European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 29, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 letters the stars and stripes Friday augustas 1986 he says education As important As sports. _   i � to _. A Tinni to no Nln a Sartre 1,\ am a n of Lam Anh   question is on the priorities of the military. The recruiters Tell you you can go to school while on Active duty and get paid for it. The army advertises school ing and College while on the Job to belter yourself and get promotions. I be had several overseas and stateside  time i process into a new unit i m told what an outstanding education program the installation has. Now the Soldier gets settled and ready to Start or continue his education. He gets All the paper work done and goes to the commander to get it approved and is told the class will interfere with his duties so he can t take it. So the Soldier gets a class that will Only be held whence has duty once or twice that interferes with classes. He gets with the instructor and the instructor tells him that is an excused absence and they work around that. Now there is a shift of personnel because another Section is Short and needs x number of people to com plete the Mission. The Soldier asks for two or maybe four hours a week to Complete the class and is told that no no one can be released from duty because there is a shortage of personnel. So the Soldier puts in paperwork to be dropped from the class for duty reasons. Then another Soldier is dismissed from duty for softball practice two to four hours a night five nights a week. Then three or four soldiers arc Given four Day passes a military vehicle orders to draw per diem and travel pay so they can go play softball. Now softball season is Over so the Soldier trying Roget his education requests to go to school. The com Mander says sure As Long As it does t interfere wit duty but we can t let anyone have duty time off be cause we arc Short of people. You re Correct classes Are during duty time so no schooling now. Then another Soldier gets a week off expenses paid to represent the company at a ski match. Three or four soldiers arc let off for football practice and games. And another two or three for basketball. If the soldiers for sports Are scheduled to work an their supervisor tells them they will work they go 19 the commander. Their supervisor is told if the position must be tilled to bring in another Soldier a Soldier on his time off if need be but the individual will be off for athletics. Now these athletes get Hurt during a game or prac Tice and can t pull duty for a week or 10 Days but thatis of we can cover them with off duty soldiers. Promotion time and the Soldier is asked if he has been doing anything to continue his education. When he explains he was not permitted to continue his Edu cation because of duly he is told the duty is Why he joined the military. But if he asks Why people can Getoff for sports but not school he is told he is out of line. And to qui complaining my question is How sports makes a unit More com Bat ready than education i have never heard of any one getting an injury and put on a profile from Educa Tion. A Soldier does t get any promotion Points for sports. The educated have to pass the same it. Test As the  the military should be advertising sports instead of education and requesting brawn in place of brains for promotions. Any military person any location in the world editor s note a spokesman from the office of the Deputy chief of staff operations he usar eur replies we in sorry that the writer reports having difficulty accomplishing his thu cantonal objectives. Ills usar eur policy As stated in cinc note no. 7. Nov. 9, 1984, entitled education out commanders and so Perri sors will provide educational opportunities to their people during duty and non duty  Quarter approximately 51,000 soldiers participate in education programs and important education goals Are being achieved for individual soldiers and the army. We can Only Hope that in compliance with the army s commitment to education unit commanders will always provide reasonable opportunities for soldiers to participate in education programs. Cafes remedying shortage of software last november i purchased an Apple me Persona computer from the Exchange at Fuerth. At the time i was told that the integrated software i wanted would be available in two , Many months later it still has not arrived. In fact Only one Box of software was received since then and that was sold out the Day it arrived. Luckily i was Able to find an English edition on the Economy. Others in my unit arc not so  have a total of three programs for my ji.200 sys tem. Another Soldier in my unit has a $1,300 system and is not Able to use it because he has no software whatsoever. He also has no Printer As the one on Dis play is the Only one in the store. He was told that he Keld Purchase this one but the Cable to connect it was not  Exchange does t even Stock ribbons for the printers it  time we inquire about new software the re Plaj is always it s on order Check Back in two weeks two weeks have Long since come and gone. Yet another Soldier has ordered software from the states Only to have it arrive damaged presumably because of a rays. He sent it Back three times before giving  question we All have is Why sell us such expensive equipment if you refuse to support it we be put far too much Money into systems to let them sit Idle. We Don t want games. If we did we d buy an  d like a selection of business and graphic applications  demand is there. If the programs do not become available All we have Are thousand Dollar plus  withheld Fuerth German editor s note master sgt. Bruce e. Gels Dorf customer relations specialist Public affairs office he cafes Europe