European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 24, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 b the stars and stripes Friday january 24, 1992 at a glance decorating can be a piece of cake if you follow Collette Peters tips. See Story on pages 14 and 15. Catalon tax under review the supreme court has been asked to determine if mail order companies can be required to collect taxes for the states in which they sell their products. A Page 4 Battle on Capitol Hill Senate democrats pushed Forward a Universal health care Bill that would require employers to contribute to their workers coverage getting the jump on president Bush a medical insurance proposals expected next week. A Page 5 japanese lose contract the los Angeles county transportation commission under pressure to keep jobs and funding at Home cancelled a $122 million rail car contract awarded to a japanese firm. A Page 7 cafes getting new Home the army and air Force Exchange services european Headquarters will officially open at its new location near Nurnberg on feb. 18, a spokesman said this week. A Page 10 economic hangover corporate restructuring and Cost cutting which is producing massive layoffs spread Over several years could haunt the Economy Long after the recession ends. A Page 18 Index Abby Ann Landers 19 action line.16 comics.19-21 commentary.13 crossword .19 faces a no places .18 letters .12 Money matters.17 sports.22-28 to listings.27 weather.11army from Page 1 career Force As possible. And while some measures May seem harsh Reno said the level of pain the army has to endure will be directly proportionate to the number of voluntary separations. Because officers Are governed in Large part by Law unlike enlisted personnel who Are governed by policy the army is doing some things differently in terms of drawing Down the two segments Reno said. Following guidance from Congress in the fiscal 1991 defense authorization act the army has Cut the number of new second lieutenants coming in to the level that would be needed to support an army of 520,000 a about 3,700 in fiscal 1991, he said. For Junior officers already aboard the army is holding retention screenings rior to its annual captains promotion Oards to thin the number of officers with four years of service or less. The first retention Board held last fall has resulted in the selection of 700 lieutenants for separation by the end of february. Another such retention Board will be held this year Reno said. Meanwhile a series of selective Early retirement boards known As serbs began this week and will continue Over the next few years to reduce the population of officers with More than 20 years of service Down to the level needed for a 520,000-Soldier Force. The fiscal 1992 defense authorization act had an added nuance that said the army could go Back to captains and majors who have 18 years of service and hold serbs for those year groups for retirement at 20 years Reno said. A in other words if you Complete 18 years you can be selected for Early retirement but stay in until you Complete 20 years of service a he said. The Law also allows the army to hold serbs for lieutenant colonels with at least 18 years of service who Are not on a promotion list As Well As colonels with at East two years in Grade and less than 28 years of service. Each serb can pick up to 30 percent of the total population screened for retirement. Moving into year groups 15, 16 and 17, the army has decided to a a Grandfather officers who have served that Long by allowing them to move into the 18-year roup before they Are considered by a Erb Reno said. A what that Means is those who completed 15 years of service by the end of 1991 will ultimately be Able to stay in at least until they reach 20 years and qualify for retirement a he said. That leaves the population with five to 14 years of service and this is where the policies get tougher. Aside from voluntary separations the Only Way to winnow that portion of the officer corps is through reductions in Force or firings Reno said. In March for example the army will consider As Many As 1,450 officers for reduction in Force actions most of them commissioned in 1978 and 1982, Reno said. But As with most other aspects of the army draw Down the number of officers who will be forced out depends on How Many take advantage of one of the two new voluntary separation pay plans Reno said. A was we get retirements for example the population eligible for selective Early retirement goes Down because the Law says that if you Are already approved for retirement you can to be considered by a serb a he said. A so if i have 1,000 officers in the zone of consideration for a Board i can retire up to 500 of them. But if 500 of those submit retirements before the Board convenes i can Only retire a maximum of 150. A fall retirements that come in today reduce the serb list for tomorrow. Our Overall intent is to allow people to retire if they want to Given the requirements of the  the same is True for reduction in Force actions he said. A if we get a Good take rate for the voluntary separation pay programs above our Normal loss rate we can reduce the number of rims we have to  Reno said officers in the two year groups that will be the focus of reduction in Force actions need to consider their options carefully because if they choose to stay in and Are later fired they will not get one of the voluntary pay plans. They will be eligible Only for Normal officer separation pay which is far less valuable than either of the two voluntary plans. Those officers need to make a decision by feb. 29, he said. Reno cautioned that the voluntary separation pay plans will be driven by the army a needs. A a we la do our Best to let people leave