European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 25, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                10 letters the stars and stripes Friday july 25,1986 army answers e-6 s questions about no promotion boards i have a question for those who have or will sit on a there in t a lot i can do about How Long 1 have been staff sgt Robert  of the array selection Board what Are in lie army so i have been told to wait until the uni .,.,  i hav l t department Arra e you looking Tor in future cos i have been in the army for jew years. Fully half of my time has been As an e-6.1 did t get selected on the last selection Board but i think i know Why. Ii in t my ears they have been 1 lit with write  to match nor is it my set scores never lower than a 91. To in t a Lack of schooling military or civilian just ask my wife and children who almost never Sec me because i am always away at a school or taking Righi courses two to four nights a week. No i did t Tail to Send in a photo or update my form 2-1. 1 am Jure i did t get promoted because i Haven t been in the army Long enough. Ther t to o about How Long 1 have been i Ili y the next Board when i have More Lime in service. My question is do you those who sit on the Selec Tion boards want the people who sit around waiting for enough time in service from he soldiers you select if that is so Why did the army change the promotion Point worksheet for e-5 and e-6. Deleting the Points for Lime in Grade and time in service i thought the idea is to promote the soldiers who work for it. Could just sit at Home instead of working for a promotion thai won t come until 1 put in Lime. But i have More Pride than that so i am leaving the service at my expiration of term of service. I am sure i can get a civilian Job where in is mulls that count not Lime. . Should Call soviets Bluff writer says once again the soviets have called for troop reductions in cur pc. The United states if it responds Atill will simply say  it is a mistake. Instead we should Call their Bluff and go them one belter in the bargain by suggesting the two superpowers withdraw All their troops from Europe the soviets to behind the urals and the americans to behind the Atlantic. Not overnight but Lei us draw up a 10 or 15-year schedule and stick to it. What will follow a soviet invasion of Western Europe no. To would not pay. Or perhaps that ultimate buzzword Finlan Bizalion maybe. But not the Way we usually think. Their West european cousins can offer the satellite countries of the East far More both spiritually and materially than can the soviets. With out soviet troops to dictate to the contrary it will be Eastern Europe and not the West which will Shin orbit. A few years of this Westward creep will Force the soviet to choose Between sitting Al ill and allowing this peaceful liberation to continue or doing again As they Nave done so often in the pail which is to command obedience with tanks and automatic lines. It will Surprise few of us if they choose tanks but remember once the soviets leave Poland or Czecho Slovakia or any of the other european countries to get Back in they must violate Borders an act even the most pacifist european cannot abide. It would be a hard but instructive lesson. What if by withdrawing its military forces the United slates should persuade the european into relearning it let 115 not continue under rating them. The West europeans together Are More numerous More techno logically skilled and potentially More powerful than the soviets. What they need to realize this vast latent Power of theirs More even than Lime is incentive. Believe they might find in if deprived of their Ameri can Crutch in a soviet stale unwilling to shed its totalitarian vices. But Why even risk it because this is not 1943. It is. Nol even 1965. It is 19b&, and America has grown smaller in the world. Other countries specially the Western countries whom we helped to rebuild and shield after the second world War have grown Richer stronger and More influential. They can survive a democracies without american Money and without american lives. We intended this and now we have Koi it. We should be proud. But we should also ask what next Mark m. Peters Sandhofer Germany parents urged to watch children at play i would like to ask a favor Gfall parents everywhere please take the Lime to sit outside on the playground with your children. It would be More than Worth the Effort it lakes to walk out i am appalled Ai what i hear coming from the Mouths of 4 and 5-Lo 10-year-old children. My Chil Dren and i have heard such trashy Little rhymes and filthy words. Do you know what it s like to hear a Young child Cal another child a major four letter word or Tell a 30 year old adult to shut the up a 10-year-old girl called my 9-year-old a Faggot 1 was silting on the play ground with my child. When 1 asked the girl Why the did it i was told i can say what t want to so you better shut  i could t believe that this child we talking loan adult in this manner. This is a major problem there Are 3-10-4-year-Olds sen outside to be watched Over by their Gio to year old brother or sister. These 8-to-Lo-year-Olds love to play too there Are 2-to-i-i car Olds outside and no one is with them. The Parent looks out the window to see if he or she is still there. She does not see How he or she acts or hear what he or she jays several times i have gone to the Parent that is Home. The result the child is Back outside still