European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 12, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes Friday August 12,1988 Senate panel Cool to Dod request for 363 More admirals generals by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a Pentagon proposal to add 363 generals and admirals to Active duty Rolls got a decidedly Chilly reception at a Capitol Hill hearing. I think what we have Here is a shift from brass creep to brass leap said sen. John Glenn a Ohio referring to the term used to describe an increase in the ratio Between officers and enlisted personnel. I am not convinced that this would increase the combat effectiveness of our forces which is the Bottom line Glenn said wednesday. He chairs the Senate armed services committee s military personnel and compensation panel. The defense department request is based on an exhaustive study by the Hay group a civilian panel that examined each of the current general and Flag officer requirements by taking into account experience required responsibilities budget and staff size but excluding Force Structure considerations. The results showed 363 military jobs being filled by someone of lesser rank usually a colonel or Navy Cap Tain or handled through dual Hatting having one person fill two jobs. The Pentagon is using the study As justification for requesting a repeal of the limit of 1,073 generals and admirals imposed in 1978, at the time a reduction of 6 percent. Military officials have submitted proposals to lift that limit almost every year since without Success. Grant Green the Pentagon s manpower chief said much of the underlying criticism of past requests to lift the ceiling were due to the fact that there was no Credi ble method for determining general and Flag officer requirements. But Green said the Hay group study has Given the defense department a Way to pinpoint those require ments. We have provided the evidence that we have substantially More requirements than Are currently authorized he said. The study showed that there Are 363 jobs that when evaluated and measured Are worthy of being filled by a general or Flag  but Glenn made it Plain that he sees no such Evi Dence. In my mind the Hay study raises just As Many questions As it answers he said. The main thing is that it ignores the Issue of Force Structure and How it May need to be changed to support these additional general and Flag officers. What will this do for combat readiness Green noted that the increasingly Complex nature of modern warfare offers less mobilization and training time. He insisted that the Pentagon proposal would increase combat readiness by allowing the military to have More seasoned leaders in place if War broke out. But Glenn said All you re proposing is to keep people in the same jobs with the same responsibilities in the same command Structure and just give them More prestige by putting stars on their shoulders to show off around the officers  the military has almost five generals and admirals for every 10,000 troops compared to 3.8 per 10,000 troops at the height of the Vietnam War Glenn said. I can t see Why you need More generals and admirals to wage peace than to wage  but a study done during the Vietnam War showed that the military had 350 fewer generals and admirals than it required Green said. While it s True that we re asking for More general and Flag officers than we had in Vietnam we Are not asking for More than we required in Vietnam he said. Glenn also complained that Dod has made no at tempt to link the Hay study with the results of another report by Pentagon inspector general Derek Vander Schaaf. It shows there Are More than 7,000 potential slots at unified and specified commands worldwide including general and Flag officer positions that could be eliminated. I can reduce the number from 363 to 358 right now because there Are five generals in the Western command a command that the Vander Schaaf study recommended eliminating Glenn said. Glenn and the military witnesses who included the personnel chiefs of the individual services were As far apart at the end of the hearing As they were at the Start. We May be Able to use this proposal As a basis to work from said a Senate staffer. But it s pretty obvious that we have a Long Way to go on this  news updates sex Union Leader Kansas City to. A former teamsters president Roy l. Williams has won a parole from his 10-year prison term As a re Ward for testifying for the govern ment in mob trials and because of his failing health officials said. Williams who has served three years for his 1982 attempted bribery conviction will be paroled Jan. 13, David Dorworth chief analyst with the . Parole commission in Washington said wednesday. Dorworth said Williams release would not depend upon his continued testimony for the government in organized crime trials but is a re Ward for his cooperation thus far and in consideration of his poor  Williams 73, who suffers from emphysema and an enlarged heart is confined at the . Medical Center for Federal prisoners in Springfield. Kidnap victims freed Rome up two italian Aid technicians kidnapped last no vember by anti government ethiopian guerrillas have been freed and Are safely in the sudanese capital of Khartoum the foreign ministry announced thursday. The italians Are Salvatore bar one 27, and Paolo Bellini 36, who were kidnapped by guerrillas of the ethiopian people s revolutionary party Earp on nov. 16, 1987, while working on a development project near Lake Tana in Northern Ethiopia. A ministry statement said the two italians were welcomed on arrival at Khartoum Airport