European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 19, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                February 1981 the stars and stripes Page 11 letters of the editor idea for strengthening the bring Back the i Bill i would like to express my concern Over what i feel is our and military manpower the United states has fallen behind the soviet Union in virtually every measure of military As the joint chiefs of staff i feel our most pressing need is for and Many responsible people believe the Solu Tion to our manpower problem is a return to the peacetime i that these supporters of the draft Overlook some crucial facts an effective solution to the manpower problem should Start with not re the recruiting shortfall in All the armed forces combined in fiscal year 1979 totalled about the Short age of noncommissioned officers in the army alone during the same period was the Navy is Short officers and enlisted personnel lower but Over Petty again the great est shortage in no a draft can prevent a shortage of Pri but not of corporals and the retention problem will exist whether or not first term personnel enlist or Are the All Volunteer Force also has been falsely in my for the de Cline in recruit this plunge did not occur when the draft ended in 1972 it happened after Congress terminated eligibility for i Bill education benefits in the percentage of army recruits in the two highest mental categories was about the same in 1976 As it had been in by fiscal year this recruitment level in the two highest mental categories had dropped by More than Congress has permitted military pay and benefits never High to begin to sink so Low that dedicated Buchwald there is entirely too much talk lately about nuclear first we had Secretary of state Alexander Haig testify in front of a Senate committee that there were worse things in this world than nuclear then we had Secretary of defense Cas Par Weinberger pushing for a Neutron everyone suddenly seems to be thinking the my Friend who is getting nervous about All this nuclear Sab has a theory As to what is Caus ing the problem is that for 35 years our measuring stick for atomic holocaust has been Hiroshima and every time someone wants to make an atomic weapon comparison he says this warhead packs times the Wallop of the bomb dropped on or this european edition Rose editor chief Mert Procto managing editor manager manager Elmer Frank Henry Epstein this newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication for armed forces the stars and stripes is published in conjunction with the armed forces information program of the department of contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily the official View of the the depart ment of defense or the european the appearance of displays in this newspaper concerning commercial publications does not constitute an endorse ment of the department of including the military military address the stars and Apo International mail the stars and Postrach 11 10 d6100 Darmstadt Tel Griesheim c prefix 06155 811 m Darmstadt Airstrip prefix 2376 telex new York office room 252 seventh new York Tel area code 212 second class postage paid at new news bureaus Rudl building Carl Schurz Bremerhaven military 8659 or Bremerhaven 88782 Ger Roy building Pulaski to Jelweh military 2226 6585 or Kaiserslautern 0631 52104 John build ing William Darby Nuernberg military 7256 or Nuernberg 712563 John Patch Patch military 27298449 or Stuttgart 730826 Jim Arylne and Gary Raf Apo military Auto on extensions or civilian Mildenhall 0638 713882 telex 817885 Grace Oas spa the room Washington 202 circulation offices Germany civilian Mil 6187 Bremer Civ Psi 8119 Civ 692050 Civ Mil Vogel Weh 6050 Civ 6901503 or Mil 6556 Civ Mil 7256 North German Rhei main Mil 7103 or 6025 Civ Mil Greece Civ Italy Vicenza Civ Spain Madrid Civ 2057546 or Torreon air base Mil Turkey Istanbul Civ telex 26174 sans United kingdom Greenham common Civ Newbury 0635 military Newbury 0635 46263 artillery Shell will give you 30 times More punch than what we did to these stats dont have relevance any Hiroshima and Nagasaki Are part of ancient history and have no meaning for the people running the world we have to come up with a new yardstick to give them some idea of what atomic weapons can what do you suggest i asked i have a modest Alabaster we need two new examples to demonstrate How awesome nuclear War so it will sober up military men and not Only Here but in the soviet All 1 what do you have in mind we should permit the United states and the to fire off their largest nuclear weapon at just one soviet and one to prove How powerful the weapons really Why not i Moscow and Washington would be off limits because we dont want to eliminate the leaders of both or the lesson would be lost on he we must select two Beautiful cities that have tremendous sentimental meaning for the people of the respective i would suggest the nuke and the Why Leningrad i it is without a doubt the loveliest City in the soviet with magnificent irreplaceable and one of the great museums of the Why san Francisco everyone loves san one easily can leave his heart what will it prove 1 when the russians see the devastation one american weapon has done to its be loved Leningrad they will realize that