European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 28, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 b the stars and stripes thursday March 28,1991in the Gulf Al at a glance polish president Lech Walesa gets a kiss from a woman tuesday As he at tends mass in new York City. Walesa returned to Warsaw on wednesday from a .  of terror Saddam Hussein a troops have massacred iraqi women and children and Are executing males Over age 15, refugees said. A. A Quot a a a a page4l.a. Police Balking the Fri is frustrated in its efforts to question More than 200 los Angeles police officers in the civil rights investigation sparked by the Rodney King beating. Page 5kansas City elects mayor a methodist minister Emanuel Cleaver has become the City a first Black mayor. A page7hijackers slain commandos burst into d singaporean jetliner wednesday and killed four pakistani hijackers. A Page 8medical payments shifted army officials Are abandoning a 1-year-old program involving medical insurance claims for non appropriated fund employees in Europe. A Page 17index Abby Ann Landers. A a a a 14 comics. -16 commentary. A a a a 13 letters. A a a a 12 Money matters. 17 Pons. 18 �?�24 to listings. A a a a 18 weather. A a a a 11 correction because of a reporting error an article in wednesdays paper said that Blanes Spain was just North of Lloret de mar. Blanes neighbors Lloret directly to the South. Offensive capability retained while . Pullout continues by Jim Abrams the associated press Washington american troops Are coming Home from the persian Gulf by the thousands but the United states has preserved a powerful offensive capability in the Region a at least until a cease fire is reached. Almost a month after the War with Iraq ended 411,500 . Troops remain in the Gulf including All but a handful of More than 300,000 army soldiers sent to the Region. V. A a a Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams said tuesday that 128,500 members from All the services have left the Gulf two of the six aircraft Carrier groups deployed in the Gulf Are returning to the United states this week he said the most substantial redeployment has come in the Navy with 42,000 of the 85,000 sailors in the Gulf Region having left for Home ports or new assignments. The army responsible for holding 15 percent of iraqi territory until a formal cease fire is signed with Baghdad has seen the least movement. The Pentagon says 28,000 soldiers have left the theater of operations leaving 277,000 in place. Williams said . Troops will retain a powerful Force in the Gulf until the regions Security is assured. A they will stay until the formal cease fire is worked out a he said. . Forces have shown their continued offensive posture in the past week by Downing two iraqi warplanes that violated a . Ban on flights Over Iraq. The Pentagon said 25,000 air Force personnel have left the Gulf leaving 31,000 on duty while 33,500 marines have left and 60,500 remain. On wednesday and thursday More than 18,000 Atlantic Fleet sailors assigned to 16 ships and 16 aircraft squadrons Are expected to return to Home ports on the East coast. The aircraft Carrier John f. Kennedy the battleship Wisconsin and six other warships Are scheduled to arrive at Norfolk va., on thursday while the aircraft Carrier Saratoga will Lead five ships returning to Mayport fla., on the same Day. Also on thursday the guided missile frigate Samuel b. Roberts is scheduled to return to Newport r.i., and the fast combat support ships Detroit and Seattle will Dock in Colts neck . The Pentagon said that during the air and ground offensive against Iraq the Saratoga Battle group flew 2,694 combat missions and launched 86 Tomahawk cruise missiles. The Wisconsin fired its big 16-Inch guns 324 times. Three aircraft from the Wing were shot Down in the Early Days of the War and 21 Saratoga Crew members. Drowned when a commercial ferry returning them from leave in Haifa Israel Sank on dec. 21. There now Are three aircraft carriers in the persian Gulf Region and the red sea a the Ranger the Roosevelt and the America a Down from six during the War. . Naval deployment currently includes 51 ships in the Gulf Region 22 ships in the red sea and 13 ships in the Mediterranean. Williams said the return of . Troops in Iraq depends partly on the United nations Security Council which this week is expected to announce the terms of a cease fire including the establishment of a . Observer Force stationed along iraqis Border with Kuwait. Creating an observer Force would allow Quot the . Military to decide on its pullout schedule Williams said. A a in a not prepared to say today. When during the process of getting a , observer Force when would we come out a he said. The Pentagon spokesman also elaborated on current . Troop movements inside Iraq with the army a tank heavy Vii corps from Germany moving to the West and North to take Over positions held by the army a xviii airborne corps a lighter Force that is returning to the United states. A there is a general shift in forces in areas we control in Southern Iraq a Williams said. A no Force As a result of that re shifting is going to be any farther North.