thurs Day by sen. Gilberto Bonalumi undersecretary for foreign affairs in the italian government. Bonalumi flew to Khartoum monday in response to a sudanese request for urgent humanitarian aia for regions hit by recent floods. Prime minister Ciriaco de Mit immediately ordered a military plane to Fly to Khartoum to pickup Barone and Bellini and bring them Back to Italy. . Banks boost prime Rote to 10% new York a major . Banks raised their prime rate a half percentage Point to 10 percent thursday two Days after the Federal Reserve in creased its own key lending rate to stave off inflation. The hike brings the closely watched prime rate to its highest level since june 18, 1985, when it was lowered to 9.5 percent from 10 percent. Chase Manhattan Bank started thurs Day s move. Citibank manufacturers Hanover Trust chemical Bank Bankers Trust first National Bank of Chicago and Continental Illinois National Bank quickly matched the Rise. Major Banks on the West coast were expected to Fol Low suit. Stock and Bond prices were mixed and the Dollar moved slightly higher after the announcement. It was the third time this year that Banks have raised the prime which is used in setting a Range of fixed and adjustable rate corporate and consumer Loans. With interest rates moving higher you re going to see increases in fixed and adjustable rate mortgages and floating lines of credit said Elizabeth g. Reiners an economist at Dean Witter Reynolds inc. If you want to go out and get a car loan or an unsecured line of credit to buy furniture that s going to Cost you  economists had expected the move after the fed signalled its desire to tighten credit by raising its discount rate to 6.5 percent from 6 percent on tuesday largely As a Means of holding Down inflationary pressures. The discount rate is the interest the fed charges on Loans to member Banks. Interest rates have been rising steadily in recent months in reaction to the strength of the Economy. Reiners said Banks decided to raise the prime after the Federal funds rate the interest on overnight Loans Between Banks surged above 8 percent. Usually there s a pretty Good Correla Tion Between the spread of fed funds and the prime rate she said. Libya to pay sex Jordan employees Nicosia Cyprus a libyan Leader Moa mar Qadhafi said his coun try will pay the salaries of former Jorda Nian employees in the israeli occupied West Bank and Gaza strip radio Monte Carlo reported thursday. Libya announces through your radio station that it will take the responsibility of paying the salaries Qadhafi told the radio s Paris based arabic service. In the interview c9nducted wednesday by phone the libyan Leader estimated the Cost at about $ 1 million a month. In Israel a foreign ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity said we do not have a reaction to this. We have no dialogue with  asked whether Israel would allow any other Arab country to Send Money into the territories he said that s very  Jordan has been paying the salaries of 21,200 palestinians in the occupied Terri tories but King Hussein announced last week that he was handing Over that responsibility to the Palestine liberation organization. He challenged the Plo to set up a palestinian state in the West Bank where the Plo has been helping Lead an 8-month-old uprising against israeli Rule that has killed nearly 239 palestinians and four israelis. Some of Jordan s cuts Are being phased in gradually. According to jordanian figures the salaries were costing around $45 million a year but Hussein said Only a fraction of those affected were classified As civil servants. The rest worked in institutions that received jordanian subsidies. Qadhafi did not say How Many peo ple s salaries he would pay but said he would begin the payments aug. 16. He also said he supported the setting up of a palestinian government in exile. Asked about Hussein s moves to turn Over responsibility for the occupied Terri tories to the Plo Qadhafi said the King had never done anything for Jerusalem the occupied territories or Palestine in general. In addition to retiring or laying off the employees Hussein cancelled a proposed $1.3 billion development plan for the occupied lands abolished a government ministry responsible for the area and Dis solved the lower House of parliament half of whose members were palestinian. Jordan ruled the West Bank from 1948 until Israel seized it in 1967. Jor Dan has paid salaries of government workers there and in the Gaza strip which Israel seized from Egypt in 1967, but Jordan claimed sovereignty Only Over the West Bank. Cafes to offer new series of Gas coupons Munich West Germany a new series of fuel coupons goes on Sale aug. 25 at cafes Europe outlets in West Germany and the Netherlands Exchange officials said. The current series of coupons so for Germany and ns-1 for the Netherlands expires sept. 30. Refunds Are available after that Date for unused coupons still attached to the original cover. Old Cou Pons cannot be exchanged for new ones. Gas stations will begin accepting the new coupons s-2 and ns-2, As soon As sales begin. The new series is valid through sept. 30,1989. Issuing a new series each year is de signed to protect against theft and Black marketing of coupons which allow the Purchase of tax free fuel officials said. With the new series the Exchange service introduces booklets for unleaded fuel in 25-, 50 and 200-liter denominations. Previously unleaded Gas was available Only in 100-liter books. No Price change is associated with the release of the new coupons. Cafes Gas prices have remained generally stable forthe past 18 months