the United states is not stockpiling tinker and in turn the americans who have been discussing nuclear War As some kind of military super bowl will have second thoughts about solving its foreign problems with atomic with Leningrad and san Francisco nuked we wont need Hiro Shima and Nagasaki anymore to Point out the dangers of a new but my modest proposal has a second we and the soviets have spent a bundle on nuclear and both sides de serve to shoot off at least one in anger Dur ing our if for no other reason than to see firsthand that we got our moneys c los Angeles times men and women can no longer afford to serve their Bill has challenged the new 97th Congress with a series of proposals aimed at solving our retention the National defense compensation would raise regular military compensation base pay plus allowances for housing and subsistence nine percent for firs term and 18 percent for the career Over and above annual cos of living the pay increase would be phased in Over a three year to ease budget prob lems during the next two critical fiscal and to take maximum advantage of the principle that desirable economic activity can be induced now an increase in re Tention rates in anticipation of future Bene a companion Bill introduced in the House of representatives by Paul and Charles has been cosponsored by More than half the members of the House armed services senator Armstrong has also sponsored a new i Bill of 1981 patterned after the highly successful world War ii i in Exchange for two years of honorable a Young Man or woman could earn tuition assistance to a maxium of per and a living stipend of a month for three years of four years of i Bill benefits could be earned by three years of the i Bill of 1981 should bring Back into the armed forces Many of the High Caliper Young men and women who do not now even consider military from a taxpayers the Best thing about the i Bill is that it would be once the i Bill were in concomitant reductions could be made in existing Federal Aid to higher education loan and Grant pro without depriving a single Volunteer of the Opportunity to get a College Educa these Bills constitute a Start towards a comprehensive solution to the manpower problems of the total at a Price which we can with your Congress will enact them into Law next 1 urge each of you to write to your Congress Mem Bers stating your support for these pro Grams and request them to consider favor Able action during the next congressional Stephen Artman Germany Freedom to talk of imperfection i would like to reply to proud Ameri can in the 19 Issue who starts out by saying she is fed up with people tearing Down then goes on to say that in you can worship the Way you want and voice an opinion without going to then after praising Freedom of she finishes her letter by telling her fellow americans to stay in Germany and quit badmouthing my obviously this lady believes in Freedom of speech Only As Long As it is i am an English woman married to an american so i can see two sides of the Fence and i get very tired of hearing that America is the Only place where one can have the Freedom of no nation on not even is and its about time this lady and others like her realized Carpenter Ramstein Germany she praised America As the Only place where you can have Freedom of Freedom of and says she is sick of hearing military people tear Down their own she then turns around and tells her fellow Ameri cans to stay where they Are and quit bad mouthing America if they Are i hate to be the one to Tell but these people who badmouth America Are Only exercising the Freedom which she holds so if she would have people say nothing but Good or nothing at where is our Freedom of speech i have 16 years in the air and i am proud of i feel that my years of service to my country entitles me to my opinion of my my and my Way of life Good or All i can say to proud american is Wake up America is not and the Only Way to make it better is to Praise the things that Are Good and com Plain about and change the things that Are Joseph Carpenter Ramstein Germany the Story behind news coverage in the 13 Issue there was a letter from the athletic director of Gaeta complaining no information about his number one team Ever appeared in stars and but information about other teams your restraint in not answering his letter May i it is a shame the athletic director found the time to write a letter of complaint but not the time to Send in a few words with pictures for it is always amazing to me that people Are Quick to complain but do nothing to prevent a complaint from being did the author actually think the stars and stripes had enough reporters to devote one exclusively to the Gacita Little league team during the italian the greatest disaster to befall Italy in 65 Only one reporter and one photographer could be de voted to that Story stars and stripes does not have a Branch office in Abc and Cable news also Only sent one team consisting of usually four up and a Only sent one person take a look at this Issue there Are very few stars and stripes bylines this should give you some idea of their so if you Haven sent in the dont complain it int everything we have sent from is always print the Best reporter you can get is your your letter was very but a Little us Sicily