European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 8, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Inside stripes a gop and democrats push on with Campaign Page 5 d Congress agrees on Bill to close obsolete military bases Page 7 d stripes Don Tate on land of True blues Page 13 d Oakland whips Boston again for 2-0 Al series Lead Page 21 the St and stripes authorized unofficial publication for the . Armed forces " vol. 47, no. 173 saturday. October 8, lab 00, tra Good morning d b693 a overseas family cute possible official cites read Ness budget troubles by Charlie Bowden Munich Bureau Garmisch West Germany in an Era of tight ened congressional purse strings pressure will mount to reduce the number of military families overseas a senior army civilian said thursday. There Are about 120,000 army family members Liv ing in Europe with a massive infrastructure to support them but that could be in jeopardy from a Lack of funds to continue the necessary degree of support said Delbert l. Spurlock assistant Secretary of the army for manpower and Reserve affairs. The army May be faced with decreasing the family member presence or decreasing Structure he said. In the current environment of tight budgets we mus took at it in terms of readiness. Spurlock was in Garmisch to address the annual Usa eur personnel management symposium. He emphasized that there is no army plan to de crease the numbers of family members overseas. It is simply a reality. There will be no army push but the pressure from the decreasing. Budget will come he said. The Impact could be significant since about half of the enlisted Force and 75 percent of the officers arc married according to army statistics. On a subject related to overseas families Spurlock told the personnel managers that More emphasis was needed overseas on the evacuation of non combatants and less on morale support Issue not tied directly to readiness. I Don t believe we can concen Lra enough to tight a War especially in the first five or six Days if we Renoi totally secure in the knowledge that our family members arc out of the theater Spurlock said. At a time when War fighting and training is on the army s front Burner mar issues arc receiving too much at. Tuntion at All Levels Spurlock said. I Don t think a soviet planner spends very Fibuch about what is mar program he said i think he dour Pond a significant amour Neljo Riim thinking or not we can i Don t believe concentrate enough fight a War especially in the first five or six Days if we Are not totally secure in the knowledge that our family members Are out of the Delbert l. Spurlock family members out. There is no compari my estimation in terms of the divergent relative importance of these two programs. I Don t think we " could convince anybody thai we re really serious about non combatant evacuation in the future Spurlock said management of those morale support programs not directly linked to Readi Ness probably would be centralized either under the Exchange service the Community and family support enter or some similar entity. Those kinds of things should not be taking up command time he said. At he conference wednesday the army s personnel chief said the incidence of disciplinary problems among soldiers has dropped dramatically in the past decade primarily because of a push by the army to Geland keep better Quality soldiers. I. Gen. Allen k. Ono said that in 1980, roughly half of the army s new recruits had not completed High Sac tool and roughly 57 percent fell into category in Thi Lawsl Entrance test score category eligible to percentages of High school graduates enlisting has act daily risen. In 1988, 93 percent of recruits had Romish which school Ono the same time the incidences of drug use being absent without leave Ana criminal activity dropped significantly he said. For example incidences of drug use per 1,000 soldiers dropped from 38 in the mid 1970s to eight in 1987. Unauthorized absence dropped from 89 per 1,000 soldiers to 12 and the num Ber of property and violent crimes dropped by Hal f. Army officials also arc taking actions to beef up the enlisted Force from the Middle directly linking promo sea cuts on Bach Page Singh has new hostage details Wiesbaden West Germany a a newly released hostage is providing is. Debriefing team with alot of raw information that could be helpful in learning about americana still held in Lebanon a is. Official mid thursday. The official is close to a stale depart ment team interrogating Indian professor Singh. Singh said he and three americans held Wilh him Jesse Turner 41, a native of Boise Idaho Alann Steen 49, of Boston and Robert Polhill 54, of new York City were moved frequently by their abductors to thwart efforts to locate them the source disclosed. Singh an Indian citizen and a Resi Dent alien of the United stole was flown to Wiesbaden wednesday for medical Che Clu at us. Military Hospi Tal. He told medical official be plans to return to the United slates. The educator was released on Mon Day after 10 months of Captivity but his three american colleagues an still held. According to the source Singh has Ben no indications he we abused while a capture and he indicated that tuner sinn and Pololu arc not in a Turner life threaten the source said he could release few details about the conditions of Singh s Captivity. Six other americans Are also missing and believed Reid captive in Lebanon As Are seven other for Eigners. Pololu used to question released hostages. Asked if the included Fri or Cia officials the source said Only. You re not out of the he reiterated that Singh had no Contact with Amer ican hostages other than Turner Steen and Pothul the scarce said Singh and the three americans Tot moved he was moved around at least half a dozen times wherever be was before he was re leased the other Woald not be there now said the Sebree. The state department team questioned Singh for a second Day thursday. The source uld Singh a deed speak ing with the special team two to three tires Day Lor about 90 minutes in each sitting. He said the interrogators Are Mem Bers of a Standard Debra eng a four taught at Beirut University College. Gunmen posing As police abducted them on Jan. 24, 1987, on the Campus in moslem West Beirut a group calling itself islamic jihad for the liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility and said it freed Singh As a Goodwill gesture. According to the official the four Cap tires apparently had Little Contact with the outside world. A far As they know he had no newspaper said the official. Singh has not spoken with reporters since arriving incest Germany. He s reticent to talk in Public. He does t know How those holding his friends would react said the source. No sign has emerged from Singh s comments that other hos Lages would be re = then eased soon he added we bad no indication anybody else will be released soon or Al the source added there Are indications thai they arc backed by Iran we assume financed by earlier thursday . Air Force spokesman master sat Charles Akk said Singh was receiving medical treat ment or. Singh says he feels ranch better today Akk reported. On wednesday air Force medical officials said Singh suffered from tremendous fatigue following his Captivity. Odds critics voice their complaints Page 2
