European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 11, 1969, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes tuesday february a 1969 army is aiming for retention of Junior officers by Perry Flippin Washington is the army is facing two facts of life in the Pentagon with no Small amount of concern and both hinge on a Factor even the army can t control Junior  announced by the army indicate that almost half of the officers on Active duty have less than two years of service. More than two thirds of those Young lieutenants quit the army after two years rather than stay on even Long enough to become  recent a personnel news letter urges commanders to explain to Junior officers the individual benefits mostly in army Reserve status for serving an additional year on Active duty beyond the initial two year Obi  the lieutenant extends an extra year he can expect two immediate rewards promo Tion to Captain aus and the fulfilment of another year of Active military duty to be credited against his six year Obliga Tion. Then when he is release the following year he is appointed to the permanent Grade 01usar Captain. If on the other hand the firs lieutenant decides to be separated at the end of two years he retains his current rank in the is Washington Bureau usar and does not become eligible for promotion in the re serve until he completes one of the following two years ingrate if affiliated with a Reserve unit or four years in Grade an six years total commissioned service if not affiliated with Reserve unit. Marauders to be reactivated As 75th inf is Washington Bureau Washington is Merrill s marauders the legendary rangers of world War h s Burma India Fame will be reactivated As the 75th inf regt according to army officials. The reactivation announcement however is deceptive. Actually it will amount to Littlemore than administrative paper  of the 14 Long Range patrol units to be known hereafter As rangers Are scattered around Vietnam attached mostly to in Fantry divisions. They actually belong to the 17th, 20th, 50th,51st, 52nd and 58th inf regts but having no single Parent organization it would appear that the various Ranger companies Are either step children or Ille Giti mates. While parentage probably does t bother any red blooded Ranger the army does feel tha tall of its elite reconnaissance commandos need to be United into a common regiment of uncommon skill As one Pentagon source phrased it. Under the reorganization move the 75th inf regt will be come the Parent unit of All rang ers in the army. Helicopter school reunion Sheppard fab Tex. Spe Cial the air Force helicopter Pilot school will observe its 25thanniversary june 7. All graduates and instructors of the school and others associated with rotary Wing aircraft Are invited to at tend. Reservations should be sent to helicopter reunion car no,2, Box b-85, Sheppard fab Tex. 78311. Backpack video units Goto of Norton fab Calif. Special two Backpack video recording systems similar to those used by television networks in cover ing political conventions and the olympics have been acquired by the air Force aerospace audio visual service avs to enhance its television coverage of military events. This equipment will enable avs cameramen to cover events at practically any Loca Tion accessible to Man said capt. Gary c. Franc Aav plans officer. Each Backpack consists of a55-Pound Ampex 3000 Mono Chrome color video recorder Anda 15-Pound Ampex by 300 Mono Chrome camera and is self contained. The system is capable of producing 20-minute broadcast Quality video tapes with sound. Armed with this system Aav cameramen Are Able to feed live television to virtually an Point on the Globe if tied into a transmission link. They also can record material for instant play Back or for later  avs backpacks valued at More than $60,000 each Arete first of their kind delivered to a department on defens Agency in the United states. Shooting for the Moon Moon hound an artist s concept left of he Apollo command an service modules docked with the lunar module i shown. One astronaut has already transferred tothe pm and the second is transferring through the Forward Access Hatch connecting the two spacecraft. Below Ace accepting checkout equipment station 3 at toe Kennedy spacecraft enter is a Busy place As personnel support a sys tems test on pm 3, Apollo 9 is scheduled for launch on feb. 28 and involves the first manned flight of the lunar mod ule. Nasa photos Carrier Kitty Hawk receives citation by Marc Huet is Washington Bureau Washington is the presidential unit citation has been presented to the attack aircraft Carrier Kitty Hawk in shipboard ceremonies at Pear Harbor. The presentation makes t h Pacific Fleet Carrier the first Navy ship to be so honoured for duty in Vietnam. All of the ship s 4,800 crewmen Are authorize to Wear the decoration. Adm. John j. Hyland com Mander in chief of the Pacific Fleet presented the citation to capt. John f. Davis skipper of the Kitty Hawk. Capt. D. C. Davis the Flattop s commanding officer during the period mentioned in the citation was pre sent at the ceremony. He is now on the staff of the Pacific flee commander. In his remarks Hyland said the ship is recognized in professional circles As having been on Yankee station during the Tough air Force seeking announcers Scott fab special Theair Force is seeking people who want to become broadcast specialists in the 721x1 career Field. Applicants must be High school graduates have scored at least 80 in the general category of the airman qualification exam speak without accent or speech impediment and be Able to Type at least 13 words per minute. Air men from All air Force specially codes Are eligible. Est part of the War and in the most heavily defended area in the world. Adverse weather and heavy enemy defences forced the Kitty Hawk to operate under the mos difficult conditions Ever faced in naval aviation history the Admiral said. The citation accompanying theaward praised the ship s Crew and her embarked air Wing 11forexceptional perform Ance in staging air raids on Power plants and Industrial Cen ters Between dec. 33, 1967, and june 1,1968." the ship s air Wing launched185 major strikes 150 of them against Northern sections of North Vietnam and hit tar gets near Hanoi and haiphong65 times. It boosts automatic9 Randolph fab Tex. Spe Cial promotions to the temporary Grade of first lieutenant will be effected by air Force starting april 1, in the Sam manner As promotions to temporary Captain Are accomplished. This change is expected to pro vide savings in the Cost of or Ders publication and will reduce the number of erroneous promotions and resultant requests for correction of military records. Officers eligible for promotion to temporary first lieutenant Wili be projected into the air Force personnel data systems 60 to 90 Days prior to the promo Tion eligibility Date. Housing figures reported Washington special -the56,105 i housing starts in 1968 were the highest since 1964, according to the veterans administration. Appraisal requests of191,744 on proposed dwellings were the largest number since1968