European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 06, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Problems in Paradise Post a a a a he sleek porsche and Rolls royces still play elegant corniche Here along the rim of Lake h Geneva. Not far away the posh Winter playgrounds of a stand and St Moritz lure Royalty and. Rich cosm Polites to their manicured ski slopes. The Hank vaults of Zurich Are More crammed than Ever with the Gold Bullion Cash that comprise some of the world s larger fortunes.1 a but All is not Well in Paradise a this year is the 700th anniversary of Switzerland s -. Birth and instead of congratulating themselves on an. A enviable history of peace and Prosperity the Swiss Are using the occasion to search their souls and ruminate a a Quot a about their place in the modern world. A to the dismay of tourist Trade boosters who wanted to extol the idyllic Virtues of the Alpine confederation the exercise has produced a troubling portrait of a land where police Powers Are extraordinarily intrusive where political scandal has in Public service and. A a a a it where rising heroin be feeding some of the country s bigger secret Bank accounts. 77 at Quot there is no question that we Are going through an identity crisis Quot said Thomas Jenny a Swiss government official who Heads the information department for Thea 700th anniversary Quot that s Why we did not want a Quot a by Celebration like the american Bicentennial in 1976. The idea is to redefine Switzerland by examining our internal problem rest and by looking at our future Roleyn Europe and in the 21st a much of Switzerland a anxiety about the future is a a focused on the 12-nation european Community s drive. For greater economic and political Unity in this decade. A Many Swiss citizens have voiced fears that such a Quot y transformation of the continent May leave their Neutral country More isolated than Ever. A the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe the Swift Pace of German unification and the end of the cold War have jolted the Swiss Conception of the world r. The nation s extensive network of nuclear bomb shelters a equipped to sustain every Swiss Man woman and child began o look like a ludicrous extravagance a Swiss struggle with identity crisis on 700th birthday Swiss Mountain villages such As Ernen above fire picture perfect belying the serious problems that plague the country. The East West military confrontation waned. Many German speakers who represent about two thirds of the country s 6.5 million people Are worried that r May be smothered by the merger that has created a single powerful nation of 80 million germans. _ bordering their Small enclave. Swiss have. Jealously guarded their independence1 Ever Mountain Farmers living valleys around Lake Lucerne pledged an Quot eternal alliances in 7.1291. To thwart the Feudal Rule of the hapsburgs and any a other foreign ruler who tried to set foot on their territory the confederation eventually grew into a modern democratic stale of 26 autonomous cantons embracing four distinct languages and cultures German French. Italian and romansch. _ while proud of their heritage As a Haven for. Beleaguered exiles from War and political persecution the Swiss have grown uncomfortable with the perception that much of their Prosperity is secured by the largesse accumulating in their Banks from deposits of. Dictators and drug Barons 1 a Tyya a new Call for greater transparency in the country s renowned banking system is growing As r. Decry a rising National drug problem while the International cocaine and heroin suppliers a who Are. Believed to be some of the biggest clients of certain a Swiss Banks a continue to pour larger sums of Money from their operations vaunted secret accounts. In Zurich the menace of drug addiction can be found within the Shadow of some of the country s largest Banks. A Park near the main railway station provides a controversial Sanctuary for hard drug users who Are supplied with free Needles for their habit to prevent the. Spread of aids. ,.this policy on drug use has come under Sharp criticism As officials have been accused of condoning drug addiction through such attitudes. But local authorities contend that their benign approach is the lesser of two evils since a crackdown 7 7 would drive drug addiction underground where the death risk is greater from unchecked violence and _. _ contaminated Needles. 