier Ranger and six escort vessels are assigned to exercises in the Pacific this summer, and are expected to make at least one visit to a Japanese port. The navy has scheduled AIDS testing for all its personnel, beginning with sailors assigned overseas and continuing with those assigned to U.S. ports and finally those on shore duty.