European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 9, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Soldiers a a die to take part in sapper stakes competitions amps John Millar pvt. 1 Stephen Shaefer a world class Quot Dler Quot prepares to do so again a two combat engineers try to save him during the sapper stakes Competition in Germany. By John Millar staff writer tuesday was a Good Day for pvt. 1 Stephen Shaefer he died Only once that a not bad considering he died four times monday. I lived three out of four times today a Shaefer said with a smile As he wiped fake blood from his hands. Shaefer is a combat Engineer from co a 237th engr in. His Job this week was to fall on the ground screaming at the sound of simulated machine gun fire and moan and bleed convincingly enough to rattle combat engineers participating in the 1991 . Army Europe sapper stakes Competition at Wil Flecken Germany. His performance played a Small role in one of six main events in the annual Competition that determines the Best of the Best among the command s combat engineers or  combat engineers Are the army a builders and destroyers. Their Job is to build obstacles and destroy Bridges and roads to hinder enemy forces As Well As demolish and Clear enemy obstacles in the path of Friendly units. Competition events were designed to test both those skills and individual Soldier tasks. Eighteen eight Man combat Engineer squads from 12 battalions go through eight Days of grueling trials during sapper stakes. Hosted this year by the 237th engr in 130th engr brigade the Competition measures How Well each squad trains for its combat Mission said sgt. 1st class. Ralph Fitzgerald a battalion spokesman. Squads were selected at random from combat Engineer battalions throughout Europe and were not notified until sept. 20 that they would compete. That prevented units from assembling and training Quot super squads specifically for the contest he said. In the mobility event squads used explosives to Clear a simulated minefield and barbed wired obstacles that prevented a cavalry Squadron from advancing on an enemy Force. In the counter mobility event participants set up their own barbed wire obstacle and blew a Crater in a Road to impede a simulated enemy Force. A Bridge demolition event had sappers rigging a Bridge with fake explosives at night to be set off just As enemy forces tried to Cross. Then there Raethe mystery event in which a Road had to be destroyed at night after Friendly forces had moved Over it. Competitors physical skills also were tested in events that included a Standard army physical readiness test and a 10-event obstacle course. Squad members used a combination of live ammunition and explosives in some events amid Battlefield distractions. Such was the Case with the weapons proficiency event in which Schaefer made his acting debut. Squads going through Shaefer a Range had to fire live rounds at enemy troop and vehicle targets while pyrotechnics exploded in front and behind them and a cacophony of Battlefield noise blared from loudspeakers. Just when the shooting stopped Shaefer playing the part of a medic was shot by an enemy gunner. It was up to squad members to perform first Aid and save his life. Quot its not every Day you get to come out and hear and see and experience something like this a said staff  Topp after leading his squad of 84th engr co soldiers through the squad combat Range. Two of his soldiers had just failed to stabilize Shaefer s wounds they were the first to see him die that Day although Topps team would lose Points for Shaefer s untimely demise the squad Leader was t Overly concerned. Quot mistakes Are learning  he said so Quot it does t bother me at All to make  Quot a lot of times you Don t get a Chance to do anything like this like it s real Quot said pfc Scott Jesse an assistant machine gunner in Topp s squad. The gunner he was assisting spec. Robert Campbell agreed. Quot we done to Ever get training like this a he said. Quot there a always that safety part you can Only do so much but this is about As realistic As it s going to  Quot that was real real a assistant squad Leader sgt. Michael Parker said about Shafer s performance. Quot by him doing that you get the reality feel. You can feel the adrenaline move through because you know you be got to react and you done to really have time to think. It did t make it harder just More  the Winner of the physical skills event was the 1st so 3d platoon cod 17th engr in 2d army div. Individual winners included spec. James Heckard jr., push  and 2-mile run pvt. Samuel j. Rampton physical fitness staff sgt. John Shambach hand grenades pfc. Robert Swaim m-60 machine gun and spec. William Bell m-16. A amps John Millar spec. John Gonzalez right 1st platoon 2nd squad 84th engr co prepares to Rush a foxhole. Subic Bay end of the line for a Navy Paradise by Philip Shenon the new York times their memories of the base Are starkly different but the american sailors who lived or took Liberty at Subic Bay naval facilities and the thousands of filipinos who repaired the american warships and swept the americans floors agree that a Way of life is in jeopardy. Quot Subic is Paradise a said Robert Buttrey a Ruddy faced 49-year-old retired Navy Seabee from Framingham mass., who married a filipino he met while on duty at Subic settled his family near the Large american naval base and now owns an off base Saloon that bears his nickname Bubba. Quot but if the base goes Quot he said taking another gulp of Pale philippine Beer that retired Navy men insist is the Only Protection from the effects of these Long steamy nights in the tropics Quot Well then this will All become a ghost  a few blocks away up a rain soaked stairway to the converted second floor discotheque that now serves As a Union Hall the threat by the philippine government to oust the . Navy from the base has it seems become the Only topic of conversation among the More than 20,000 filipino civilian workers employed at the base Roberto Flores the president of the Union the federation of filipino civilian employees was hired As a Utility Man by the base in 1964, at age 19, at the equivalent of 49 cents an hour. He said he remembered the Days when the americans Quot did no to even treat us like human beings a disciplining or a dismissing filipino workers with insufficient cause forbidding filipinos to speak their native language routinely breaking into the storage lockers of filipino employees on the pretence of searching for stolen goods. A they could be very rude a Flores said of the americans. Quot there were Many abuses when i first arrived at the  yet in the 20 years since the introduction of collective bargaining at Subic Quot things have become much better a he said insisting that most of his Union s members bore no lingering resentment Over the harsh treatment of filipinos decades ago. Quot the admirals at the base will act when we bring them complaints of discrimination Quot he said. Quot we want