European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 8, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday. Aprils 193h the stars and stripes Page 5 air Force trying to shift finances to avoid cuts in combat readiness Washington not _ the air Force saying it i had to Moke world wide cuss in raining. Maintenance and routine operation because of budget cuts is trying to reallocate Money to fill critical gaps in Comal readiness his year according to senior officials and internal documents. The officials acknowledging that there is Little Prospect of adding Money to the 1088 budget say their pilots do not Fly enough i hair technicians cannot be fully trained and their aircraft engines Are going without Normal maintenance. Part of this emphasis on current prob lems is intended to persuade Congress to Cut no More from future operating Bud gets and part is intended to highlight a Pentagon request for congressional per Mission to shift Cash from other accounts into those used to pay for fuel wages and similar daily expenses. Government official said the air Force could he furred to severely restrict flight operations this fall unless it decided to shift Money from other purposes such As weapon research and arms Pur chases. But that would require congressional approval a 5 percent Cul in funds made Avail Able by Cwi Gri m since i9s7 for operations and maintenance has been exacerbated in recent Numis by the continuing weakness in the Dollar which make overseas operations unusually expensive. The officials said. The air Force s problem As described by senior officials � said to be mirrored in the army Navy and Marine corps. All branches of the military face Cost Cut Ting measures thai will probably sacrifice combat readiness. In the Case of the air Force for exam ple pilots will probably not achieve their goal of flying 19 to 20 hours for practice each month. Them reductions strike at the very Hcan of  said air Force Secre tary Edward c. Aldridge or. In a memorandum delivered to defense Secretary Frank c. Carlucci Iii Ai Dridge predicted thai the backlog of equipment awaiting maintenance in de pats i ild increase to about 1819 Mil lion six months from now from $150 million a year ago. Only Abi it half the required maintenance on aircraft engines is being done the Secretary said. In overhaul ing aircraft and missiles Only the work needed to insure safety can be done. Most work on preventing corrosion for example is being deferred. Carlucci who look office last fall has pledged not to allow the budget cuts to adversely affect military readiness. In Scad he has said he favors reducing the size of the military while keeping train ing and supplies Al High Levels. For example the air Force is deactivating two fighter wings and the equivalent of a Reserve lighter Wing reducing the total Force from 3b to 35 wings by 1990. A typical fighter Wing consists of 72 aircraft. Bui Alexis Cain an analyst at the non partisan defense budget project in Washington said the cuts in the military Force announced so far have not been enough to compensate for Cuis in operating funds. It s not hard to believe that they arc being squeezed pc ii hard Cain said of the air Force s complaints. Even the administration s i9s9 request would leave operations and maintenance fund ing below 1985s level after adjusting for inflation. And that is despite the fact that requirements arc continuing to Rise be cause of the delivery of new  shifting Money from other programs such As research and weapon purchases would involve big cuts in such funds which Are already constrained by steadily declining military budgets. To come up with Quick Cash for pay and supplies the air Force would have to make even larger cuts in weapon programs where Money set aside today is not actually spent for Muny months or years. An option the air Force would favor but Congress has precluded is to use Money thai was provided in past years but Fronc reason or another was never spent while senior air Force officers insist thai they plan to preserve funds for read iness in 198" and beyond they Are Al ready telling Congress that military read iness has declined this year after several years of improvement. Reductions to the operations and maintenance account a the heart of i rain ing and readiness have forced us to re verse some of the Progress made in pre Vious years said it Gen Michael j. Dugan Deputy chief of staff for plans and operations in testimony last month. Aldrideg s memorandum to Carlucci listed dozens of operations that were being trimmed including these flying hours for the b-1u strategic bomber have been Cut by 1,200 hours or about 6 percent id save 120 million. Three major exercises have been cancelled As have nine overseas deploy ments by air Force units. Long distance communications have been restricted leaving what the memorandum Calls a weak Point in he Early warning system that is supposed to select attacks. Air deliveries of equipment Are being diverted to sea with a resulting 15,000 ton of vehicles and munitions in temporary storage and a backlog of 1,000 undelivered vehicles that is capt died to reach 3,300 by he end of this year. Police end hostage taker s siege Uriel Rhrou. 