European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 2, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 letters the stars and stripes August 1985 purpose of Iron time training is explained the Iron soldiers of the 1st army div have a better advantage than most stationed Here in or do they we arc participants in Iron time training every it is a Chance for the Iron sol Diers to train with their firs line super i it is their Lime to identify gaps in the soldiers to improve and hone those skills for the tip of the the concept deserves a great Deal of grand design and practical application arc not always one and the platoon squad leaders and the individual Iron soldiers Are More often than deprived of the rightful training in lieu of training that has been dictated to the Point of Force feeding Down to the Iron staff we appreciate the but we work Day and night with these soldiers give us our time with please dont make this another dog and Pony let us make our mis takes without fear of its far better to make the mistakes now in a training where the situation can be instead of where the same mistake will Cost us the Iron Soldier trains and they deserve trainers that can help them become better at their duty after in the final analysis we Are All Only As Strong As our weakest please let us conduct constructive train ing with our soldiers without having to look Over our shoulders to see if the dog and Pony show inspectors Are out we Are fit to fight now we need to seriously train to Frost Germany editors note command George 1st army replies Iron time training was instituted by the 1st army div in january when properly practice at All Iron time is one of the Best training tools Ever simple it gives the Junior Leader the Chance to develop his leadership and Trainer the individual Soldier the Chance to prac Tice his and it trains squads and teams at the lowest Levels to work cohesively at their Al important Battle it does this by requiring All soldiers assigned to teams and sections to be present for the these Are the drills they will have to perform in and their proficiency will determine whether they live or whether we win or to better understand the background of Iron one must understand training in All units must conduct their training under the principles of the battalion train ing management system this program stresses looking at training Over a three week period what we did last what were doing this week and what we need to do next commanders and leaders at All Levels must be constantly evaluating their unit Levels of expertise in the things they train then they decide during the weekly training meetings starting at the platoon and company Levels what they need More training this training should then be programmed three weeks in the 1st army no professional development classes Are designed to teach the Junior leaders what they must know in order to teach their soldiers these Battle drills during the Iron time training ses the commanders at the colonel level control the scheduling of Iron time so that they can provide these Junior leaders the Benefit of having their soldiers for five uninterrupted hours weekly to train in these selected these colonels remove the major distractions of to make the training and they make the training mandatory for 100 per cent of the soldiers in order to protect them from the Community commanders in conjunction with Community agencies work out extra hour Community services so soldiers do not lose out on the services provided by the Community the writer must understand that Iron time drills Are directed based upon the commanders View of his units level of if the writers unit is properly executing training management under then he has the input to his commander during the weekly training and he should utilize this method of saying what he wants to train his soldiers to the Best of my knowledge Iron time is not being conducted As a dog and Pony show anywhere in the division nor was it Ever intended to be such a having served in units at every Grade level from Soldier to command sergeant i believe that Iron time when properly is one of the greatest training tools leaders at All Levels have Ever been Auto parts Price complaint gets cafes reply on april i ordered two pairs of Monroe Shock i was quoted a Price of imagine my Surprise when the shocks arrived on May 22 a Mere month after i ordered them but at a Cost of the which i managed to showed the Cost to cafes As yet cafes wanted to charge me if Ive done my math that rep resents a 62 percent markup Over cafes that is a far cry from the 26 percent savings the cafes propagandists regularly in january Napa Auto parts quoted me a regular retail Price of stateside retail appears to be lower than the cafes prices the cafes employee i talked to told me that the cafes Hierarchy told him in a letter not to discuss pricing policies with Why is it to hide the fact that cafes Doest save us but in systematically ripping us off i invite everyone to buy a Sample Basket of then buy comparable goods or services on the see just How much of a savings you Ritter Frankfurt editors note master Bruce customer relations Spe Public affairs he cafes replies before we Don our Junior Ralph Nader consumer advocate lets take a min Ute to look at the our goal is to save customers a minimum of 20 percent when compared to what they spend shopping the problem customers dont believe they save Money at cafes that each year cafes contracts with the Nielsen company to measure and validate customer our prices Are compared with prices in commercial stores surrounding 17 