European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 30, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Bunday. December 30. 199i the stars and strikes a fuse 9. F a do about face on Staffi Haj la Chick Vinci i Washington Bureau. Washington military pc so incl managers will remember 1990 As a it ear in which the pendulum Quot of their profession swung from one extreme to the other in a Span of Mere weeks. In the first half of the year with the world still in the grip of Posl cold War euphoria the serv ices were hush planning for the biggest draw Down since the end of the Vietnam War. Then with the iraqi invasion of Kuwait on aug. 2. The Pentagon abruptly reversed course to launch the biggest mobilization since Vietnam. Some 430,000 . Troops will be deployed in the persian Gulf by next month. Quot we re still planning for Long term reductions. But we be obviously had and will continue to have dilemmas to solve along the  a Pentagon personnel official said. Quot if desert shield lasts much longer it will begin to Force massive changes in our Long term reduction  Martin Binkin a military manpower expert with the Brookings institution a Washington based think Lank believes that Pentagon personnel experts Are facing chaos at the moment. A the pressure that desert shield is exerting on the services has t been seen for 20 years Quot he said. Congressional aides predict that those pressures will shortly Force the Pentagon to ask lawmakers for a delay in the personnel reduction schedule put in place before the magnitude of the Middle East deployment became Clear. The fiscal 1991. Defense authorization act called for the Pentagon to trim a minimum of 80,000 Active duty personnel this fiscal year with the army taking the Brunt of the cuts. Quot. A i done to think they can make that schedule a a congressional staffer said. Operation desert shield staved off even deeper personnel cuts a earlier in the year lawmakers had talked of cutting As Many As 130,000 personnel in fiscal 1991. Sensing the Drift of Congress the services began plan Ning accordingly. The army and air Force launched voluntary Early release programs in the Spring and the air Force also trimmed several thousand people by changing time in Grade limits for enlisted personnel with More than 20 years of service. By Midsummer All the services were Well along the downward Glide path that everyone knew would he made official by Congress As part of the fiscal 1991 budget. Am Cven in the first few weeks after the iraqi invasion of Kuwait during which More than 230,000 . Service members were sent to the Region few doubted that significant personnel reductions were still possible. That changed two months ago with the Bush administrations decision to deploy another 200,000 troops to the Middle East Many of them from units in Germany that were scheduled to be brought Back to the United states As part of a reduction of 40,000 personnel in ii rope this fiscal year. A a lot of people were dumbfounded by that announcement Quot said Larry Korb the Pentagon a manpower chief in the Early 1980s. A those additional troops were expected to replace the units already there not reinforce  a a a the second wave was the big wrench in everybody a plans a the Senate staffer said. A a deployment of that magnitude forces you to do a lot of things you done to benefits await gis facing involuntary separations by Janet Howells Tik Kney Washington Bureau when and if involuntary separations take effect service members can look Forward to a wide Range of benefits the benefits package approved by Congress includes separation pay for enlisted personnel and officers who arc forced out after at least six years of service. The separation pay is figured by years of serv ice times monthly base pay times 12 times 10 percent. For example an k-4 with 8vi years service would be 8.5 times $1,167 to times 12 times 0.1, for a Lump sum totalling $11,906.46. If involuntary separations become necessary placement programs should be available at overseas and stateside installations to help separated service members find civilian jobs. Some parts of the program such As computer software Ore Silil being developed but the crisis in the Gulf is giving planners additional time to work out the bugs. A desert shield is slowing Down the draw Down and giving us More Lime to plan Quot said Lisa Davis of the Pentagon a Force management and personnel office. At one Point Davis office was Given a deadline of oct. 1 to have transition programs in place for involuntarily separated members. The transition package includes extensions or commissary and military Exchange privileges after separation plus participation in the military a health insurance program. Until oct. 1, 1995, family members of troops involuntarily separated May also finish their senior year in the military s school system if icy have completed the 11th Grade at the time of the forced separation. Normally  one of the most significant actions wrought by the follow on deployment has been the use of Quot Stop loss Quot by the military services to delay retirements and separations for thousands of troops in order to keep deployed units at full staffing Levels. Quot once it became Clear that the second wave of troops would be reinforcements rather than replacements the services had no Quick Way to adjust a Korb  they were already cutting recruiting budgets and lowering accession goals a he said. Quot they were forced to use Stop loss so they could get a grip on the deployment  the Navy and air Force Are using limited Stop loss authority affecting Only a few thousand