European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 15, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday february 15, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 services detail policies on aids testing by Chuck Vinc Washington Bureau Washington the army is the Only service planning to restrict assign ments for personnel who test positive for the antibody to the acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus. Is m who Lesl positive for theft la Iii virus antibodies will be barred from assignments outside the 50 states. Soldiers overseas who test positive will be reassigned to stateside duty immediately according to the service policy on aids dated Jan. 31. The Navy policy on aids was sent to the Field dec. 4, while the air Force issued its aids policy Jan. 24. The army policy says personnel currently overseas would be reassigned to the United states regardless of permanent change of station  Navy personnel who test positive for the virus Are medically evaluated for about two weeks at one of four hospitals be Thesda my. Oakland Calif. San Diego and Portsmouth a. If the service member is healthy he or she is reassigned to Shore duty in the United states near a major naval Hospital for a year. If the service member remains healthy he or she is considered eligible for future overseas assignments. The air Force has no restrictions on overseas assignments for those who test positive for the virus. But the policy states there May be some question about assigning such an individual to areas with a High risk of endemic disease such As malaria or severely limited med ical  the air Force has decided to code the personnel records of service members who test positive and automatically review their pcs assignments. Army officials acknowledge that their policy on overseas assignments is inconsistent with those of other services is More Likely to stigmatize soldiers who test Posi Tive and May limit career progression. But officials believe it also minimizes risks to individuals and to army readiness outside the United states and helps pre vent the spread of the disease in other parts of the world. Officials consider it to be a reasonable interim policy until More can be Learned about the  there is no diagnostic test for aids itself. The disease which attacks the body s immune system and leaves it with out defences against a number of possibly fatal infections is identified by testing for the presence of the antibody to the aids virus known As a Tiv Iii. If the antibody is present in the blood then the person is considered to have been exposed to the virus but it does not necessarily mean the person will develop aids. All policies state that Active duty and Reserve service members who test positive and then Progress to the advanced stages of the aids disease will be discharged. Additionally Navy and air Force enlisted personnel who test positive Are ineligible for officer commissioning programs. The Navy began screening Active duty personnel in Early january at three Pacific locations Guam Subic Bay in the Philippines and Yokosuka Japan. Since 1981, the Navy has diagnosed 54 cases of aids among Active duty personnel. The Marine corps has had four cases. A Navy spokesman said the full sched ule for screening of Active duty personnel has not yet been set. Army testing of Active duty personnel began this month. An army spokesman said the service Hopes to screen about 25,000 soldiers this month. The army expects to have All Active duty personnel and half the Reserve Force screened by the sum Mer of 1987. To Date there have been 89 cases of aids among Active duty army personnel. The air Force was scheduled to begin testing Active duty personnel Jan. 30, but testing has been delayed until the air Force awards contracts for firms to pro Cess the blood samples. When resources become available All Active duty and Reserve members will be tested for aids in conjunction with regularly scheduled physical examinations the air Force policy states. To Date the air Force has had 22 cases of aids among Active duty personnel. All three policies Call for testing Poten tial recruits. All recruits who test positive Are ineligible to enlist. Recruits with less than 30 Days of Active duty will be Dis charged if they test positive. Testing of potential recruits began in october. The army and Navy give top priority to screening troops in overseas assignments followed by medical personnel. The air Force wants to test medical personnel first and then screen overseas personnel. The services All Are interested in quickly testing members of units with a Short no Tice deployment Mission. The army is bar ring anyone who tests positive from serv ing in Ranger units the Southern  Panama xviii airborne corps or co Hort units scheduled for overseas Rota damage assessment divers relax after completing an ship was damaged in a collision with the Jason. The cause of the collision has not Hoef tar