if they want to but i think its understood that we re not going to let a neurosurgeon or ch-47 Pilot get out because we need those people a he said. Reno is optimistic that the army will get a significant number of voluntary separations despite the continued sluggishness of the civilian Job Market. The service has had a a voluntary Early transition program in place since last october even before the two separation pay plans were approved that netted 13,000 takers a most of them Junior enlisted personnel. A that was much higher than we anticipated a Reno said. For the enlisted Force the same draw Down principle applies in that the army wants to maximize voluntary departures although soldiers in critically Short skills will not be allowed to leave. S at the top of the enlisted Force the army will hold selective Early release boards for sergeants major and command sergeants major and will pick up to 300 for retirement each year through fiscal 1995. A but again that could be alleviated if the retirement rate for sergeants major rises above our statistical norms a he said. A for example the fiscal 1992 Board will select substantially fewer than 300 for the simple reason that we be gotten a swell of retirements in those  for most of the remaining enlisted Force the army is relying on changes in its a retention control Points a the amount of time a Soldier can stay in a certain rank without being promoted a to obtain the necessary reductions. Master sergeants for example will be allowed to stay in for a maximum of 24 years without being promoted to sergeant major compared with 27 years before. Similar changes have been made Down to the Grade of Corporal and specialist. Soldiers at that level used to be Able to stay in for 13 years without being promoted to sergeant but that will be Cut Back to eight years beginning oct. 1. As with officers enlisted personnel who done to voluntarily leave and Cross Over their retention control Points will qualify Only for the less valuable involuntary separation pay Reno said. A basically its an up or out proposition for the enlisted Force a Reno said. A a that a always been the Case but we re now moving the Gates a bit because we see that As the Best Way to take the army Down consistent with our objectives of maintaining Quality and High  the 55-year-old Reno who will retire at the end of this month and return Home to Memphis tenn., said the ordeal of devising the draw Down plan has been a a very Tough  a we have worked innumerable hours Long Days and nights and our motivation has been to do it right a to build Down in such a Way that the army is combat ready from a personnel Point of View. A we recognize that this will be traumatic for a lot of people. We re sensitive to that and we have tried to ensure that our policies Are fair. I think we be achieved  from Page 1 ister Vitaly Shlykov were in Norway As guests of the committee for cooperation Russia Ragaland county a Western Norway group. Relocation of forces from the newly Independent Baltic states of Estonia Latvia and Lithuania cannot begin until remaining red army troops Are withdrawn from Germany and Poland by 1994, Tsal to said. The soldiers need housing retraining and jobs which neither Russia nor the Baltic states yet can afford he said. Russia assumed responsibility for the forces following the collapse of the soviet Union. A the bal tics abuse of soviet troops could Lead to incidents something like a revolt and the governments do not seem to take that risk into account a Salko said. A the deadlines for withdrawal the Baltic states have set Are not realistic a he said. Salko and Shlykov on a two Day visit also discussed arms control and bilateral concerns with Norway the Only nato country that shares a Border with Russia. They met norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland defense minister Johan Joergen Holst and other government  from Page 1 Endara said Panama had been advised of an impending move. A a it a True this is something that a planned a the panamanian source said. Withdrawal of the Southern come has been considered As a possible Cost cutting measure for some time said Ambler Moss a former . Ambassador to Panama who is now Dean of the International school at the University of Miami. Moss said that with the Pentagon under budget cutting pressure in an election year the move would be logical and politically acceptable. A a it a Safe because there Arentt any congressmen from Panama a he said. The . Source said that the move would not immediately affect the presence of an estimated 10,000 . Army Navy air Force and Marine corps personnel stationed in Panama. The withdrawal has political As Well As symbolic significance for the United states which invaded Panama in a controversial 1989 military operation that toppled Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega from Power and forced his surrender to face trial in Miami on Federal drug conspiracy charges. But the invasion failed to Cut into drug trafficking and corruption in the isthmus. Since the invasion and the subsequent end of the cold War the strategic importance of the Panama canal has diminished. . Officials question whether the Panama canal will function efficiently after a . Withdrawal. The . Presence is Central to All aspects of political and economic reality in Panama which was founded under . Auspices in 1903 and has Felt the pressure of . Intervention in its affairs Ever since. Under the 1978 Panama canal treaties negotiated by president Carter and the late panamanian dictator Gen. Omar Torrijos the United states is to turn Over full control of the canal and withdraw from All military installations by the year 2000. A timetable for that withdrawal has not yet been announced