European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 18, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 a the stars and stripes wednesday september 18, 1991 at a glance its the end of an Era. Strategic air come in an Effort to save Money is eliminating the Tail gunners position on its b-52 bombers. See Story on Page 5. Act scores stay same scores on the 1991 act tests remained the same As the previous year but officials hailed the results As a sign that minority students Are gaining in school achievement. A Page 4 paraplegic at the top a paraplegic Rock climber completed his second major climb when he and his partner struggled to the 2,200-foot Summit of half dome in Yosemite National Park Calif. A Page 5 insurer leaving new Jersey Allstate insurance co., one of the largest insurers in new Jersey announced that it intends to withdraw All property and casualty business from the state. A Page 6 actor backs Independence actor Sean Connery one of Scotland a favorite sons called for scottish Independence from great Britain. A Page 8 Bowling employee relieved an acting night manager at Raf Lakenheath s Bowling Center in England has been Quot released Quot from his Job after an evening of color pin Bowling took a turn toward the Gutter. A Page 10 Bank Reform urged a group of banking experts urged Congress on monday to immediately Reform Laws governing insurance for Bank depositors to prevent further taxpayer losses. A Page 17index i Abby Ann Landers 19 action line.16 comics.19-21 commentary.13 crossword .19 letters .12 Money matters 17-18 sports.23-28 to listings.27 weather.11 vehicles from Page 1 chiefs of staff and his subordinates studied the causes of Allied losses during operation desert storm they concluded that american troops need More Protection from the enormous firepower of their fellow warriors. A Pentagon inquiry into combat losses found that 27 out of the 35 army tanks and Bradley lost during operation desert storm had been accidentally nit by american tanks Apache helicopters and a-10 Thunderbolt warplanes. Only eight of the 35 fell victim to iraqi mines and gunfire. The study also found that 35 of the 148 men and women killed in action a about 24 percent a died As a result of Friendly fire. Part of the problem officials now acknowledge is that modern tanks can attack targets Well beyond the Range where they can be accurately identified. The army Stop of the line m1a1 Abrams can hit targets More than two Miles away. The army did not really focus on this mismatch of guns and gun sights As Long As its primary objective was fighting soviet troops in the relatively confined terrain of Europe. But the Flat desert of Southern Iraq accentuated the weakness by encouraging commanders to move As fast As possible and shoot their guns at their maximum ranges. Childress said of the Abrams tank a the Thermal sights proved to be very Good. Our problem is that we can see the targets but we cannot always identify them at extreme  the new anti fratricide beacons Are supposed to make it easier for a tank commander or Pilot to resolve doubts about the identity of a target by scanning it through the military a Stan Dard Issue night vision goggles. If the telltale blink of the anti fratricide Beacon appears through the goggles no one should open fire. Army commanders will be issued two kinds of beacons one costing $200 apiece and the other $30 apiece. Troops Are supposed to be trained on both models but the decision on which one or ones would be used in combat would be deferred until an actual Battle approached. The army acknowledges that these first generation beacons have drawbacks but says it is working to perfect devices that will be much More reliable. One failing of the soon to be issued beacons is that they Are useless in daytime. They work by transmitting narrow beams of invisible Light that can be seen through the military a High tech night vision goggles. A More serious drawback according to army officials is that the beacons Are capable of revealing the position of american forces to anyone on the Battlefield a enemies included a who have night vision equipment. Even though the iraqis lacked night vision devices in the Gulf War the army figures its next enemy May Well have managed to develop night vision devices or will Purchase them on the Black Market. Within two years the army a advanced systems concepts office plans to Field a far More sophisticated a query and re Sponser system in which american combat vehicles would be equipped with devices capable of beaming a a done to shoot messages whenever they Are about to be attacked by an Allied unit. Adriatic from Page 1 said tuesday that . Officials believe a the fundamental approach of the dec to this problem and the dec s taking the Lead is the most promising  but William h. Taft in in an interview in Brussels also said the United states has not yet a reached