European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 27, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday March 27, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 3libya Calls u.s., Britain blackmailers the Hague Netherlands apr Libya on thursday accused the United states and Britain of blackmail As it sought world court Protection from Western attempts to Force the surrender of two suspects in the bombing of pan am flight 103. Libyan representative Mohamed a1 Fai Touri told the 16-member judicial Arm of the United nations that Libya sees no reason to give in to Western pressure to surrender the two libyans. A1 Fai Touri said Libya denies any responsibility in what he termed a the horrible crime and was a by no Means convinced that the two libyans Are guilty of the 1988 attack that blew up the jetliner Over Lockerbie Scotland killing 270 people. Glenn grills Pentagon officials on compensation for military by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington the Pentagon s top personnel officials got a quizzing from an influential senator wednesday about whether their Oft stated commitment to taking care of military people is More than just words. Sen. John Glenn a Ohio chairman of the Senate armed services committees manpower panel used an open letter from the National association for uniformed services a military advocacy group As a launching pad for a series of pointed questions to defense department manpower chief Christopher Jehn. The letter charged Pentagon officials in general and Jehn in particular with having a a a done to give a Damn attitude when it comes to military personnel and compensation. Sparking Glenn Sanger was a vague proposal that apparently originated in the White House to postpone the fiscal 1993 military pay raise a scheduled to take effect Jan. 1 a for three months As a Way to save Money. At another recent hearing Glenn raised the Issue with defense Secretary Dick Cheney who said he was not consulted about the proposal and Learned about it after the fact. At wednesday s hearing of the Senate armed services committee s manpower panel which Glenn chairs Jehn said budget documents for the amended fiscal 1993 Pentagon spending request do not reflect a delayed pay raise. But he said he did not know whether the amended budget request contains definitive language asserting that the raise in fact will take effect As planned Jan. 1. A that s one confused budget a Glenn snapped. The senator also wondered Why the Pentagon could not find the Money for three relatively modest compensation initiatives a a stateside Cost of living allowance a revamped stateside housing allowance that More accurately reflects costs and an Extension of the stateside temporary lodging entitlement from four to 10 Days. Glenn noted that the Pentagon a original 4.2 percent military Pav raise request for fiscal 1993 was later dropped to 3.7 percent based on adjustments in the employment Cost Index. A you could have funded these entitlements with the Money you Don t have to spend because of the reduced pay raise a he said. Jehn said he thinks All three proposals a Are sensible and have a lot of  a we re hopeful that they Mav make it into future budgets Quot he said. A Pilut we re faced with a difficult balancing act and we have to make judgments about what we can afford. There Are competing he mands for funds throughout the  Quot we always hear talk about keeping Faith with military personnel Quot said an obviously unsatisfied Glenn. "1 Hope we mean that. I Hope we re not trying to balance the budget on the backs of our people because that s a cheap was to do  from Page 1 request a according to a message from the air Force element of the european come. A they believed it was better to get the a repayment Over quickly and get Back to Normal a the message said. A they believed our proposal would prolong the a Hurt a rather than help ease the Impact on our  these hefty cuts a created considerable confusion among military people stationed in the european theater a said one military Media advisory. Even the experts have trouble explaining How the cola paid to service members overseas is determined. They note that the Cost of living a anywhere a is a constantly moving target requiring detailed calculations to juggle All the  cola the cola is based on annual surveys of Marke Basket items including most Day to Day expenses such As groceries and meals at restaurants alcohol and tobacco clothing household care and furnishings transportation and recreation. Prices Are surveyed both on and off installations. These expenses Are then compared with the Cost of living at an average stateside military base. After this accountants keep an Eye on foreign currency rates and adjust the cola whenever the Dollar rises or Falls significantly. The military pays an allowance when the Index shows overseas living is More than 1 percent higher than the Cost of stateside living. The allowance is paid in increments of 2 percent rounded to an even number. So if the Index says it costs 27.3 percent More to live in Belgium the cola would be 28 percent. That a 28 percent of a spendable income a not actual pay. A basically the spendable income is what s left after taxes housing costs and savings a said Erie Curtis of the state department which calculates spendable income. His figures show that the spendable income for a family of four making $20,000 is $14,900. A family of four making $40,000 is listed As having a spendable income of $22,800. Civilian cola rates Are figured similarly except that state department officials do the calculations. Payments Are always rounded to the nearest 5 percent rather than the military a 2 percent and the Cost of living in the More expensive Washington area is used As the Bench Mark. However neither the military nor the civilian rate changes with the daily Rise and fall of the Dollar. Leonard Pomeroy cola chief for the per diem committee said he and his staff usually calculate real costs every week. But they Seldom change the cola rate As Long As real costs stay within a 10 percent Range. A a we re willing to pay a Little More than the actual costs of overseas living for a Little while Quot he said. A but then when the costs go up we May not change until we get the overpayment  the aim he said is to be fair to both the people serving overseas and the taxpayer at Home. A a the system works Well when the currency is basically stable with Only Small variances Quot Pomeroy said. A in Japan for example we Haven t changed the cola since november because the changes have been within 10 percent plus or  the system hic cupped in Europe where the value of currencies has varied Over the past three months. Starting in january Cost of living payments were based on an Exchange rate of 1.46 German Marks to the Dollar even though the Dollar actually traded an average of 10 pfennig higher or More for the next two months. So starting March 1, the Pentagon based its new rate on 1.66, even though the Dollar was trading at 1.61 today. This was an attempt to Quot balance the Ledger Quot an air Force spokesman said. For example service members in Germany saw a drop of As much As 33 percent or about $100, in their monthly Ola plus additional cuts for those paying rent to foreign landlords. Officials said these cola changes hit some people harrier than others. A the thing that everyone needs to keep in mind is that this is an averaging system aimed at meeting the needs of the average person a Pomeroy  cola in dollars source per diem travel and transportation committees amps Sharon Kilday Tarrant