European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 10, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes wednesday May 10,1989 w. German travel firm to assist Sato by Norm Zeigler 1 Ravel outdoor writer a leading West German travel firm will he involved in providing services to army communities after army information. Tours and travel offices Are phased out it was announced tuesday. A Day after being awarded a contract to succeed itt. The air transport association of America scheduled airlines travel offices overseas said it would be assisted in providing services. Through a new and unique partnership with amt Lichts Bacri Schus re Isaburo a Mph which has Headquarters in Munich. The statement said Sato overseas is delighted to be selected As Ilie contractor for travel sen ices for Usa eur. We look Forward to implementing the new travel contract in full anticipation of a continued and expanded role in serving Usa eur As one of our most important military customers  a company spokesman in Frankfurt West Ger Many said further details of the organization s plans and the role of the West German travel firm under the new contract would be announced later this week. . Army Europe officials declined to reveal the names of the other bidders for the contract. Itt employees expressed mixed feelings in the Wake of the army s announcement. One corps level itt official was philosophical it is Over and we re not going 10 fight  she said the main concern now was helping the transition and working to find jobs for itt staff members. Many employees in her area she said arc excited about working for Sato. The contract requires that qualified itt employees be Given first refusal on any Job openings. The official said the army would try to find jobs in military communities for those who arc not hired or who choose not to accept jobs with Sato. About Iso itt employees Are affected by the switch which will take from 90 Days to six months to Complete. Robert l. Dubois funeral manager of the winning firm said in february that Sato hoped to hire Quali fied itt employees if it were awarded the contract. Dubois was unavailable for comment tuesday. One itt director who strongly opposed the change said tuesday he still believes the decision is not Cor rect not in the Best interest of the .  however he said he would work to help provide a smooth transition. Opponents of the switch to a private contractor have charged that the move could mean higher costs for  and less Money returned to communities. One itt official said higher prices could result if a contractor chose to subcontract out services such As bus Tours possibly making it necessary to add the West German value added tax to the Price of tickets. The tax can be As High As 14 percent. Dubois said in february that if Sato were awarded the contract it would probably contract that  he said at the time that Sato Likely would re Duce the number of bus Tours and try to improve their Quality. They service members might have to pay $10 More but i think they want that Dubois said. The commander of v corps initially was among military opponents to eliminating itt saying in an August memo that a contractor could not provide As much Money to military communities As itt potentially could. The contract requires Sato to pay a fee of either 6 percent or 6.5 percent to the morale welfare and recreation fund in each Community where it operates. Usa eur officials said itts grossed approximately $40 million in fiscal year 1988, returning about $2 million or 5 percent of the Gross to communities. Keep Active duty Reserve ratio Congress urged by William j. Bartman Washington Bureau Washington . Military leaders from each quadrant of the Globe monday said that while the military re serve forces do an excellent Job military commands cannot afford to increase their Reliance on non Active duty forces. We re at the right balance now with Active duty and Reserve forces Marine maj. Gen. Royal Moore jr., director for operations for the Pacific come told the Senate armed services subcommittee on readiness. Relying More on reservists would be a problem he said because of the tremendous Effort it takes to move personnel across the huge Pacific theater. Army la. Gen. Edwin s. Leland jr., . European come chief of staff said that As the former commander of the army s National training Center in fort Irwin calif., he was tremendously impressed with what those Reserve units news updates Argentine released Buenos Aires Argentina a retired air Force com Mander Brig. Orlando Agosti 64, convicted in december 1985 of human rights abuses during the military s dirty War against sub version was ordered released from prison monday. Agosti s sentence of three years and nine months was the lightest passed on the five former com Manders of the regimes that ruled Between the March 1976 coup against president Isabel Pron and the election in october 1983 of president Raul Alfonsin. The other four remain in prison. Greek fugitive Boston a a fugitive greek tycoon accused in a banking scandal that has rocked his socialist government said monday he faces death by terrorist squads or secret police if he is forced to re turn to his Homeland. George Koskotas 35, a former chairman of the Bank of Crete filed papers in . District court seeking to be released on bail an fighting extradition to Greece. He also charged that senior officials of the greek government authorized plans to embezzle millions from the Bank and would kill him to ensure his silence. Can accomplish with the restraints they  but he said Neucom is also at the right mix with Active duty and Reserve forces on standby. The Issue arose following a report by the Brookings institution that a growing dependence by the