European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 13, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday august3. 1990 a the stars and stripes Page 9educationdodds�?T performance gets High Marks  Washington Bureau Washington i lie military s overseas school system is close to or above the National average on almost All the performance indicators used by the department of education to rank . Stale schools according to recent statistics. A the statistics arc very encouraging Quot or. Hohti Stremple director of the department of defense dependents schools said in an interview Friday. A you can never be satisfied on these kinds of tilings but compared to what s going on in the country As a whole we re doing pretty Good a he said. A we want our kids to score As Well As any group in the United states and that seems to be the  two important strengths of the military system Are its average scores on the Scholastic aptitude test and the american College test. A a the military system had an average combined math and verbal sat score of 912 Points compared to the . Average of 903. A maximum score is 1,600 Points. Dodds also outpaced . Schools slightly in the percentage of students scoring 600 or above on the verbal portion of the test 8.4 percent to 7.8 percent but lagged slightly behind in that category for the math portion 17 percent to 18 percent. On the act which has a maximum score of 36, students in the military system notched an average score of 20.7, compared to 18.6 in the United states. Dodds students also had a far higher be Vintage of students scoring 76 or above 22 percent to 13.9 percent in the United Stales. On advanced placement exams Dodds students lagged behind their . Counterparts in scores but the military system had a higher percentage of total students in advanced placement programs 46 percent to 39.7 percent for the . Schools. Oiler statistics showed  average teacher s salary for the military system s31.35 7, is higher than the United states average of $29,567. However Dodds expenditures per Pupil were slightly lower $4,118 compared to. $4,243 in the states a the military system ranks significantly lower than the  schools in Only one category the Studen teacher ratio. In the Dodds system there Are 22.2 students for every teacher while in the tinted states the ratio is Only 17 students for each teacher Stremple said that average should begin to drop when troop reductions in Europe begin. Dodds officials Are negotiating with he department of education to have the military school system included in the annual Quot Wall Chart Quot which shows individual slate rankings  performance categories. But because Dodds i uni ions dil Ferenti than the state systems in Many aspects More work must be done to ensure Liat the statistics Are truly comparable Stremple  look to military for a few Good teachers by Chuck Vinci i Washington Bureau Washington a the nations school systems arc looking at the coming military personnel draw Down As a unique Opportunity to bolster their chronically understaffed teaching corps. At least seven states Are working with the military to develop programs aimed at gelling separating service members into schools experiencing teacher shortages and More states arc expected to follow. Quot it s a significant Opportunity for the schools Quot said Christopher Cross the assistant Secretary of educational research and improvement at the department of education. Quot there arc a lot of first rate people who will be coming out of the military with the finest education and training available in science math and technical skills. Quot schools really need teaching help in All of those areas Quot the army expected to take the Brunt of personnel cuts in the next few years will formalize its first state teacher certification program when an agreement is sighed this month with Florida education officials said capt. Barbara Goodno an army spokeswoman in the Pentagon the army will be Able to build on its experience with three Small programs that have been operating since the Early 1980s involving fort Benning ga., fort Hood Texas and fort Mcyr  and universities near those bases Goodno said. In the near future the army will make information on teaching opportunities a Standard part of its transition assistance and Job placement programs she said. The Navy is working on certification agreements with schools in California Florida and Virginia As Well As in its Washington Hearl quark is area said capt. Bill Dell who is overseeing the Elvorth on behalf of the naval military personnel Center other states that Are interested in similar partnerships with the military include Texas new York Indiana and Alabama according to the Council of chief state school officers. But hurdles remain to setting up Broad programs. For one thing most people leaving the military in the next few years will be enlisted personnel and a teaching is something that military personnel Are exposed to in some form throughout their careers spending so much time training other people or being trained themselves.