the americans to stay. These Are some of the Best jobs in the  the Union represents every Type of civilian worker at the base from mechanics and t secretaries to the teams of filipino janitors who for most of the last three months have been sweeping up the tons of volcanic Ash dumped on the base in june by nearby mount Pinatubo. Virtually All of the filipino workers will find themselves without jobs if Subic is shut Down a Fate they would share with thousands of other filipinos who were employed by the United states air Force at Clark a which was abandoned after the Ash buried its runways 50 Miles Southwest of Here. Whatever their reasons a for the americans trying to protect a military life style of almost legendary Bounty and Comfort for the filipinos maintaining economic survival in an impoverished nation a there is the Oft stated Hope Here that somehow Subic Bay naval facilities at 14,400-acres the largest american military base in Asia will be allowed to remain open. It appears that their wish will be granted at least temporarily. In what Many of its members described As a Long postponed demonstration of sovereignty the philippine Senate voted recently to reject a new american lease on the base. But president Corazon c. Aquino a proponent of the base has indicated the Navy May have three years to close the facility. The possibility that the Navy will remain has produced some cheer in the Neon flooded bars and dance Halls of Olon Gapo and Subic cities that Border the base and Cater almost exclusively to the american military and to a Community of retired american seamen that is said to number about 2,000. Several Beers closer to Sunrise a Small group of the retired sailors was still gathered in an Olon Gapo bar called the watering Hole swapping stowes about what had made Subic Bay to their minds the most desirable Post anywhere in the . Navy. Quot its been said that this is an adult Disneyland Quot said Martin Tubbs a 50-year-old retired warrant officer from Houston who is the manager of the bar which also serves As Branch 213 of the Fleet Reserve association an organization of mostly retired american sailors. He does not quibble with the Disney comparison. Quot i first saw Subic in 1961, when i was a 20-year-old Sailor and i loved it Quot Tubbs recalled wistfully remembering a time when Subic had a reputation As one of the wildest Liberty ports in Asia a reputation that grew to legend when american warships docked Here during the Vietnam War. Quot i retired two years ago from the Navy and went to los Angeles Quot he said. Quot but after a while i decided i had to come Back Here to live because my friends were Here and because the life is so  for generations of american sailors he said Subic had made possible a Way of life that could never be duplicated on a Navy salary Back Home spacious houses with what Are now $20-a-week maids private White Sand beaches along the Bay dotted with private Cabanas and gently swaying Palms stables and horse trails close to the Pristine Shoreline privileges at a Well manicured professional Quality 18-Hole Golf course and a seemingly endless Supply of available women and cheap Beer. There Are other american naval bases in Japan and on the Pacific islands of Guam and Okinawa but they have fewer amenities and Many american sailors consider the living costs there prohibitively High. Quot Subic is the Only place in be Ever been where the Beer is cheaper off base than on Tubbs said. For married sailors and their families the base has Long offered Fine schools and every sort of entertainment including movie Heaters and several government subsidized restaurants. There is a Mcdonald a and two outlets of Baskin Robbins ice Cream which Are closed for now because of damage from the volcanic Ash Quot despite All the advantages i still Don t think the wives of american sailors Ever looked on Subic As a Good assignment said John j. Stauffer an Industrial arts teacher at the bases George Dewey High school named for the american Admiral who Defeated the Spanish Fleet in Manila Bay in 1898. Quot Subic s reputation has always been that the men love it and the women hate it Quot said stauffer who has been teaching at the base for 25 years and who has seen Many Navy marriages ruined when a Sailor became enchanted with one of the philippine women employed As hostesses at the Honky Tonk bars and dance clubs with names like love disco and hot lips that surround the base. Quot i can think of maybe a dozen different families in which i first taught a Sailor s american children and then maybe 10 years later i taught his second set of kids by a new filipino wife a stauffer said. There Are so Many marriages Between filipinos and american sailors at Subic As Many As 15 a week that the Navy sponsors what is known As the Bride school a series of seminars on american culture for the wives to be. John Godard a 34-year-Oid Navy operations specialist at the base who is married to a filipino said he thought the frequency of american filipino marriages had Quot helped prevent discrimination against filipinos from becoming a big  Quot i think the filipinos really like us and we like them so much that we marry them Quot he said. At the Union Hall Domingo a. Tadloc a 37-year-old filipino who is a Crane inspector on the base said he had come to believe that a / a amps Subic Bay naval facilities with the City of Olon Gapo in the background la the economic engine powering a healthy regional Economy. The Navy could be gone within a few years. After working at Subic for More than a decade that Quot there Are two kinds of americans one Type that causes problems for the filipinos another Type that wants to solve the  Quot there is still discrimination Quot he said recalling a recent incident in which an american supervisor on the base called together philippine employees and told them in so Many words that Quot i am the Boss the americans Are the leaders and the filipinos Are the followers Quot yet he said incidents of discrimination had become increasingly rare. Quot i have Many Good friends who Are americans Quot Tadloc said. Quot they come to my House i go to  the Navy is a much desired employer in the Philippines where the per capita annual income is less than $700, making it one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia. At Subic Bay the average salary for philippine civilian workers is about 35 pesos an hour or about $1 30, double or triple what most people earn in the cities that adjoin the base. Quot Subic is our bread and water a said Tadloc who supports a wife and four children on what is by philippine standards a handsome salary of about $5,000 a year. Quot if the base closes i will have to find work outside my country maybe in Australia or Canada Quot he said. Quot i would say 99 9 percent of the workers at the base want the americans to stay there Are no other jobs like this in the Philippines for me Quot Page 14 b the stars and stripes wednesday october 9, 1991 the stars and stripes b Pago 15