replies Kenneth Grimes nne Raberg Erlanger Exchange manager could t agree with you More. Be the first to admit we blew it As far As Apple computer software orders for the Fuerth main store. Our orders were far too conservative to meet customer demand prior to May of this . Grimes believes the problem is now resolved. On May 30 the Fuerth store received $8,200 Worth of Appl software $4,100 of which was productivity programs. On june 19 an additional $15300 Worth of Apple soft Ware was received $7.700 of which was productivity programs. As of july 14, $5.000 Worth of productivity programs were on hand at Fuerth and an additional �8,000 in software was on order. We be sought Over the last year to improve our suppl of software by contracting directly with vendors in the states. Vendor representatives also assist with devel Oping orders to meet local needs. A problem did exist with cables for one Apple Printer and scribe ribbons. They be been received at our gets sen warehouse and Are being distributed to our stores As quickly As possible. We wrent to assure you we share your concern Overa Afes being Able to provide the widest possible Range of computer hardware and software at accessible Price for All our customers. We Are confident our direct contracting with stateside vendors will result in the Longrun in cafes Europe being Able to Supply a greater variety of computer products to our customers at competitive prices. Difficulty of living in Economy housing civilians raise irks i we called housing to find out when we d get on Post quarters in Neu Ulm and were told that we renumber four on the Economy list for quarters but that we had to stay on the Economy for one year before being allowed to move into quarters. Our lease states that we can terminate our con tract with a 60-Day notice to the landlord if we havea permanent change of station pcs or move to military controlled housing which i assume is quarters. What regulation does the army have that would make you stay on the Economy for one year when your lease in t for a year also when stationed stateside a family of four would t even consider living in a $500 a month apartment on one income. With the military budget at an All Lime Low it seems to me the army would want the Money we pay on the Economy to go Back into its own system. We re barely making it out Here and we be tried acs budget counselling so come on army How about consideration for those of us on the list but enslaved to your one year regulation. Please set the record straight. Sarah Stywalt Neu Ulm Germany editor s note a spokesman for the Neu Ulm Community replies the original letter addresses two issues. The first is the Usa eur policy requiring command sponsored families to occupy private rental quarters for a minimum of one year As of Date of contract. This policy was initially tested by the Neu Ulm Community to determine if landlords would j e More willing to rent to american families if they were assured the increased stability provided by a minimum of one year occupancy. Many More apartments were made available and waiting lists for private rental quarters were drastically reduced. As a result of this Success the test became policy Sarteur wide and still continues to be a positive Factor in the private rental program. The willingness of your landlord to release Yon from the agreement with 60 Days notice is to you advantage in Case of an emergency or unprotected reassignment but does not relieve you from the Usa eur policy. The second area of concern is the Cost of living on the Economy. It is difficult to reply to this letter without knowing the Soldier s rent and other pertinent details As it affects his allowances. Every . Person living on the Economy is faced with the fluctuations of the Dollar do Exchange rate and possible increased rental costs when the Dollar drops. Unfortunately there Are not enough govern ment controlled quarters to House All families. There fore communities must rely upon German landlords to fill the Gap Between demand and availability. The alternative would be to deny family sponsorship to Usa eur which is not desirable. We Are proud of Neu Ulm s housing provisions the positive attitude of the local population towards the is. Forces and the willingness of our Host nation landlords to rent to us. It is suggested that the Soldier Contact Kenneth Salomon housing division Usma Neu Ulm ets 427- 6538/6337, to discuss the concerns in person. I am writing in reference to a recent article entitled "3 percent raise Likely for Federal civilian work  do not agree with giving a pay raise to civilian workers due to the fact that in most cases they Al ready make More Money than the average Soldier. To myself and i am sure Many other soldiers this is not , the soldiers Are the ones who will have to risk our lives in the event of a War not the civilian workers. Unless they sign an agreement they will be sent Back to the United states at the first signs of  feel the military members should get a pay raise that they justifiably deserve currently 13 percent below civilian salaries one that would cause the sol Dier to make at least the same As civilian workers. How would you feel if you were fighting for your life to defend your country and rights while some Man or woman who washes the dishes at your local mess Hal makes More Money than you let me Tell you it does not make me feel too Good. Spec. 4 Scott p. Schullermann Hanan Germany pen pals i would a pall from How the world i am 29 Yean old. 1 enjoy Reading. Much. Cotta Tang plants and stamp. Viky Bah. Tennu. Swim mag and baking. Ulani Ronac a san Jomn grm or Tantal we would be to Onva pan pall Maria Cyntina de u Victoria 16 a Tonta Adaza. 15 phobia con. End tout Vul Nuava siquijor. Eur Utor philippine