European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 30, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday september 30, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 9 Survey shows Many spouses believe army level of family support too Low by Chuck Vinci Washington Bureau Washington although spouses generally arc Happy with army life Many feel that army leaders Don l show enough concern for families according to a recent Survey. Among the More than 12.000 respondents to the army s first worldwide spouse Survey conducted last year. 60 percent said icy were satisfied Wilh the Amyas a Way or life according to a summary released this week. The Survey clearly showed inc importance of the link Between perceptions of family support and satisfaction Wilh army lire particularly among lower enlisted spouses. Forty three percent of enlisted spouses and one third of spouses of officers said the i were dissatisfied with the general level of army family sup port. Four fifths of the spouses who said they were Happy with the level of family support also said they were satisfied with the army As a Way of life. Only 19 per cent of those who arc unhappy Wilh family support said they Are still satisfied with he army As a Way of life. Detailed questions on family programs also revealed thai while the army has made Progress with its family action plan now in its fifth incarnation the service needs to Fine tune some initiatives and work harder to make spouses More aware of inc services available totem. Among inc Survey results in various areas relocation. About 23 percent of army families have moved three or More times in the past three years. The biggest complaint regarding relocation was inc wait for housing almost one third of enlisted families waited seven months or More for permanent housing after a move. On the sponsor program while most spouses found heir sponsors somewhat helpful Only slightly More than one third even had a sponsor. About half of the respondents had in reimbursed moving expenses of $500 or More during their last move and 12 percent had out of pocket costs of 12,000 or More. Only 23 percent had no . Spouse employment while the army has directed considerable Effort toward improving spouse employ ment opportunities 19 percent of spouses in general and 27 percent of those married to lower ranking enlisted personnel Are unemployed. Only 16 percent of spouses seeking work said they used army family member employment assistance services which generally were rated Low on helpful Ness. Child care. Among spouses who use child care 58 percent arc Happy with child care education programs and 54 percent arc satisfied with the Quality of licensed family care Homes. But less than half the Survey respondents were satisfied with general availability hours of operation and Cost of child care. The Survey said almost one fourth of employed army spouses have lost Lime at work be cause of child care problems. Housing. Spouses generally Are satisfied with on Post housing although maintenance storage space and Security surfaced As contents for about half the respondents. Off Post rental housing was the least preferred Typ of housing among respondents. The Survey said the army May have a problem in that regard because 68 percent of families of soldiers in pay grades e-4 an below live in off Post rental housing. Thai could tend to increase dissatisfaction with army life since the people often most in need of on base army programs and services live off Post. Morale welfare and recreation. Spouses generally Are satisfied with most mar facilities such As libraries gyms and recreation centers hut dissatisfaction with commissaries and Post exchanges ran High. Among users of Post exchanges 55 percent were satisfied and 28 percent were dissatisfied for commis Saries the figures were 62 percent and 25 percent respectively. More respondents Weic unhappy with Exchange and commissary services overseas possibly be cause of differences in Stock and the relative unavailability of civilian stores As an alternative. Medical care. Overall 47 percent of army spouses arc satisfied but 36 percent arc not. Negative Factor cited most often include waiting times for appoint ments Overall Quality of care and the attitude of physicians and support staff. Schools. Satisfaction Wilh department of defens dependents schools generally is High for curriculum and Quality of teaching. Respondents were less satisfied with summer school lunch and sports program Sand with Dodds bus monitors. Spouses of officers were less satisfied with the school system than enlisted spouses this Survey is important because in provides first hand data that will Tell us where dollars need to be spent and which programs need fixing said Emily Cato a management analyst Wilh the army Community and family support Center. The Survey results will be distributed to command ers in the Field so they can adjust their own Community efforts Cato said. Follow up surveys will be done every two years. Soviet military Leader seeks Europe troop Cut Stockholm Sweden a the chief of die soviet general staff