European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 30, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday August 30, 19b7 the stars and stripes sex dropout getting ahead with army school benefits Page 9 profile by Wendy Bourland stiff writer bad Kreuz Nach. Germany when Dand Willii joined the army in 1978, he was a High school dropout nearing from a Small Southern factory town and minimum wage jobs. I grew up really poor the staff sergeant said. There was nothing really keeping me there. I was 17,1 was old enough to go so i  the native or Savannah tem,., did t remain a dropout for Long. At his tint duty station fort Canon colo., the Supply clerk took the general education development test and got his High school equivalency diploma then took a few College courses. He left the army in 1981, moving to new Mexico to work with his brother in Law at an Oil Field. When the Oil started drying up in 1982, he rejoined the  a guaranteed Job As a medic in the behavioural science Field. But it turned out Willis did t have enough Tridiv to qualify for medic. So he chose to be a watercraft operator and piloted cargo vessels and Small Landing Craft at fort Eustis a. He completed his associate s degree by taking night classes while assigned to cob 708th support in 6thinf div in bad Kreuz Nach Ai a truck Driver a Field the army considers related to watercraft operator. Wil Lis was also a platoon Leader and instructor at the Bat Talion Driver s Academy during his Lour of Germany. Now having re enlisted under a new educational option program Willis is packing off to Austin play slate University in Clarksville tenn., for two years to get Bis Bachelor s degree in business management. He departs bad Kreuz Nach tuesday. He s confident his army experience will give him an advantage Over other students it can1 but help he said. If i Don t maintain a c average i d be pushing troops at fort Eustis. I m not going to mess it up. The Lime in school counts toward  he a used smiling. I m 26 i m through with All my partying he said. This is serious. I won t be out like the Young kids seeing How much they can  Willis whose course Load will include classes in labor relations sales and marketing said he plans to go to warrant officer school after College. You must be a warrant officer to Pilot larger lids Landing Craft he said. He already decided to Lake nighttime Law courses after he returns to fort Eustis. After All there s life after retirement. To like a degree in paralegal or to become a lawyer he said. Willis thinks More soldiers should be using the army s educational benefits. Many Are uninformed on the  said. I get slopped All the time and asked about the program he Aid. The re enlistment people Aren t pushing it  under the program the army pays full tuition and benefits for soldiers in the rank of e-6 or below Wilh 10 Yean service or less who study subjects related to their career Field. For those who choose to study in an unrelated area the army pays tuition and base pay Only. Both pro Grams Are re enlistment options. Soldiers who go to College for two Yean roust re enlist for six Yean. Eight Een months of schooling requires a five year re enlist ment and one year requires a four year re enlistment. The program started april i and is limited in fiscal1987 to 200 students said la. Col. Richard Vait of the re enlistment policy Branch under the army Deputy chief of staff for personnel. It will be offered to 400 soldiers next fiscal year. Willis won t be completely removed from the army while in College. He and students at nearby universities Pinto re Sas or pm a David a Iii. Thinks program in t pushed enough will be assigned to a student battalion at fort Benja min Harrison ind. Ill Lake a it test twice a year there s a senior army Liaison person at the  he said. And fort Campbell is right next door i la be surrounded by20,000 gis. I la do shopping at the pm and the commis  firms picked to work on hypersonic engine by Norman Black a a luxury writer Washington the defense department and Nasa have selected two contractors to pursue development of an advanced engine that could Power the Orient express a hypersonic Jet space plane that could Circle the Globe m hours. The decision to award the phase 2 engine contracts Marks a key step in the Effort to develop the revolutionary plane signifying a preliminary conclusion thai such a propulsion Plant May indeed be feasible said col. Leonard Vernamonti the air Force director in Nasa s project office. Vernamonti said contracts Worth approximately jobs million each were being awarded to the rocket Dyne division of Rockwell International ctn. And to the Pratt & Whitney division of United technologies corp. The two were selected from among three competitors that began working on the engine phase of the project last year. The loser in the Competition was Gener Al electric co. According to be Mamoli the two companies will now be expected to Actu ally build and test subsystems that would be needed for 3 prototype engine and to Complete their final designs. The work will probably take Between 12 and is months he added. The Orient express is the nickname Given to a runway to orbit aircraft that has been formally designated the nation Al Aero space plane. Formally endorsed by president Rea Gan in his 1986 state of the Union address the aircraft As envisioned could Fly from Washington to Tokyo in As Little As two hours compared to the 15-plus hours such a flight now requires. The aircraft which officials of the National aeronautics and space administration have described As about the size of a dc-9 Airliner would be Able to use conventional runways but could also accelerate into Low Earth orbit for Long Dis Tance flights. The administration has estimated the s3 billion Jet space plane could be inthe end of the Century perform flight by Ting both c commercial and military jobs. Five contractors Are performing re search on the Airframe that would be needed for the new Craft. The Pentagon and Nasa expect to select two or three phase 2 contractors for that part of the project in october. The key to development of the plane however is a new propulsion technology known As the scram Jet or supersonic combustion ram Jet. Military contractors donations rising Washington not the Lead ing american military contractors contributed a record j2.9 million to congressional candidates through political action committees in the 1986 election according to a study by common cause the Public affairs lobby. The study details the activities of the companies that received the largest Pentagon contracts in fiscal 1986 Boeing general dynamics general electric Grumman general motors Hughes air Craft Lockheed Mcdonnell Douglas Raythelon Rockwell International and United technologies. Contributions from the political action committees called pics controlled by those military contractors More than in ipod Over the last six years fromj949.779 in the 1980 election to $2.9 million in last year s election. The main recipients of the contributions and of fees from speaking engagements sponsored by the contractors were members of the panels that Deal most closely with military issues the House and Senate armed services committees and defense appropriations sub committees. H. David Crowther chairman of the Lockheed political action committee which gave 1425,611 to congressional candidates last year did not dispute Fig ures in the study but took Issue Wilh the Contention that contractors had put undue pressure on Congress. Common cause has a Babit of stating that there s something heinous involved to say that pics represent special inter ests Crowther said. Sure they do. Trial s what they re for. But there s Noah ing improper unwholesome or immoral about  common cause has lobbied for Lough or restrictions on Pac contributions and honorariums that members of Congress can accept. The study also concluded w the military Industry pics contributed to a higher percentage of incumbents than other pics did. In the 1986 elections the military Industry pics gave 87 percent of their funds to incumbents while All pics contributed 70 per cent to incumbents. In addition to direct contributions five of the pics gave More than $9s, in individual contributions from company employees to candidates and political parties in 1985. Pie pics circumvented contribution limits by bundling gathering checks made out to specific candidates by members of the Pac and passing them along to the candidates As Dona Lions from individuals. There was a close symbiotic relationship Between contractors and the Federal government. The study reported that in 1986, the contractors had combined profits of j5.s billion on sales of $134 billion. City workers enjoy Sun Day weather Kenai Alaska a dozens of Kenai Peninsula Borough employees got to go Home Early be cause it was Sun Day one of those rare occurrences when the temperature hits �0 degrees. And mayor Stan Thompson said he does not mind taking heal from critics for the policy that lets workers out Early. It s the smartest thing i Ever did As far As management is concerned he said. The mayor said workers have gone Home Early became of the temperature Only three limes be fore during his 10 years As mayor. He said the policy is a great morale Booster. It s sort of like having a cake on the table that maybe you get to cat he said. They know in s