major army and air Force installations in the Continental United our regular Price is compared to the Price of the Day in commercial customers saved an average of percent by shopping cafes in and that didst include sales where were the greatest savings Here clothing stationery jewelry household automotive toiletries percent percent percent percent percent percent according to the Nielsen cafes beats the commercial Price 88 percent of the prices Are equal 1 percent of the time and commercial stores beat our prices 11 percent of the time by offering loss Lead whats the message the smart shop per will take advantage of the Best buys they cafes or too Many of our customers see an item cheaper downtown and assume everything less it As for your the initial estimate was you later asked for an additional the items were added to your but the Cost estimate want adjusted for that we our sell Price for the special order was our Cost was that a markup of percent which must cover our costs of shipping and As Well As generate markup is expressed As a percentage of sell you found the Price unacceptable and were promptly refunded your Deposit of the Auto parts store in the interest of customer then offered you the shocks at the Price of cafes regularly stocked parts that a savings of Over the Spe Cial order you found that had you purchased the shocks through Napa they Cost approximately shipping and handling not Concession employees Are asked not to discuss pricing policies with customers speculation Only leads to As you can customers should be referred to the Exchange manager the individual Best qualified to answer technical questions of this the important Point is cafes needs your help in correcting the misperception outlined Here for the Benefit of All our we owe it to our fellow shop Reader complains about military weight standards pen pals i am not usually one to complain about i firmly believe that without Stan there can be no there is so much confusion about new weight standards and the enforcement of these new rules that for those individuals who Are overweight like on the fringes of the program the added emphasis is now certainly this program Only adds to the great stress already upon the new slim trim image is great for the slim trim but for those of us who Are not such physical the diet uncertainty and constant awareness that we May not be suitable to Wear the uniform in our nations service Borders on discrimination and violation of constitutional it appears that the persons physical Job and heredity Are no longer factors to be it makes me angry that i must receive diet counselling from a doctor who has himself a Large belly or or is anaemic and sickly looking because he or she is super is there no conscious thought Given to the fact that Large persons Are excellent work frequently aware that they have weight problems and Are otherwise individuals who contribute greatly to our Mission and National defense i realize that fitness is not Only but i also realize that some people do not care what they look like or How others perceive 1 believe these individuals Are by far the the Soldier or airman should be conditioned not Only but also physical Why the harassment it Only adds to the it appears to me the weight standards Are Only an average within which most average individuals there Are exceptions to the average but no one will admit i am Hurt and dismayed that we should treat these individuals with Little or no consideration other than meet the standards or out you if a person and for any number of reasons fails to meet the he or she has now become a second class like a i work very do a very Good Job and i am tired both physically and men tally at the end of the i dont have the Energy or the desire to run a play a round of Golf which i cant afford or wait three hours for a racquetball nor can i take the extra hour for lunch to join the Guys at the you want lets not mess make physical conditioning Manda tory for All at a specified time As part of the daily thirty minutes every other Day As a Squadron activity would be real counselling for those who need it would be Nice not a five minute visit to a physicians some compassion and understanding May work wonders your program stinks and the balance of the Scales is bound to add to already Low morale and lagging discipline and give us a not a kick in the pants and a slap in the there Are people who Are willing to and do my experience is that most weight monitors and commanders treat the problem with indifference or Rule with an Iron Down or my hats off to you who make the next thing is that for every Pound Over weight you risk loosing percent of your retirement think that is take a look that another withheld Ramstein Germany i am a 42yearold american who loves to write Long letters and am hoping that someone out there will be interested in writing me As and i will reply to All who bother to Spieler interwar Lens d8941 Boehnen West Germany i would like to have pen i am 22 years i enjoy things like writ ing poetry and Krause w159 n9809 Beetle nut Road Wisconsin 53022 i am a 21yearold German Soldier who would like to meet american serve remembers Tietz Glogauer 40 3500 Kassel West Germany i would like to correspond with people All Over the i am 31 and my hobbles Are meeting people and going Kamau Box 2039 Fpo 09523 i am 38 years old and looking Tor some pen i like Charles Roy Howard Many sports and peace and i dislike noise and putting curlers in my hair Ann loft Pitts Road Salt Slough sl1 3xg England i am 11 years i like boy read writing to pen pals and dungeons and Ross hot Cav Apo 09076