personnel. However the Marine corps has delayed separations and retirements for All its troops involved in desert shield and the Arney has a Blanket Stop loss in place for its personnel  loss May have a lingering effect on  retention particularly for the Anny tie congressional staffer said. A i think this deployment is bringing the reality of military service hone to a lot of people a he said a people Are realizing that it Mav not be As simple As serving two years getting out and going to  but Quot  of a rotation policy will have a More lasting effect than the use of Stop loss authority experts  affects people who would be leaving anyway Quot  said. Quot but a lot of people on Cupi to Hill think i lie Pentagon is doing a great disservice to military personnel by not giving them an idea of what the future  the problem is that such a Large  personnel planners with few assets for a rotation see liar in he said Quot Ilow do you rotate out eight army divisions a he said. A it hat second wave should have been the rotational Force. It was a conscious decision by the administration to up the Ante Quot a the defense department fell tin its face by initially talking about a possible rotation policy a said Zinkin of the Brookings institution Quot the decision to put the Issue on the shelf is meant to buy Lime and see what happens Over the next few months the policy they have now a a we done to know whether Well use a rotation policy and we done to need to make Hal decision yet a should have been the policy from the outset a ironically desert shield May make it easier for the military services to Cut personnel alter the deployment ends Binkin said / a Early in the year the services Yvere anticipating having to make wrenching decisions about forcing people out Quot he  done to think  have that problem alter desert shield. I think plenty of people will be clamouring to get out.�?�. Names invasion of Kuwait As top Story Washington up history books will Mark 1990 As the year the cold War officially ended Germany United and democracy took hold in Eastern Europe but the top news Story was iraqis invasion of Kuwait according to a up poll of Amer ican editors. Appropriately the years top news maker was Saddam Hussein the Iron listed iraqi Leader whose desert aggression National news lation con with Arab and Western Powers thrust him literally overnight to the Center of the world stage. The leading female news maker was Margaret Thatcher 60, who resigned As prime minister of Britain in november. She was the first woman elected to the Post which she held for 11 years a total of 164 Ufa newspaper and broadcast subscribers participated in the poll. They were asked to rank the top 10 stories from a list of 20 candidates with a first place vote Worth 10 Points a second place vote nine Points and so on. The poll conducted Between Dee. 3 and dec. 10 also asked participants to rank the top five male and female new makers. In previous years the Story that Gar. Need the most cumulative Points sometimes failed to gain enough first place votes. But this year the Gulf crisis was the Lead selection of128 of those polled. While the crisis was defined in one category the final chapter of the cold War and the related stones on fledgling democracies in Eastern Europe and the unification of Germany required two ballot spaces and generated responses raising the historical significance of the a new world  a look for it to be one of the most important stories of the 90s,&Quot said Joe to vacs news editor for Florida a radio network. A the Union of East and West Germany would be one of the biggest stories but the world was distracted by the crisis in the persian Gulf a said Corinne Gase news director at Alto radio in Harbor Springs Mich. Overall the unification of Germany and the continuing democratization of Eastern Europe placed second in the poll. The formal end to the cold War which occurred last month when president George Bush soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and other leaders signed treaty documents in Paris was third. The collapse of americans savings and loan Industry the bailout of which could Cost . Taxpayers As much As $500 billion placed fourth. The Story of Nelson Mandela a release from prison in South Africa and his ascension from fax a less Martyr to jiving icon ran fifth in the polling. Rounding out the top 10 in order were the politically excruciating budget struggle Between the Whitemouse and Congress the extradition and jailing of former panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega thatchers political Sunset the emergence of environmental issues As front Page news worldwide and the Independence movement by the soviet republics. Runners up in order were the drug conviction of Washington mayor Marion Barry efforts by states to restrict abortions nasal a space troubles the soft ening of the american Economy and baseball legend Pete roses jailing for Lux evasion. Following Saddam As top male new makers of 1990 were in order Gorbachev Bush Mandela and business tycoon Donald Trump. Trumps financial troubles revealed cracks in Nis real estate Empi re while speculation about a affair with Model Marla Maples preceded the breakup of his 13-year marriage. Trailing Thatcher As top female new makers were in order Barbara Bush newly elected nicaraguan president Vio Leta Chamorro pop superstar Madonna and comedian Roseanne Barr Barr touched off a National controversy when after singing the National Anthem at a major league baseball game in san Diego she spit on Home plate and  Crotch in what she claimed was a general parody of baseball players