European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 20, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday october 20, 1977 the stars and stripes Page 9 my commander does t fit the image by Jim Coles distaff writer Mannheim Germany is the popular image of the military commander is of a John Wayne Type tall Strong ath Letic and All Man. But the members of the 77th my pet confinement know this Ain t necessarily so because their Boss is a woman. Her name is capt. Linda Bratcher and at first glance you would think she d be the least Likely candidate to command an my unit. But the maps say Don t let her size and Quick smile fool you she s a no nonsense commander. The 26-year-old Houston tex., native recently acquired her Railroad tracks which As she put it was something i did t really plan on. You see i was a speech major in College and taught High school later. When i was teaching my Stu dents would ask what the world was like and i could t Tell them. I looked around for a Way to gain the experiences that would make me a better teacher and i came upon the army. I figured that with the travel and other experiences available i d be Able to help my students better when i got Back. I was really Only planning on just two or three years and then getting the distance Between teaching speech and being an my commander is enormous but bridging that Gulf was easy for Bratcher. When i decided to join i was very inter ested in educational the Toso i thought i d take signal As my Branch. I was in the third oct class where women could take a Branch. Well the signal people could t guarantee that i d get into a to so i put maps Down As one of my choices and got Bratcher said the Mission is Paramount but that much of her time is devoted to the welfare of her troops. This is a different kind of unit from most my outfits. Our Job is supplying the cadre for the correctional facility. We run a three shift operation that demands a lot of our soldiers. They know they re doing a Tough Job and they know that i respect them for it. I guess you might say that i be acquired a sort of Mother image for some of the younger troops because they know they can talk to me about their problems. I try to show my troops that i care about them so we have unit parties As often As we can and we try to get involved with the families and get the families involved with us. I really push education and family involvement. With the Mission we have it s hard to get our required training and it in so i try to build the training schedule around the troops. It s unfortunate but much of their training must be done on their time. Tiey Don t like it but they know it must be done and they know i am at least trying to my commander gets briefed spec. 4 Richard Markell explains to to Pool operations to his Boss capt. New rules direction Linda Bratcher commander 77th my det confinement Mannheim which supplies cadre for the correctional facility. Is by Arwine Wurzburg acs shop gets new Start Bubo Cullen staff write Wurzburg Germany is Alice Bacca is a housewife turned business manager who is determined to turn a profit for the curiosity Shoppe of the army Community services office Here. The shop never closed but Bacca staged a grand opening on oct. 15 to emphasize the new rules and the new direction she has mapped for the shop. The curiosity Shoppe serves As a marketing outlet for artefacts made by Mem Bers of the military Community Here. Bacca said she requires that articles brought in for Sale be handcrafted and be ones which you did under the old system Sellers paid a 20 per cent sales commission to acs on All articles sold through the shop. In addition unsold items suffered drastic Price reductions Down 20 per cent after 30 Days reduced 50 per cent after 60 Days and after 90 Days unsold articles became the property of acs. Bacca simplified the entire process. Now the curiosity Shoppe charges a straight 10 per cent sales commission and record is paid for Meissen porcelain London up a buyer paid a world record Price for Meissen porcelain in the second auction of a $2.5 million collection. Christie s auction House said a Londo dealer paid $105,000 for a pair of Meissen figures of Bantam Cocks a world record for porcelain from this factory. The previous record was set in March in the first Sale from the private collection being dispersed a european collection sold anonymously. That record was $73,500 for a pair of Ginger jars. The articles can stay in the store for As Long As the seller desires. You set the Price we take 10 per cent she said. Her plans for the shop include installing display shelves to give the shop a More professional appearance. Previous shop managers tried to have wooden display shelves made so Bacca believes there Are some shelves somewhere in the military Community Here that belong to the curious sity Shoppe. But As of now she can t get hold of anyone to find out where they Are or if they were the grand opening sales were very High she said with Sellers bringing in lots of new merchandise that will be for Sale from 8 to 5 monday through Friday she said. We have a lot of interesting things for Sale and we Are turning Over a lot of Mer Chandise said Bacca who confesses this is her first business venture. Make it As painless As possible. I can Hon Estly say i be never seen a tighter not everyone is Happy in this unit but few units Are prouder of their commander than this one. . Ricky Bostic who works in the training office said i think she s a lot fairer than Many male com Manders i be had. Some of them would act like they re listening to you but they really Aren t. With her you know she listens and she cares. You Don t get Over on her but she s spec. 4 Dave Ziesmer a guard said she s the Best commander i be Ever had. Some officers carry an air of superiority about them. Not her. She s like the my motto of the troops for the troops she really cares about Bratcher and her husband 1st it. Charles d. Bratcher also an my Aren t sure if they will stay in the service be cause their interests Are leading them out of military circles. She said Charles is working toward becoming a professional photographer while she is working on a master s degree in computer science. If they do leave the service she Hopes to work in inventory control because of my love for doing research and she says she has specific likes and Dis likes about army life. What i like most Are the people in the army. Most Are Good people. Everybody gets their share of duds but most Are willing and capable people. What i dislike is the enormity of the machine. It takes so Long to promote change or get even the most routine things though there Are the usual hassles that go with army life she thinks her five years Haven t been wasted i be had a lot of opportunities that civilian women Don t have. I be been Able to travel grow gather in a lot of experiences and not be stuck doing the same thing for 40 years like so Many people she said. Before assuming command of the 77th, she worked As assistant corrections officer at the jail. Before that she had the responsibility for taking care of the details in Clos ing the my school at it. Gordon a. 32nd tvs will Goto f15 eagles Ramstein Germany the air Force will re equip its fighter Squadron in the Netherlands with the new f15 Eagle air superiority fighter next fall a Safe spokesman said wednesday. The Transi Tion will be completed by january 1979. The 32nd tac fighter so tvs amp new Amsterdam is presently flying the f4e phantom. The Squadron s air superiority Mission will remain unchanged and the number of aircraft it is authorized will remain at 18, the spokesman said. The move has been coordinated with nato and approved by dutch authorities. The Squadron s f4es will be distributed among other Safe phantom equipped nato committed units elsewhere on the continent the spokesman said. Personnel transfers will be kept to a minimum. A Large portion of the 32nd s f4 aircrew and maintenance personnel will be Cross trained into the f15 weapon system. Some people will be reassigned to other f4 units throughout the air Force the spokesman said. There will be a slight decrease in the number of air Force military personnel assigned to the 32nd tvs the spokesman said adding that some modifications will be required on facilities at Camp new Amsterdam to accommodate the f15. Sadat to visit 3 lands Cairo a president Anwar Sadat will visit Romania Yugoslavia and Iran at the end of this. Month