20, Point whal appears to be an automatic weapon to the cot ered held of a Oslage. York a. A police ended a free hour siege wednesday by fatally shooting a suicidal 20-year-old Man who had held his Young Girlfriend hostage apparently with a fake Tun. Authorities said. Israel Ramos died wednesday afternoon of a single gunshot wound at York Hospital where he had been taken for surgery a Hospital spokeswoman said. The hostage a 14-year-old runaway whose name was with held by authorities was not injured Ramos had held what appeared to be an automatic gun to inc girl s Bead which was covered by a Pillow  originally said that a police Sharpshooter fired at Ramos after the hostage Laker said. I am now going to kill her but the York daily record and Wal to in Lancaster reported that i hair photographs and Tele vision footage showed Ramos was hit by a Bullet moments after he swore at police and Salu i m coming  both of Ramos hands were on a window ledge no gun was apparent and the girl was Oul of View the newspaper reported. Police chief William Hose who was not present at the shooting said the initial accounts May have been wrong and that the incident was being investigated. State police were called in to  chief said a handgun and an Uzi Type automatic weapon found in Ramos apartment appeared to be fakes. The Sharpshooter s name was not released. During the siege. Ramos tossed radios a stereo pizza boxes and shoes from inc window As he swore at police and asked whether he should beat his hos Tage he refused to surrender despite pleas from his psychiatric Counselor who had been treating Ramos for suicidal tendencies said police i. Dennis my master. Mcdonald s opens no. 10,000 Dale City a. Api la May seem As if a new set of Golden Arches is springing up every Day. But the Mcdonald s Fau fix d restaurant that opened for Busi pcs wednesday was special la was no. 10,000. The corporation known for reciting numbers As if they had mystical properties More than 65 billion hamburgers Send dispatched about 20.000 bal loons skyward Al the opening in Dale City and another 10,000 exactly at the convention Center in washing ton where it was holding ils biannual convention for franchisees and partners said Richard g. Starmann senior vice president it s almost 53 Yean to the Day when Ray Kroc opened his first Mcdonald a said the corporation s president and chief a ecu tic officer Mike Quinlan. If Ray were Here he would be fiercely proud of the Mcdonald s  Kroc opened the first Mcdonald s restaurant on april 15. 1955, in do Plaines Iii sales on that Rainy Day. According Toa statement from the company were $366.12. Sands of time in the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. April a 1948 Harold Stassun upset Gen Doug Las Macarthur and new York gov Thomas e. Dewcy in the important Wisconsin presidential primary elec Tion. 30 years ago today. April 8, 1958 the supreme court threw Oul a naturalization proceedings against new York Racke Teer Frank Cosic Llu giving him a Clear Cut Victory in his fight against the government s efforts to Deport him. 20 years ago today. April 8, 1968 Jim Clark of Scotland one of the greatest race car Drivers in the history of the sport was killed in Hock Nchim West Germany when his for Mula 2 Lotus Ford went out of control. 0 years ago foday. April a 1978 president Carter announced thai he was deferring production of Neutron or enhanced radiation weapons in n measure to encourage soviet nuclear arms reduction. Fire kills 4 people trapped in apartment new York a a House fire killed a woman her teen age daughter and two Young nephews Early wednesday after they were trapped by a dead bolted front door. Five other people were injured official said. One victim was found dead just inside the double locked door and neighbors reported hearing children screaming for help Al the Entrance to inc two Story House in the Borough of Queens said fire department spokesman John Mulligan. There were 16 people in the House when inc fire started in a first hour Kitchen Alcove Mulligan said their attempts 10 flee were hampered by the double locked from door which required a key to open one dead Bolt lock he said. Mulligan identified the dead As Marie Joseph 50, who lived at the House her 14-year-old daughter Geraldine and iwo of her nephews Reginald am Broue. 12, and Clifford Theogene 10, both also of Queens who had been staying Wilh the family since easter