�?T1 a capt. Bill Dell Only 4 percent of those troops have the College degree that usually is needed for teacher certification. Almost All military officers have College degrees. One Way the Navy is making it easier for its enlisted members to get their degrees is to have universities Grant them credit for experience gained in teaching or training positions in the military Dell said Florida a program even allows former service Mcm bars to Start teaching and then Lake up to two years to finish their degree and become certified said Jim Pirius a slate education official. Twenty two states have some Type of alternative certification procedures Goodno said. In addition to certification concerns a of Estori remains about How Well former  personally suited to handle life in the nation s olten raucous classrooms. Prospective teachers used id miliary Stylc discipline could be in for a rude Awakening Saiu Jay shold an associate Dean of George Washington University s school of education and human development in Washington the University a Leach or education programs in Crystal City and Hampton va., which have referred More than 50 military personnel to Job openings since 1985. Include 30 hours of classroom work Early in the course. That experience quickly identifies service members who May. Not be suited for school life Shotel  there s no quest Ion that the culture of the classroom is very different than the military environment most of these people arc used to Quot he said. Quot anyone who thinks teaching is an easy career a 9-Lo-3 Job with Summers arid weekends off needs to look Lor some other profession Quot he said. A we done to pull any punches about that when we talk about the  Bui military and education officials remain optimistic about the concepts prospects. A teaching is something that military personnel Are exposed to in some form throughout their careers spending so much time training other people or being trained themselves a Dell said. And Pirius said the draw Down  he. Toni org at a better time. _ a Florida is building schools right and left. We hire 10.000 to 11,000 teachers every year 60 percent of them from out of state and at any one time there Are 1.000 to 1,500 Job openings a he said. A we need As much help As we can  berets Tell tales of skulduggery san Francisco up1 a tons of ammunition and explosives were secretly stockpiled and illegally sold or Given away by Green berets in Thailand As recently As last year the san Francisco examiner reported in its sunday edition. The newspaper said it obtained dozens of documents showing . Military officials in Thailand and Okinawa orchestrated a cover up to account for millions of dollars Worth of missing munitions that apparently were Given to the thai army or sold on the Black Market. A former Green Beret who served with an elite special forces unit in Southeast Asia said in an interview from a boat in Alameda Calif. Saturday that he saw a Large Cache of munitions at a secret 200-fool-Long Bunker on a Royal thai army base. �?~�?~1 was physically there and saw the Bunker. 1 saw the ammo. In my opinion they risked my  said Mike Bracey a former sergeant with Bravo co 1st in. 1st special forces based in Okinawa but operating in Thailand. Asked if to believes that munitions sold on the Black Market eventually reached Khmer Rouge guerillas in Cambodia. Hracel said. Quot yes. 1 certainly do w it to lit a i Ubl. There was Money being made a Bracey a 15-year Veteran who retired from the army last year had been involved in an internal military investigation of the matter but he said his own efforts were hampered or ignored when he Drew up inventory reports that documented abuses occurring Over a five year period he said the army destroyed incriminating documents and then falsely accused him of Selling to the Black Markei some of the missing ammunition grenades mines and plastic explosives. A i was sent on a Mission into hostile territory in Thailand and when 1 returned ii was More than apparent that 1 was being set up to take a fall a he said. �?o1 believe 1 was to. Be killed and then blamed for the missing  Bracey said he was eventually shipped to the army base at san Francisco a Presidio and Pul into a psychiatric Ward to be kept quiet. He said rep. Barbara Boxer. A Calif helped free him after recons from concerned doctors and other emerging evidence on the missing munitions. The special forces operated with Vii Tuai autonomy in Thailand Bracey said. A we were completely unchecked. We could get in and out of countries without even going through  Bracey said he and sgt. Bob Finley who was with him in Alameda saturday were subjected to harassment and death threats for trying to Alert superiors of problems within their unit. He said he believes the cover up goes High into military circles. A a in a completely convinced there a a lot of people up the Chain of command who knew about it the Selling of munitions but did no to do anything to Stop it a Bracey said. A was far As a government cover up they weren to Given any Choice but to deny that it Ever happened a Finley who was honorable discharged last year agreed with Bracey that 1st in officers ordered Only a Small amount of munitions blown up when details about the secret stockpiles began to emerge in March of last year they both said that two months earlier  to an inventory they compiled a some $ i million Worth of mum Lions were at the depot including russian ammunition anti tank rounds chemical agents dynamite and u-4 explosive. Quot we Only had one 12-Man team m a i Suhami during Thyl time Quot said Bracey. A what happened to All Thal ammunition Quot Brig. Gen. Peter Fash senior . Military commander in Thailand from 1987 until Early this year and now chief of staff at the Presidio a 6th army Headquarters denied he had sanctioned the ammunition storage. Lash said he was unaware of the stockpile until evidence of it emerged in Early 1989. He added that he had refused to approve destroying the stockpile but found out later it had been blown up contrary to orders. The paper said military and civilian sources revealed that battalion members did business with Bangkok s Black Market which operates in an area known As gun Sciare. One Green Here i sergeant major suspected of being a Black marketeer was convicted last year of plotting to murder his Captain. Just after his arrest. Sgt. Joe pan Axon was killed when a mine exploded m the units Ikawa locker room. Boxer said she wets told by the Pentagon inspector general solties two weeks ago that a Nasimi was apparently killed because he knew details of the munitions smuggling