unattended. I know that children Are nol perfect. Mine Aren t. Idon l expect them to be. There Are two play areas it to my building. I have Only seen five mothers or Day care providers who sit with their children. I have been Here two years. Please sit and watch your children the summer evenings Are very Nice and your children would love 10 have your company. More often than not it is the child of the Parent who is thinking my child would t do  name withheld Maliu centum writer wonders about americans1 values american society surely must be on the verge of becoming schizophrenic when it comes to determining values. There on the front Page of a recent edition of the stars and stripes was a classic illustration if there Ever was one. The blaring headline read justices reject hate s rules making abortion difficult while at the Bottom of the Page a targe picture was captioned baby Jesse gels new heart. On the one hand the supreme court of the land declares that it is women s constitutional right to decide against life while on the other hand doctors go to extraordinary lengths to preserve life. Of All god s creations certainly we who Call our selves civilized human beings stand As his mos intelligent. Yet no agreement can seem to be made by so called intelligent human beings Over what is life and what is nol what is of value and what is not what is Worth preserving and what if Nott ironic is in not that a society which prides itself on being so enlightened cannot agree on the value of human beings Trot withheld Augsburg Germany a thank you for Baden Baden canadians i be just finished Reading. Let s do something Nice for  this writer was Able to put into writing what most of us think. I d like to add my own observations. I have been Able to visit the Canadian facilities at Badin a because he did not hate enough Hue in service. He further stain thai the reasons for he non selection for promotion Wen nol because of hit ears Sot scorn Lack of schooling or became be foiled to Send � photo or update his a form 2-t. The number of Soldier selected for promotion to ser Geant first class in a particular military occupational pedal re mos is based on an analysis of projected losses and projected requirements in the mos. A review of the fiscal year Imu sergeant first class promotion list incl Nam that 1,447 of the 16,55 Millers considered in the secondary zone a i selected for promotion to sergeant lint class for percentage of 8.7, of 19,537 soldiers considered in the primary one 7,659 were selected for promotion for a percentage of 25 ,9. Since the department of inc army goal to promote 33 percent from the primary zone and 5 percent from at secondary zone non selection solely on the Hub of time id smile cannot be supported. Each promotion Board is charged with electing predetermined Nora bar of Millers who in their Colic Etc judgment Are Best qualified using the whole sol Dier concept. Although the writer feels Tull he we Lolly qualified. Ii Cut Only be concluded that in the collective judgment of the Board members he we nol considered u Well qualified As those Soldier selected for promotion. During the fiscal year 1986 sergeant first Cucui pro motion selection Board 996 soldiers in the writer s Mili tary occupational specially were considered for promo Tion and Only 126 selected for an Overall selection rate of 12.7 percent. The exact reasons for inc writer s non Alec Rod for promotion Are not available. Board deliberations and the rationale upon which decisions Are based an pc not Only to the selection Board members. Web Board it charged with selecting a predetermined number of soldiers who in its collective judgment Art the Best qualified Wing the Wool person concept non selection for promotion does not imply that a Soldier has not contributed or hat it army docs not nine the Soldier s service. As is the Case with my Sirac stored organization Ibe array simply does not la Jet enough positions la the higher in ufos to us tour every qualified Soldier to be promoted. England s apartheid when 1 first glanced at the recent whiles Only policy in Royal guards Story i though in was another Story about South Africa. I was a bit shocked to find out thai English royally practices its own form of apartheid. What makes the exclusion policy so disgusting in addition to the obvious reason Sis the fact that Black and Brown soldiers have gallantly fought England s wars for Many years filling up cemeteries from Fland Erso Burma for their troubles. I was sickened at the High handed ways in which these sold lets have been excluded by English Royalty from Royal guards duly yes the american army has had racial trouble in the past and yes racial inequities surface from time to time. Bui nowhere in any of the . Armed forces 1 am proud to say is it official or unofficial policy to exclude soldiers from duty assignments because of skin color. 1 feel quite strongly that Queens Kings jacks princesses and the like have no place or business with 20th a Matury Humankind remain a firm believer in the quotation All men Are created  in my opinion americans have another reason especially in this year of the statue of Liberty dedication not to visit England. Arthur Lopez wild Necklen Germany. Reminder All letters la the editor most contain the full printed name and address of the writer and must be signed. We do not read unsigned letters but we will withhold you name on request and protect your privacy. All letters to subject to editing