looking ahead to the end of the Reagan administration thursday proposed major troop reductions in Europe and challenged the United Stales to discuss cutting naval and air forces. What causes concern arc the oceans and seas marshal Sergei f. Fakhro my cd said in a prepared speech. The United slates and some of is allies do not want to extend verification of the Confidence building measures to inc Nav ies and air forces Nerc they have a superiority Over the  he cited heavy warships aircraft carriers sea based aircraft and tactical strike aviation As areas of soviet disadvantage. Warsaw pact navies also pos sess substantial strike capabilities he acknowledged without going into detail. Akrom Eyck Laid out similar arguments in an article in pravda earlier this month. His speech thursday to scholar Sand reporters at an annual lecture sponsored by the Stockholm International peace research Institute in Honor of the late prime minister Olof palme seemed intended to step up pressure on the United states for naval reduction talks. On troops Akrom Eyck promised so Viet openness in counting troops at new talks in Vienna on reducing regular forces in Europe. The Vienna talks on Mulla and balanced Force reductions in Europe have dragged on with Little Progress for 15 years mainly because the opposing Alli ances do not Trust each other s estimates of How Many soldiers they have. When a planned new formal for the talks is Sel we propose not merely a data Exchange but also thorough verification including on Sile inspections at any time convenient for the parties after marshal Sergei f. Chrome yes the beginning of the talks Akrom Cycz said. Both alliances should reduce troops by 25 percent or a Tola of 500,000 men As a further step he said. Other reductions should follow to make the character of inc armed forces of inc alliances generally defensive he said. According to Western estimates the Warsaw pact holds a 3-to-l advantage in tanks and artillery and nearly a 2-to-l Edge in combat aircraft and troops including reserves in the soviet Union. Western officials have expressed doubts about the soviet emphasis in Public statements on defensive strategy. . Defense Secretary Frank Carluc i in Moscow in August said he had difficulty in reconciling Kremlin claims of a defensive strategy with its High military spending and offensive weapons stocks. Akrom Cycz made a ground breaking Exchange visit this summer to the United states where he poured an american warship and sat in the cockpit of a by bomber. Carlucci later toured soviet installations. Worships of future of use electric Power Navy says Washington a the Navy s next warships will be propelled by electric motors instead of it Csc Gas Turbine or nuclear Power the service s top Admiral has decided. Adm. Carlisle . Trost in a speech delivered earlier this week at a classified symposium surprised Many in inc audience by announcing the Navy would no longer just dabble m research of integrated electric drive propulsion but instead would embrace it As inc Power Plant of the future. In View of its Many Well known advantages i am declaring that Inte grated electric drive with its associated Cluster of technologies will be inc method of propulsion for the next class of surface Battle Force combat ants Trost said and i am directing All the major Navy organizations involved in these efforts to concent ale their energies to Ward that objective. It s something thai has stayed in the Laboratory too Long and we need to tear Down i Host barriers that have prevented in  the Pentagon released excerpts of troll s remarks wednesday. Among other advantages the and vent of electric drive motors would put sufficient electrical generating capacity on Navy warships to Power exotic weapons of the future like Las ers and directed Energy weapons the Admiral added. Trosi the chief of naval operations served As the keynote speaker Mon Day at a symposium sponsored by the . Navy league and held behind closed doors at the naval surface warfare Center at while Oak md.,outside Washington. It cmdr. Craig Quigley a Navy  Carlisle . Troll spokesman said the service has studied electric propulsion for surface warships off and on for years always devoting relatively Small amounts of Money tothe work. Some Navy shins of the past were built Wilh electric Dave units but their performance Wai considered sub Par the spokesman noted. The March of technology however already has improved performance anymore gains can be made Trost told his audience. A Modem efficient electric propulsion system offers huge saving sin weight and manpower along with new flexibility in designing a ship s Hull and More room for weapons aboard the Admiral  a system would eliminate the need for the huge Gas Turbine engines thai drive the Navy s newest cruisers and frigates for example four on each Aegis Dass Cruiser. Instead a ship would be filled with Power generators to produce electricity that in turn would Dave electric motors. Those motors in turn would drive pro peller shafts directly eliminating the need for reduction gears and other mechanical engine machinery Trost said