European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 3, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday. January 19b8 the stars and stripes Page 9 cohort wives Praise overseas move smooth arrival in Mainz for new families by Mike Heronemus staff writer Mainz Germany after several months of preparing u move 42 families from the Stales at the same Lime 3rd in Gih inf. Has gotten an a from several wives in co b who made the move. The families arrived in late november As part of a cohesion operational read iness and training or cohort move Tram fart Carson Colo. Under cohort an army unit slays together through Basic advanced and unit raining and an in month overseas tour. When the unit moves overseas All families who want to can also make the move. Every family joining husbands and fathers in Germany had housing awaiting battalion commander la. Col. Geoffrey o. Prosch said. Co b s soldiers arrived at Lee bar Racks ocl 22. Most of their families moved just before thanksgiving. Every one had a place to live but some Ita cd in hotels until their furniture could be delivered Judi Anderson said. Anderson 24, and a Friend Laurie Perkins 26, got la Germany before most of the co b wives. We were Lucky be cause we qualified for temporary Mili tary quarters so we did t want to wait Perkins said. The wives flew to Rhet main All from Charleston fab . Terry Vossman said group travel is preferable to travelling alone. One wife s son was not on her orders and she was told he could t travel Vossman said. The other wives in the group gave her moral support and helped her get her orders changed and make the trip instead of becoming frantic and deciding to stay in the states she said. Travelling with lots of children can be a disadvantage Vossman said. They were hungry and tired. They were con fused. Some had been travelling for two Days so it would have been helpful to have some place to leave the kids for a Nap while waiting la Board the plane she said. After the plane took off we weren t expecting to Stop in Philadelphia said Dawn Hastings. We were told it was a non Stop flight Vossman and Wendy Linde said adding that the added wait on the plane or in the Airport was not pleasant. Efforts begun by co b no fort Carson to alleviate the Shock of living in a new country Are continuing in Germany. The army offered the spouses Al fort Carson the head Start orientation program to acquaint them Wilh German customs and language. Hastings said Many More of he wives at Lee Barracks arc now taking or plan to take Gateway a program similar to head Start. Group events sponsored by co b Al Forl Carson included orientations from the first sergeant company commander and battalion commander. Much of the orientation dealt Wilh housing and pm Eloy Cut conditions Anderson and per ins said. The first sergeant and company com Mander came Over to Mainz 10 get an orientation. They tried to get answers to All the questions we had and they brought Back pictures for us to  an Derson said. Husbands had also been to Germany during reformer in january. A lot of the things they had to say about Germany helped to ease their wives anxiety about moving to a foreign country. My husband said i would like the Countryside Wilh Small towns and farm lands Anderson said. She is from a Rural area. Lake Norden . He said the people he had met were very Friendly and told about the kids trading their Sau sages and bread for res meals ready to eat from the soldiers. Res arc the packaged Field rations for soldiers. Most of the wives had t been Over seas but Perkins had been in Germany before. "1 was looking Forward to the German culture and travel and to gel the things i did t gel the last time she said. Survey underscores importance of support system for dependents Mainz Germany is some wives of combat soldiers May develop serious personal problems if they Don t Nave the support of other people or agencies an army Survey has concluded. Initial results of questionnaires sent to wives of soldiers assigned to cohesion operational readiness and training or cohort companies depict an Environ ment and personal development that could cause hardships and maladjustment. Walter Reed army Institute of re search is making the study which involves 14 cohort companies including cob 3d in 8th inf in Mainz. The study focuses on the potential development of supportive relationships among cohort unit wives and the possible Impact of such support on military related stress. Survey results show most of the wives particularly those married to Junior enlisted soldiers Are quite Young. Most of the wives who moved to Germany with co b in november Are younger than 25, according to several wives interviewed by the stars and stripes. More than a third of the wives respond ing to the first Survey including More than 10 percent of the senior enlisted wives have been married for one year or leu. Laurie Perkins from Conifer Colo., said some co b wives were very Young when they got married like at 17." As of november most of the wives in co b had been married for More than a year Perkins and Judi Anderson said. Surveys asking for marital information were gathered several months ago an Derson knew of some couples who were married after Basic training about 16 months ago. She said Otter couples were married while they were at fart Carson Colo., since that Lime. Almost 90 percent of the senior wives