army on its Reserve forces poses a Security risk to the nation. The report said that the Reserve forces Lack the training and gear necessary to prevail on the Battlefield. Army maj. Gen. Christian Patty Logis tics director for the Central come. Which focuses on the Middle East and persian Gulf said his wide ranging Mission could handle a moderate increase in its dependency on the Reserve. For the Central come 65 to 70 per cent of the support comes from the army Reserve and National guard Pale said. I think the army is looking at this very carefully. As we All know there arc deficiencies in the Reserve in Manning. In training in equipment however Patty added to increase the ratio slightly in the Reserve column would not be a War stopper if handled  Marine maj. Gen. Henry c. Stackpole Iii director of plans and policy for the Atlantic come said that some Reserve and guard areas such As the air National guard arc a highly ready Force. But ground forces arc another Story in  in its report the Brookings institution said the army reserves of the late 1980s Bear unprecedented Levels of responsibility for the defense of the United states. The military operations that the army could conduct without involving its Reserve components appear to be extremely  in a related area Moore said in response to subcommittee questions that while in the Long term there s always some Hope for a reduction of . Forces in the Pacific Region it would be four or five years before the prudent War fighter would step away and even longer for the Navy and air forces because of the dependency the United states asian allies place on those forces. At present in the Pacific we re stretched rather thin to Start out with. The 2nd div in Korea aligned with the South koreans faces a rather sizable threat Moore said. He said the 3rd expeditionary Force on Okinawa offers significant logistic benefits and added i believe we need All we have from a War fighting  asked to name their most important construction projects in the 1990 budget Neucom s Leland cited replacing the Hospital in Naples Italy and Fielding for Apache helicopters and Moore cited family housing in the Philippines. Stackpole said there is a critical need for military housing in Kef Lavik Iceland. 4 american teens held in assault on girl by Daryle. Green Kaiserslautern Bureau Baum older West Germany four american teen agers Are being held in the Mainz City jail in connection with the sexual assault on a 15-year-old Baum older High school student officials said tuesday. The boys who Are from 15 to 17 years old were charged Friday with sexual misuse of a person unable to defend her self said Hermann Hill Brand District attorney for bad or Cugnach. They were not charged with rape be cause the victim was drunk he said. The incident occurred in Baumholzer s wet Al housing area on april 25 and was reported to . Military police six Days later said Joe Koenig a spokesman for the Baum older military Community. The boys Are family members of sol Diers living in the Baum older military Community Koenig said. The four suspects As Well As the victim arc students at Baum older High. -. The suspects were turned Over Friday to German authorities in bad Kreuz Nach where the charges were filed Ingerman juvenile criminal court. Since they re civilians they fall under German authority and jurisdiction can t be handed Over to the .," Koenig said. After their arraignment the teens were ordered by the court to be held in the juvenile detention Center at the Mainz jail. The youths had been in the custody of their parents. German police Are determining whether the matter can be handled out of court so a trial Date has not been set Hillebrand said. If convicted they could face one of two forms of punishment under German Law youth penalty or youth arrest he said. Youth penalty carries a sentence of six months to five years while youth arrest involves a sentence of four weeks and sexual education classes he said. The military Community has no plans to take action against the suspects parents. The teen agers names Are not being released because of their Ages Koenig said. Most fire evacuees Bock in Lohr quarters Lahr West Germany is All but six of 54 Canadian forces families evacuated from a nine Story building during an april 30 fire have resumed to their apartments a forces official said tuesday. Forces investigators and German forensic experts arc still trying to do scr nine the cause of the Blaze which injured 11 people and destroyed a corridor in the rented building on Lahr s West Side. Fred Fox of the fire department of the Canadian forces base Lahr said the firkin the married quarters building was re ported at 2 . Department trucks put out the Lames by 2 13 . Ten of the 162 residents evacuated from the building suffered from smoke inhalation and were treated at Canadia forces Hospital Europe. The Hospital re leased six of them that Day and the other four on May 2. A firefighter also was treated for a bruised hand. The fire started in the ground floor hallway where a family moving in the previous Day had left a baby carnage and cardboard boxes full of household goods said Fox an air Force master warrant officer. He said smoke Rose to the upper floors quickly because hallway fire doors were not closed As they should have been. Fox said he did not know the Esti mated Cost of the damage. Residents of the building s upper eight floors returned Home May 4 after staying in temporary lodging on the base. The remaining six families who lived on the ground floor arc still in temporary quarters. Teams abandon climbs Katmandu Nepal a italian and Swiss teams have abandoned their efforts to climb two Himalayan peaks because of bad weather messages from the groups said tuesday