European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 13, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pflo.9 2b the stars and stripes wednesday May 13,1987 Dodds construction backlog to continue Bidav Walczak suit writer Bischofsheim. Germany the military s overseas school system will continue to face inadequate facilities t leading Pentagon personnel official said tuesday. Barbara Pope Deputy assistant Secre tary for family support education and safety said the system faces a backlog in major construction project. Combined with projects not yet approved by con Gress the planned construction totals $400 million in her keynote speech to the 29th an Nual convention of the european con Gress of parents teachers and students Pope said the department of defens dependents schools facet a Tough Lime in getting a budget conscious Congress to appropriate Money Tor new buildings and major renovations. We re reauthorizing projects that were authorized two years ago. We Vegol caught up with just trying to catch up with the  a congressional proposal to freeze de sense spending at fiscal 1987 Levels would be disastrous Pope said. Number of people in the Pentagon have testified on the Hill to try and get our message  Pope predicted that some Dodds projects would be funded but she declined to be More specific on other school matters 9 Pope said the system would announce its director soon perhaps before the conference ends thursday. The nomination is in the hands of White House suffers she said. Dodds has Bee without a permanent director since Beth Stephens resigned in the summer of 1986. Six school will begin Asbestos re Moval this summer. The system will spend $20 million in each of the next two years to identify and remove Asbestos from schools she said. Pope outlined a 13.5 million project for additional classroom computers. She said More Money would be added for future computer purchases. The Fin of an estimated 1,750 computers will be i classrooms by september with the rest in use by january. Pope said a program to provide lunchroom and bus monitors would be instituted by the beginning of the coming school year. Dodds authorized Money for monitors this year but the project bowed Down Over contract problems at the local level. The system is looking to parents of schoolchildren to take the Monitor jobs because they have such a High stake in the program Pope said. Official want you to prioritize your requirement so we can Cut them off at certain level unsaid they re asking me such things a whether a nuclear safety officer is More important than an air Force fighter Pilot. It s difficult to answer those kinds of  Cox said the defense department is making i with lawmakers of the Issue of officer reductions. C mandated a 1 percent Cut this fiscal year which a being carried out. A 2 percent Cut in fiscal 19s8 and a 3 percent col in focal 1989 Are scheduled. Cox said he is hopeful Congress will agree to freeze end strength next fiscal year rather than order the 2 percent Cut to give he Pentagon More time of justify its officer growth in recent years. While retention is generally High Cox said shortages still exist in two longtime problem areas nuclear submarine officers and air Force and Navy pilots we be done about As much As we can with Money incentives in View of budget restraints and we need to look at other things that con hopefully be used o make these people stay he said. Making sure pilots get sufficient flying time an reducing family separations for Navy officers at sea Are examples of non monetary incentives that could reused to increase retention. Cox also said the Pentagon is working with Congress to determine proper Levels of appropriated funds for various morale welfare and recreation activities. We be had difficulty in the past justifying appropriated fund support to mar activities because we Haven t had agreement on what Levels of support should be Given to differed activities he said. He said the Pentagon and Congress agree that commissaries should receive full appropriated fund sup port and child care centers should receive about to percent support but we still have to look at All our other activities he said. On aids testing. Cox said he disagree with the Pentagon s general counsel and health Asiain chief on the policy of not requiring testing of civilians and fam ily members Cox said he believes some conditions warrant test ing of civilians and in some cases family  who test positive for the acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus should not be tent to areas where � could be n problem for them and for those that manage them similar to the current policy for Active duty personnel. Cox joined the government in 1981 As Deputy Assi Nant Secretary of the Navy for logistics. Me became assistant Secretary of he Navy for manpower in 1983 and general counsel for Dod in 1984 and took his current rotation in december 1985, a an attorney for a co or do few fir beginning july 15, Cox will specialize in government pro Cire men Law focusing on space systems. Denies from Page 1 placed into the wrong Swiss Bank account apparently by mistake and the Bank involved has filed criminal charges seeking the return of the funds. During a two hour morning session tuesday Mcfarlane testified a he gave leu than candid testimony to the House foreign affairs committee last dec 8 when asked about his knowledge and role in obtaining Contra donations from other countries. He said a did not Lell the panel hut he knew that the so called country two believed to be saudi Arabia had contributed 332 million. I was trying to use some tortured Lan Guage inappropriately