reported they have Al Lew one child living at Home and More than 75 percent of the Junior enlisted wives reported they have one or More children. Most wives in co b have children per Kins said. She has two Jason 7, and Joshua 6. Most of the kids Are preschool age or babies she said. Almost 25 percent of the Junior enlisted wives reported they Are pregnant. Wendy Linde who has been married about three months says she knows of seven co b wives who Are pregnant. The initial report by maj. James a. Martin a research social worker in the department of military psychiatry at the research Institute stated. The spouses of these cohort combat sol Diers Are typically Young women faced with substantial life demands. Based on personal interviews that have been con ducted Many of these women including the first term wives arc managing their life situations very Well. It is also Clear however that there Are a substantial num Ber of women who arc experiencing difficulty. ". ,. The majority of these women both in Rel term and cadre wives Are still new to the army and or new to their installation their neighbourhood and to their husband s unit. Most have not had inc Opportunity and or the institutional support necessary to establish the kinds of supportive relationships or life situations that might pro ice them from the stress associated with a military lifestyle and or moderate Var ious stress related life  while co b was still at fort Carson 1st sol. Leo Martinez s wife invited other wives Over to her House often to talk about living in Germany and making a move in the army Anderson said. Other wives who had been overseas before were always ready to talk about their experiences per Kins added. She had been in Germany before. Even with All the Effort made by co b and 3rd in the most important support for their move to Germany came from heir husbands according to Dawn Hast Ings of Russellville. Ind., and Terry Vossman of Austin Texas. Mik Heronemus group set up to help Vietnam vets handle stress by Brenda Hostek suit writer Heidelberg the army Community services office in Heidelberg has established a Vietnam veterans discussion group to help veterans who Are experienc ing Post traumatic stress disorder a syndrome blamed for problems ranging from bouts of anxiety and sleepless nights to broken marriages and suicides. Our major concern right now is for the soldiers who Are nearing retirement said Nancy Tail acs social services coordinator and Vietnam veterans group Facilitator. They May have issues that will con front them now that they did t have before or things they Haven t thought about since their tour in Vietnam. We re hoping these sessions will help them get through those  the group sessions were started in july with the help of it. Col. Calvin Neptune a Vietnam Veteran and social worker for the 7th medical card. Tail s experience with veterans groups comes from her previous Job with the vet eran s association in Tampa fla., where outreach centers for veterans and their spouses were established. We focus a lot on the Here and  Tail said about the group sessions. My thinking is we must discuss the issues that affect that individual now and if it starts to relate to Vietnam then Well talk about those problems and go Back and Deal with them. To just talk about Vietnam i Don l feel is helpful she said. To talk about specific issues that affect that person s Way of living is helpful group sessions meet once a week and will begin meeting every tuesday 4 30-6 . Starting next week at the acs office in the Heidelberg shopping Center. The discussions also open to retired service members will offer a Selling for discussions about War related experiences and feelings current reactions stemming from the Vietnam experiences and ways of coping with them and preparing for a re turn to civilian life. We want people to feel they can come and talk about their Vietnam related experiences or problems even if it s just As a preventive measure Tail said. . College attendance declines by 1 percent Washington a More than 12 million students were enrolled in . Col cams and universities lost fall Down 1 per cent from the previous year according to a Survey by a higher education coalition. College officials said enrolment generally has held steady above 12 million acc 1380. The i percent drop came Al a Lime when the number of is to 24-year-Olds has declined by 2.6 percent As the last of the Post world War ii baby Boom generation reaches adulthood. The baby Boom began in 1946 and ended in 1964. The association Council for policy Analy Sis and research said preliminary results of its Survey of fall enrolment at More than 70 per cent of the nation s campuses also showed part time enrolments were stable but full time enrolment dropped 2 percent. Community colleges showed a 4 percent drop in full Lime enrolment. At Public four year colleges part Lime enrolment grew 1.7 percent. Enrolment of  freshmen in creased by 1 percent. 17 percent of institutions reported de creases in full time enrolment of 5 percent or More while 1s percent of the institutions re ported enrolment gains of 5 percent or More. In 1984,39 percent reported such drop offs. The Survey was coordinated by the american Council in education working with the american association of collegiate registrars and admissions officers. Several National higher education associations helped gather the data