European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 19, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes wednesday october 19, 1977 reformer Means damage claims too Story and photo by Jim Coles i staff writer Mannheim Germany reformer that time of the year when Many people in Usa eur get to drive their tanks around sleep out in the Woods and practice their military skills is an expensive time for the  those tanks and other pieces of equipment Roll Over and through the Countryside millions of dollars Worth of damage can be done to crops roads and  the years the nato nations have worked out a system to pay for those dam Ages. The american end of the system is the . Army claims service Europe commanded by it. Col. Robert d. Hamel. Hamel said the claims service paid out $18.4 million last year for All causes and added a lot of that was for Man Euver damages but we operate four sections that handle claims for All sorts of things rang ing from simple thefts to damaged House hold  Hamel said his Agency maintains 38 Field offices which Are responsible for taking care of most of the claims. However these offices have a monetary limit they can t exceed he said. Claims Over the local limit must be forwarded to Hamel who is the appellate authority in Europe for american claims. Man Euver damage claims fall under article Viii of the nato status of forces agreement sofa. Payment of these claims is handled through a complicated process. What happens with damage claims is the it Al National files a claim with the German defense ministry s de sense Cost office. They investigate and if there s a legitimate claim they Forward itto us for our determination. Then we Send it Back to them they pay the claim an Send As a Bill for reimbursement. But we Only have to pay 75 per cent of the claim. The germans Mast pay the remainder so they have a vested interest to see that the claims Are valid.". In general according to Hamel claims received by the Agency fall into two Gener Al categories. First is what we Call scope or within the scope of duty claims which is claims for incidents that occurred during duty hours or in the course of duty. These generally fall under the Purview of the sofa article. The other general Type is non scope. This involves unofficial acts by . Service members such As robbing a taxi Driver rapes beatings and so Forth. These Are generally criminal acts against citizens of the Host country and Are considered to be under the rules of the foreign claims  reformer series of exercises is typical of what the claims service gets into. When you have several nations exercising together in the same area it becomes impossible to determine who did what. The sofa provides for this. All the participants sit Down and negotiate until every one is satisfied and each pays a share of the  Hamel said that one of the most important branches he controls is the personnel claims office. It s a big morale Factor for our soldiers to know that they can get some compensation when their property is dam aged or  capt. Jack Blomstrom chief of general claims said his office supervises the personnel claims from the 38 Field offices and receives claims from members of All the services represented in Europe. This is a totally different kind of a Job for a lawyer. Trying to compare it to military Justice Law is like trying to compare apples and  he said. He added that the difference is that Here one is generally dealing with the Good folks in the service As opposed to the other kind seen in military Justice. We re similar to insurance in some ways. The big differences Are that the sol Dier does t have to pay for the Protection and we won t pay if the Soldier has been negligent where an insurance company  said that every personal claim less than $500 could be paid in one Day but that mailing times from outlying areas on Large or doubtful claims has pushed the average time to about two weeks. Hamel said that last year the Dod claims appropriation fund paid out $4.7 million on 19,000 personal  new area that the claims service is getting involved with is medical malpractice suits against military doctors. According to the Gonzales Bill there will Beno More individual suits against military doctors. All malpractice claims will be handled through us and there s a statutory limit placed on awards to  Hamel would t say How Many if any claims were in the works against military doctors but indicated there were some. We have enough of these types of claims to keep us Busy he said. Capt. John Madden chief of the German claims Branch said that claims for a never damage must be completed within 42 Days of receipt or the government must pay interest on the settlement. He said the key to the system is reports provided by the units. These reports Are plotted onto Large maps which Are used at the International negotiations to show who was where and what damage was done at an exercise. He said some of the claims they get Are weird and cited cows having spontaneous abortions because of tanks running past them troops burning out ant Hills which Are cultivated in Germany to help keep insect populations under control and his favorite the loss of 200 fish at a Hatch Ery. He said the troops apparently got tired of a rations and just helped themselves to a Trout dinner. The claim was paid because the troops left behind the fish Heads and  most of the actions at claims service Are payments and reimburse ments one Section deals with getting Money Back. The recovery Section according to Hamel collected nip re than $1 million last year in claims against foreign nationals mostly in reimbursement for emergency medical treatment in . Mili tary hospitals and clinics and for traffic accidents involving american vehicles. We re not getting Back nearly what we pay out Hamel said but the system is fair to everyone concerned. Everyone who has a legitimate claim is treated squarely. The idea is to pay the claims As quickly and generously As possible without giving away the  National easter Seal society for crippled children and adults the easter Seal society a voluntary health Agency is an advocate spokesman and a provider of Quality rehabilitation services for Handi capped people of All Ages. 1978 Dod combined Federal Campaign overseas area 1978 National health agencies american red Cross capt. John Madden left and spec. 6 Larry Bushbaker of the German claims Section. This a a stars and stripes Public service advertisement