European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 27, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday october 27, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 3anti-Bias official says army team s visit indicates unsolved problems overseas by Janet Howells Tierney Washington Bureau Washington a an official with the . Civil rights commission says he believes that the army sent a team to Europe to assess its equal Opportunity programs apparently because a something has broken Down in the  if the programs Are effective then the Pentagon should have proof said Frederick d. Isler director of the commissions Federal civil rights evaluation office. A successful equal employment Opportunity program can to exist a without analysis monitoring and evaluation a Isler said. The defense department a should be Able to give us reports that show what complaints have been made and what action has been taken. They should not have had to Send a team Over there if they had been doing the necessary quarterly reports a Isler said referring to a six member team sent to Europe to assess the equal Opportunity program earlier this month. A apparently something has broken Down in the system a he said. Individual members of the assessment team have or will meet with Secretary of the army Michael Stone to give him their impressions of the equal Opportunity environment overseas said army spokeswoman maj. Barbara Goodno. Also a defense department task Force is analysing special surveys done in the last month that focused on overseas programs said air Force it. Col. Doug Hart Pentagon spokesman. The task Force will prepare a report for Pentagon personnel chief Christopher Jehn by nov. 14, Hart said. Pentagon officials receive reports twice a Yeai irom Community equal Opportunity and equal employment Opportunity offices. A the statistical information from those reports show that the programs Are working a Hart said. A if there was some problem i would  regular monitoring of a Community a equal Opportunity program is left to the discretion of installation commanders he said noting that Many commanders a Basic complaint is that the Leo people they go to Are not very Well trained a Frederick d. Isler meet with their to Leo officers monthly. But concerns about the overseas programs have stepped up the civil rights commissions workload since August. About 150 service members and government civilian employees in Germany have filed complaints of racial and sexual discrimination against the defense department with the civil rights commission since then Isler said. The influx of complaints is in direct response to com Mission chairman Arthur Fletcher a August trip to five military installations in Germany Isler said. Many complaints mention the chairman a visit and support Fletcher a subsequent allegations that . Army Europe a equal Opportunity programs Are ineffective he  a a Basic complaint is that the Leo people they go to Are not very Well trained a he said. Equal Opportunity officers usually have no formal training and Counselor Complete Only a two week course before going to work Isler said. Nevertheless Isler had misgivings about what prompted people to complain about an equal Opportunity system he Felt ranked among the . A at first i was shocked by All this Quot Isler said. A i know the army system and of All the agencies in be worked for it has the most pro Active Leo complaint  but after sorting through the piles of detailed allegations being made by service members Federal civilians and overseas school teachers Isler said he was struck by the consistency of the complaints. A some of the same issues were being addressed that had been looked at in the 1980s,�?� he said. When evidence of racial discrimination in the military came up in 1986, Isler said systems were put in place to Monitor evaluate and make adjustments in commands identified As having such problems. The to Leo Check system is purely voluntary on the Community commanders part Isler said. Isler plans to Forward the complaints to the Pentagon a inspector general office around  makes sure a 7 0 does t lose its heritage by Amy Geiszler Jones . Bureau Raf Alconbury England Pilot capt. Todd Sheehy Wasny to about to let that particular a-10 Thunderbolt ii leave Raf Alconbury without an iraqi Flag painted on its Side. For Sheehy 27, that enemy Flag and that anti tank plane Tail number 964, Are a Point of Pride a As Well As symbols of his claim to Fame As one of two a-10 pilots to have scored an airborne kill during the persian Gulf War. Sheehy shot Down an airborne iraqi soviet made Mi-8 a a hip attack helicopter on feb. 15, while flying plane 964 on the 27th of his 36 combat missions. The a-10 aircraft has a 30mm seven barrel Cannon that rips apart tanks and other armoured vehicles like tin cans. Designed to provide close air support for ground troops it was not created to shoot Down other aircraft. Compared with its streaking High tech aircraft Brethren the a-10 is a rather slow moving aircraft not even outfitted with a radar. But despite its wartime heroism someone a a inadvertently painted Over 964�?Ts iraqi Flag when it was being a spruced up at Alconbury after its desert duty said Sheehy of the 511th tac fighter so. Earlier this month the Flag still Hadnot been repainted onto the plane. And faced with the planets impending departure from Alconbury Sheehy decided to take paint Spray gun in hand himself. He spent about two hours painting the red White and Black Flag with the three Green stars. All of Alconbury a approximately 40 a-10 aircraft Are to be returned to stateside locations. The planes will begin leaving tuesday and plane 964 is among those expected to be in the first groups to leave. That particular plane is going to Shaw fab . A i thought it would be kind of Nice for the next unit to be Able to share in the heritage and history of that air plane. I remember going to air shows when i was younger and just standing there in Awe of those air planes f-4s phantom ii tight photo Couf my d Raf Alconbury capt. Todd Sheehy had to do it himself but he made sure his a-10 did no to leave Raf Alconbury without an iraqi Flag painted on its Side. Ers mostly that had flown in Vietnam Ana had the red stars painted on the sides for Mig kills in that War a said the Oklahoma City native. Sheehy himself leaves in March for Pope fab . A i really wish that somehow that plane could be sent to Pope but at least it will be right Down the Road from me a Sheehy said. Sheehy a special attachment to plane 964 was forged feb. 15. He had just destroyed a soviet made Su-17 a a fitter fighter parked on the ground at Muda Ysis Airfield in Western Iraq and was on his Way to seek out an iraqi mechanized infantry regimental Headquarters in the area. Then a Call came across his Headset from an e-3a airborne warning and control system aircraft. The Azacs radar had picked up a a flow slow Contact a about 31 Miles Northwest of Sheehy a position. A the a-10 does no to have a radar so we rely on our eyeballs or some other knowledge like Azacs radar to the l us where the airborne contacts Are a said the Captain. Sheehy armed up his two heat seeking aim-9 air to air missiles that an a-10 carries for self defense and descended. Checking in again with the Azacs plane to see if it had radar Contact on his plane Sheehy was told he was a basically right on top of the slower lower object. As he descended farther his Wingman 1st it. Ronald Keller from England fab la., reminded him they were in an area that had seen heavy 23mm anti aircraft artillery the Day before. Just As Azacs indicated the target had faded off the radar Sheehy spotted the helicopter flying close to the desert floor. Rolling into a Steep 45-Degrce dive Sheehy started firing his ,30mm gun pumping some 300 bullets info the helicopter. A it was so Low just about 20 feet above the desert that it looked like a ground target. We do so much air to ground targeting that it looked like something to shoot the gun at rather than a missile. Keller radioed the target had been hit probably in the Tail and was still intact it it Wasny to moving Forward any More. Sheehy took a second pass putting another 250 bullets into it a and my aim was a Little bit  the helicopter burst into flames. The whole scenario from the initial Azacs Call to the explosion had Only taken about 4 minutes and 16 seconds Sheehy said. Shooting Down the iraqi attack helicopter in an a-10 has garnered a lot of attention from authors writing about the War in general or specifically about the a loss performance in the War. But his rare feat Hasni to won Hirn any extra kudos among his fellow a-10 pilots. A i have to live up to All the kidding from my buddies because i shot so Many bullets a Sheehy said. A we carry about 1,200 bullets and i shot 550 of Mem at that one