1 .7 a controversy prompted civil rights advocates to. Challenge police authorities about the widespread a practice of eavesdropping and other forms of _ _ surveillance an investigation showed that Swiss authorities have accumulated an estimated 600,000 files on the. Private lives Swiss residents.7 7 w As the anniversary unfolds during the year the political debate about. Quot Switzerland a identity is expected to heat up-1 some Swiss citizens want Borders to be tightened to curtail immigration and sustain the Swiss Way of life others Are demanding that the country must confront the next Century and abandon its belief about being Quot a special Case Quot in the world even if that Means giving up jts cherished neutrality and applying for membership in the european Community readers action Lin promotion policy and deployment a i believe that the army should reconsider its promotion policy for soldiers deployed in support of1 operations desert shield and desert storm. The current promotion system is somewhat unfair for deployed e-5 _ j the department of the army has a policy that enables promotable e-4 s that Are not graduates of the primary professional development course 1pldc to Advance to Quot e-5 under operation desert shield and desert storm a providing they meet the monthly Overall cutoff score. This is fair for deployed e-4 have been deployed in saudi Arabia Siace ept 4, 1 1990,.the staff sergeant e-6, 71l30 cutoff score for the month of february 1991 dropped to 907points, i Quot a currently have 906 Points not including desert shield Points a also has a policy that gives desert shield and desert storm Point a month after 90 Days in would mean that i pave earned 5 Points Sincel he operation began. These Points Aren t applied fairly As an incentive for deployed soldiers. The current policy states that soldiers must accumulated Points before they Are Able to update their records. 1 a a a if a can waiver the requirement for e-4 promotable. To e-5, then Why can to they automatically deduct the ,7 desert shield promotion Points from the monthly Overall cutoff score As Are parachutist Points one incentive to Page 16. The stars and stripes being on airborne status is that personnel service centers pics deduct locally either 100 Points for e-4 to e-5 or 25 Points from e-5 to e-6. 1 if promotion Points Are granted for serving in desert shield then they would Best Benefit the Soldier if they it were deducted from the monthly Overall cutoff score. This would help soldiers especially if they Are located in areas where updating their personnel records Are impossible. R no one knows for sure Bow Jong operations in the Middle East May last. J if a reviewed this promotion system they would see such a Benefit would serve As an incentive for deployed Quot soldiers a a 1a a t sgt. Robert t. Abbot operation desert storm Denis a. Keating office of the Deputy chief of staff for personnel Washington replies the purpose of granting an exception to policy to allow commanders to award Ploc Points to soldiers deployed in support of desert shield and desert storm was to ensure those soldiers were not disadvantaged As a result of their deployment Quot 7 _ the deployment Points earned by All specialists corporals and sergeants were also established in part 1 for the same reason and to recognize the valuable experience gained by the deployed soldiers. Quot. Promotions Are based on soldiers potential to serve air the next higher Grade and to ensure that the army has sufficient soldiery in each no non commissioned officer Grade and mos military occupational speciality a to fill authorized positions within budget limitations. The airborne advantage was established to Correct a shortage of airborne qualified cos when the cutoff monday May 6, 1991 a a a scores Are established the airborne advantage is taken into account. This is done strictly to ensure adequate a airborne inventory 7 Thesdie Ruie for desert storm Quot 7 1 deployment would not be in the Best interest of the army. Although we do not want deployed soldiers in the a promotion system to suffer a disadvantage we also do not want to give them an advantage a quote want the Best qualified soldiers to be promoted to Fitl army wide vacancies. Allowing deduction of Points from the cutoff scores would put soldiers who did not a deploy at a disadvantage moreover department of the army would have no idea How Many soldiers Are being promoted in each mos creating mos imbalances. It would also Reajean additional Burden on the personnel Jde. each months records of All soldiers within 12 spirits of the cutoff score would have to be a a reviewed to determine if these soldiers a a Dedus �nqh9h Point St be promoted. To write us readers action line is the readers Quot court Hast resort striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or. Questions about policies and guidelines when other a avenues for not readily available. It you Nave a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes Apo 09211-4211, All letters must be signed and preference will be Giyen to those seeking information of general interest to our ease 7 7 7&Quot 77p7 7 j 7,-7