any hard conclusion on the dec proposal to Send a military Force. A on the third Day of heavy fighting the Federal army on monday claimed to have a a destroyed croatian units blocking a major air Force base near Zadar but offered no details. Local defense officials in Zadar reported fighting in surrounding villages about 12 Miles away. Air raid sirens sounded for the second Day in a Row monday in Zagreb the croatian capital. To officials said their transmitter outside of town was damaged by a rocket. Federal military units said their new offensive was aimed at lifting the siege of garrisons in split Zadar Sibenik and nearby towns. Tensions also Rose near the hungarian Border where serbian troops were mobilized monday after a yugoslav Jet was blocked yugoslavian ports ump shot Down while making runs on croatian positions. Lord Carrington the dec mediator arrived monday in the ancient City of Dubrovnik for talks with croatian president Franjo Tadjman serbian president Slobodan Milosevic and Federal defense minister Veljko Kadijevic. Sources in the British embassy in Belgrade said Carrington planned to meet Tadjman and Milosevic in the spa of Igalo in the neighbouring Republic of Montenegro an ally of Serbia. Igalo is about 25 Miles Southeast of Dubrovnik. About 400 people already have been killed in warfare Between croatians and an ethnic serb minority that opposes that republics secession Aims. Increasingly the serb dominated army has also intervened on the Side of the serb rebels. Tensions Are further fuelled by memories of the world War ii Slaughter of serbs by a nazi puppet regime in Croatia and the retaliatory lulling of thousands of croats at the end of the War. Following Battlefield losses that have Cost it a third of its territory Croatia last week barricaded Federal army facilities casting doubt on the usefulness of dec sponsored talks. Croatia claimed that demoralized Federal soldiers were surrendering but the army replied that croatian officials were lying. The yugoslav defense ministry reported the Downing of an air Force Jet by a ground to air missile near Don i i Holjac on the Border with Hungary about 120 Miles Northwest of Belgrade. The officials said the downed Jet was among three yugoslav jets that had crossed into hungarian air space monday morning. Van from Page 1 posed to come on when the car started to show the Brake system was working. The Light in his Van did not turn on. Landon a wife confirmed his doubts when she told him the brakes had locked up while she was driving. A a customer  have to take a car apart to figure out its not what he or dered a Landon said. Landon said an overseas military car sales representative offered to refund the Cost of the brakes $454, on his 1991 Plymouth voyager plus $500 for his troubles. A a in a still undecided whether in a going to accept this offer a Landon said. A a that a not what i had in mind for the inconvenience a he said. A to give them $20,000 of my Money and then when it gets Here its not the car i ordered. I wished they Felt like hey ought to be obliged to build the car i ordered in the first place but i guess  Only seven or eight of those 74 vans were slated for delivery in Mainland Europe said Rick Thornton Chrysler a service manager for overseas military sales. There May have been others delivered in England however. He blamed the shortage of the anti lock Brake accessory on the popularity of the models. A a it a a Case of being too successful a Thornton  from Page 1 to about 260,000, and Galvin said he believes the Force can be reduced to 150,000. But Europe still holds the potential for conflict As evidenced by the current civil War in Yugoslavia and the allies need a military Force that can face unexpected crises Galvin said. Galvin said a changing North Atlantic treaty organization could begin to take shape in november when the Alliance holds its Summit in Rome. There have already been moves to forge More links with Eastern Europe and the soviet Union to maintain european Security Galvin said. These discussions could Lead to a an interlocking network of Security structures a Galvin said. Some of the soviet officials echoed these themes. A i am convinced that nato in the shape in which it was created in the period of confrontation with the Warsaw pact  exist any longer a said col. Vladimir Danilov a soviet military spokesman through a translator. As part of their program the soviet military officials also heard an address by Gen. Colin l. Powell chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Powell suggested that the soviet Union must scrap its compulsory draft and Institute a smaller Volunteer military similar to Steps taken by the . Military in the 1970s. A you cannot afford to spend 25 percent of your nations Gross National product on the military a Powell said in his speech last week. A what is More you done to need to. You have no external