�?�. The spokesman said . Troops in occupied Iraq have assumed an Active role in ensuring the welfare of local civilians treating 1,124 wounded or sick iraqis and helping the red Cross deliver Rice Beans dried milk cooking Oil and baby formula to refugees. Troops have also captured or accepted the surrender of another 900 iraqi soldiers in the past few Days some escaping anti government uprisings in Southern Iraq. Williams said 28,263 iraqi prisoners of War remain in . Custody while 23,084 have been turned Over to saudi. Arabian forces. Commanders Praise stealth performance by Edith m. Lederer the associated press an air base in southwestern saudi Arabia a the commanders of a stealth fighter Wing say the warplane proved that flying undetected and dropping a a smart bombs was a winning formula for Success in the persian Gulf War. The radar evading jets flew 1 percent of All wartime missions but destroyed More than 40 percent of the strategic targets and never got hit by iraqi fire according to military calculations. A for $46.2 million a copy the f-117 has certainly proven to be a fantastic investment a said col. Alton c. Whitley jr., commander of the 37th tac fighter Wing. He and other officers released the combat numbers at an air base in saudi arabians mountainous province where two squadrons of f-117as Are based. A your Success rate was 80 percent a said col. Klaus Klause Deputy commander of the stealth fighter Wing. A normally if a fighter goes out and hits 50 percent of All targets he a doing quite Well. When you look at Southeast Asia during the Vietnam Ware averaged 33 percent. So when we re now up to 80 percent a that a  t earlier this month Gen. Merrill a. Mcpeak the air Force chief of staff. Said stealth jets attacked 31 percent of All targets in the first 24 hours of the air War that started Jan. 17. It was the Only aircraft to attack heavily defended downtown Baghdad knocking out air defences and key telecommunications and electrical Power facilities. Whitley said stealth a initial Success from dropping the first bomb of the War on Baghdad a telecommunications Tower to destroying military command centers in Western and Southeastern Iraq delivered a lighting blow against Saddam Hussein. 1 v. A a that first night it put us on a slope on a High that we stayed on for the duration of the War a said the 45-year-old stealth Pilot from Concord . A you watch teams have Good games and bad games. We had strings of consecutive wins that i think surpassed even our  Klause said More than 80 percent of the planes were combat ready throughout the War. War souvenirs deluge postal Center Jersey City . A troops. Returning from the persian Gulf Are illegally mailing Home dozens of automatic weapons knives and bayonets worrying postal workers at the nations largest bulk mail facility. Weapons have been found in some of about 5,000 Duffel bags shipped through Jersey City daily by homeward bound troops postal and customs authorities said. A it seems As if some troops got a Little carried away with their trophies of War a said John p. Leyden assistant director of the customs service office Here. Returning troops Are allowed to carry with them the weapons the . Military issued them the weapons they Are shipping Home Are souvenirs they picked up in the persian Gulf. Leyden said Federal authorities have found iraqi bayonets a too numerous to count a knives handguns automatic weapons and munitions in Duffel bags and packages passing through the Jersey City Center the largest of 21 centers nationwide. A postal spokesman in Washington said he knew of no other postal office with the problem. The arms have not caused any accidents since they were first discovered about two weeks ago said postal authorities. No live ammunition has been found. A this usually happens after a War,1 Frank Santora a regional postal spokes Man said tuesday. A but sending weapons is out of the  much of the mail from the persian Gulf is a Rayed when it arrives at Thi Center and any weapons found Are confiscated and turned Over to military authorities Leyden said. The package is sent on minus the contraband with a Label out lining Federal regulations and penalties. Federal Law and military regulation prohibit the sending of weapons through the mails and troops shipping such con Traband could be prosecuted postal officials said. Santora said no one had been cited