i think but to comment that i did not knew the extent to be technically accurate i did not and do not today but. It was t a full account Mcfarlane testified Mcfarlane said repeatedly thai he could not recall certain details in the Iran Centra affair. He also said versions of events posed by hit questioner could be True. Meese from Page 1 and guilty pleas by two figures in he Iron Contra affair fond Raiser Carl Spitz Channel and Public relations executive Richard Miller to charges of conspiring to defraud the government. On the Melesc investigation e. Rob Ert Wallach a longtime associate and former lawyer for the attorney general has said Chinn told him none of the attorney general s Money was invested in wed tech. Wallach made that comment 214 weeks ago when details about us attorney general s tics to we tech were begin Ning to emerge. Secretaries in Rahach s Washington office said monday he was tied up All Darin meetings and unable to return Calls to discuss the matter. Meese is pulling his Money out of the Chinn partnership because to the de Gree that people have raised question about  attorney general relationship with or. Chinn he wants to end that Justice department spokesman Terry Eastland told reporters. Contests _ from Page 1 Pees and so Forth Yarborough said but litre Are Oiler ways to look at it. We had Guys who could strip a piece of equipment blindfolded. And then we had Guy whose choreography in the Field was just marvelous. But winning int the key idea in these competitions says col Tom Smith chief of the army forces training div. Are the competitions important you bet Smith said. Are we interested in it do we want 10 do Well absolutely. But to the United slates army it s not the super  the real value in he cat a talk gunnery event is the intensity of training in preparation for the Competition said u. Col. Leon j. Lapone commander of3rd bin 64th Armor 3rd inf div. His co a is part of natos Centra army group team competing for tie cat. It develops an expertise in gunnery skill. That can be Pat sea on to Young  the gunnery Competition is just like going to a Rifle Nadr where the shooter displays his skills Lupone Aid. When we started competing in cat in 1977, we finished last Smith said. Last year we had four of the top seven  performance has t been nearly so consistent for the Boeselager which compares a variety of cavalry recon Naissance skills including Small anus Corri petition land and water obstacle courses vehicle driving and helicopter reconnaissance. The army placed ninth in its first Competition eight years ago second the next year and first the following year. In dropped to i lib place in 1982 and to eighth place in 1983. In the three years thereafter it attained in order third i lib and ibid place. Smith said the reason for the wide disparity is that the Competition is extremely  the House and Senate armed services committee asked the army in 1981 to explain Why it was doing so poorly in International competitions. The army id it had t been participating in the Boeselager and cat Long enough and had t been acclimated to the rules procedure and training. The service also came under tire from the Media for Noi making a better showing inthe contest. Despite such criticism however Smtih said troops Don experience morale problems if they Aren t the winners of the events. We be Tome Here to win no doubt said Ca Lcharles r. Abbott team Captain for Lith afraid Cav Rygl s entry representing the v corps in the Boeselager. In it very important to us. They la feel bad if they Don t win Bui they be already won by making it to the Challenge cup it s Good hard Tough Competition he said. Everyone walks away having Learned for the better. They feel pretty Good about it you build great Confidence i your allies. George Friedman a political science professor at i Clinson College in Carlisle. Pa., who designs computerized War games and translates the results of their use in the fief games believes the less Len perfect results from these competitions offer the army a valuable lesson. The Competition really does matter Friedman said. It shows a dramatic weakness in our  Why do the Small armies from so Many countries that rely on the United Stales for Protection beat the army so often in these Competition Friedman believes it s because they re extremely motivated and much smaller. They re not set up aortic bread Mission that we have and these contests Are taking place with the smaller armies in a familiar environment. The results of array competitions like cat and Boeselager he said leave some . Military analysts wondering if the Broad training a forded to . Sol Diers is necessarily Wise. Foreign armies spend a lot of time training together m unite which helps them in the Competition be said. Our troops Don t Stem to spend enough  but the . Military remains committed to its pre sent Sypit Fol. "1 dont know if it s the Best Way said Smith. Buti Don t know of any other Way if we re to keep our worldwide commitments Smith believes his troops perform excellently Given their Short Lime together. A . Lank Crew competing in the cat May have been together a year to 18 months Max he in the cat and Boselager some Tiu Ops May have been in the army Only til months. Foreign troops have often been together much longer and have the Benefit of being on their Home turf they grew up there he said. If we can compete that Well in the competitions u we have we re doing All right Smith said. But for Smith no matter Haw the contests come out the Issue will remain the same. Let s compete let s give it a Good shot he said. But let s not let ii take away from preparing 10 go