European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                I it w 0/. Is amp. La a. A. A1 Nolan Ryan .1 2 gets his a rns i 300th win a Poge 17 the Sra san i stripes authorized unofficial publication for the . Armed forces s 5 Ltd i pc cow  a a p 1 j be. A vol. 49, no. 111 thursday August 2, 1990 a a 2s daily and sunday d 8693 a panel seeks three times the number asked by go Cut in proposed military strength by Chuck Vinci i Washington Bureau Washington a the House armed services  wants to Cut 129,500 troops in fiscal 1991, More than triple the number recommended by the Bush administration. And like the Senate a version of the defense authorization Bill the House panel also decided that 50,000 troops should be brought Home from Europe in the coming fiscal year. A that is a manageable number a rep. Beverly Byron head of the panels military personnel subcommittee said at a news conference wednesday. A it is a number the services can work with without involuntary separations in massive numbers next  see related Story Page 2. In a Surprise move the committee also approved a 4.1 percent military pay raise More than the Pentagon had asked for. In approving a $283 billion defense authorization Bill by a 40-12 vote late tuesday the panel recommended air Force Navy and Marine corps cuts Sim Ilar to those approved two weeks ago by the Senate panel. But the House committee plan Calls for an army of 679,699, Down from the current 739,156. The Senate committee Bill Calls for 704,169 soldiers on Active duty. See Chart for other comparisons in contrast the Bill would add almost 21,000 personnel to the Reserve and National guard Force with 19,500 of those allocated to the army National guard and army Reserve. The Senate committee Bill would add Only 400, while the Pentagon wanted to Cut 3,400 Reserve personnel. Military personnel officials have said privately that they could handle the Senate numbers. But one official who asked not to be identified said the House committee Bill would Hurt the army a cutting almost 70,000 people would be very very painful a the official said. A when you get into those kinds of numbers you re not talking about cutting fat anymore a you re getting deep into the Bone a but the committee staffer said the see Cut on Back Page president Bush and the two armed services committees my have different proposals for military strength in fiscal 1991. A m m the numbers in parentheses show cuts from the current level. Service current level. Senate House Bush armed services armed services committee committee army 739,156 727,500 -11,656 704,169 -34,987 679,669 -59,487 air Force 540,318 r 530,000 -10,318 510,000 -30,318 508,500 -31,818 Navy 578,326 584,800 568,501 -9,825 570,501 -7,825 marines 195,559 196,500 193,735 -1,824 192,235 -3,324 total 2,053,359 2,038,800 -14,559 1,976,405 -76,954 .1,946,905 -106,454 As of june 30. Total current strength is 23,046 loss than authorized strength for fiscal 1990. Source res Pentagon . Congress said  i  desertions transfers Hurt e. German by de Reavis staff writer desertions and transfers to the civilian work Force have reduced the East German armed forces to the Point where there is one officer for every lower enlisted troop on Active duty a West German defense ministry spokesman said. The statistics were revealed recently to an East and West German commission working on combining the two armed forces the spokesman said. A the original strength of the East German National Peoples army was about 170,000,�?� he said tuesday. A but since the Wall came Down they be been plagued with desertions and the necessity of filling gaps in Industry and agriculture with troops. A they now have an even 30,000 soldiers 30,000 non commissioned officers and 30,000 officers. Which does no to sound like Paradise for the recruit docs it a he said. By comparison the West German military has 40,000 officers and about 250.000 enlisted men. The . European come has about one officer for every nine enlisted people in its roughly 300.000 members. Egon Bahr a West German who was recently named adviser to the East Ger Man department of defense and disarmament said in a radio interview that he could foresee East German officers serving in the West German military despite their Moscow training. Bahr cited several examples of officers who served under Hitler who later helped build the West German military or bundles Chr in the Best of democratic traditions. A but there arc others who claim All East German officers and maybe even non commissioned officers Are unfit for service in the bundles Chr a the spokesman for the West German defense department said. One concern raised by West germans is How their recruits would read to the notoriously authoritarian style of East German non commissioned officers. A a there a a lot of possibility of conflict Here a the spokesman said. But Rainer Eppelmann the East German minister of defense and disarmament. Recently told the weekly Magazine Der Spiegel that he believes that East German forces would be integrated into the bundles Chr in numbers representative of the size of his country. A Herr Eppelmann talks an awful lot a a spokesman in Bahrs Ollice said in response lie said there is a Rocky Road of see forces on Back a Goncoe a czech chandeliers go from Deal to disaster by Al i in Bathkin Nair Sherg Bureau Forth West Germany a Edillo Nanut says lies ready to donate two Crystal chandeliers to Charity rather than pay the $1,000 duty that czech officials have levied on them. A a in be been ripped off a said the sergeant first class who is stationed at Feucht army Airfield about two hours from the czech Border. A the reason 1 went there was because i Hoard from a lot of people that Crystal was so cheap seven times cheaper or five times cheaper than in the West. So in Early june Namit borrowed a pickup truck from one of his 2nd army Cav regt buddies and set out at Daybreak for Prague. Lie got More than he bargained for. On his Way Back to West Germany at the same Border crossing whore head been so effortlessly waved through in the morning he was slopped by czech customs officials. They handed him a pamphlet written in English and told him he had to pay 27,000 Koruna in duty on his 9,310-Koruna lamps. The Bill 300 percent of the Cost of the lamps totalled More than $1,000. A impossible a Namit thought suspecting they were fishing for a bribe. No one a the Crystal shop where he had already paid a 20 percent sales lax had mentioned anything about paying duly at the Border. Still when he said he  pay the customs agents kept the lamps. Czech officials used to look the other Way As bus loads of westerners swept through the Prague shopping District near Wenceslas Square Lour Compa a continued on Page 3