European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 18, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a the stars and stripes saturday aprim8, 1992army sees possibility of employee cuts by Chuck Vonch Washington Bureau Washington a army personnel officials Are closely monitoring an apparent slowdown in the number of their departing civilian employees a trend that could increase the possibility of reductions in Force. To Date the army has been relying on a hiring freeze and attrition a not replacing departing workers who leave on their own or retire a to Cut its civilian work Force said Raymond Sumser the services civilian personnel director. A recent message from army Secretary Michael . Stone noted that the attrition rates for army civilians have dropped by at least 1 percentage Point since last year. That decrease a would seem to indicate a greater need to conduct rims in fiscal 1992,�?� he said. A there is a decline in attrition and its a concern a Sumser acknowledged a but outplacement is still the name of our game at this Point. We re making every Effort to avoid involuntary  he said no More than 1,000 army civilians have lost their jobs through reductions in Force since the draw Down started at the beginning of fiscal 1990. Army civilian personnel strength has dropped from 403,000 to 355,000 Over that period Sumser said. The attrition slowdown is one reason for the army a recent decision to tighten the hiring freeze guidelines of the defense department which allow two workers to be hired for every five who leave and replace it with a one for four formula. A we put on the tighter freeze to let us Sec what the numbers really mean and we re watching it very closely a Sumser said. A but it does no to mean that rims arc a sure  on other issues Sumser said last years report by the Pentagon inspector general on overgrazing in . Army Europe is resolved As far As the army is concerned. The inspector general Felt the report was important enough to Forward a copy to Stone a for his further information and  but Sumser said the army a View is that usage urn a commander Gen. Crosbie e. Saint a is of adequate rank to Deal with the contents of the report and we be asked him to do that. From the army standpoint that is  the army is still analysing data from a six month audit of civilian Job classifications throughout the army. But Sumser said Usa eur is a was Good As or better than the rest of the army in terms of mis graded civilian positions. He said the audit had nothing to do with the inspector general a efforts in Usa eur which were prompted by Robert Thornhill a whistle Blower and former Deputy civilian personnel director for the command. A to my knowledge that is the first time the army has Ever had that kind of audit done and i wanted to do it just for that reason a Sumser said. The army traditionally used data from much smaller audits a of individual installations for example a to characterize the service As a whole he said. A frankly i got tired Over the years of hearing these classification reports which i knew were not valid studies a Sumser said. Results of these sporadic audits were generally consistent concluding that anywhere from 89 percent to 92 percent of the civilian jobs had the Correct Grade. A but the data just Wasny to Worth talking about a Sumser said. A they were valid Only for the installations that were  last years audit Drew upon a much larger Sample. A my proposal was to Stop using numbers we know did no to represent the entire service and find out what the numbers Are across the army a Sumser said. The final analysis probably will not be completed until some time this summer he said. 1 a amps Peggy Davidson maj. Linda Sauer and sgt David Horning or the . Army medical Materiel Center Europe in Pir Masens Germany discuss the shipment of pharmaceuticals being prepared for the Commonwealth of Independent  of keeps Aid rolling Pir Masens Germany a amps army officials at the . Army medical Materiel Center Europe in Pir Masens had to get special permission from the German government to ship out medical supplies for residents of the former soviet Union. The special permission allowed truck Drivers from the 76th trans co in Pir Masens to drive on Good Friday a German Holiday said maj. Linda Sauer chief of the inventory management division. Soldiers in Pir Masens worked quickly thursday to pack pallets of medical supplies for delivery to the new states. The pallets contained mostly perishable medicines Sauer said. The first shipment of More than 78,000 pounds of perishable items was trucked to Rhein main a Germany to be flown to the Commonwealth of Independent states Sauer said. The shipment is to Fly tuesday from Rhein main to former soviet cities she added. Other shipments of supplies such As blankets pyjamas Beds and other items will be delivered by ship in the second phase of operation provide Hope. Officer urges planning for .-Cis cooperation by Ron Jensen Niernberg Bureau Garmisch Germany a plans should be made now for the possibility that american forces might work Side by Side with those from former soviet republics an officer with the foreign military studies office said this week. In a paper delivered at a conference on european Security at the . Army russian Institute it. Col. Lester w. Grau pointed out that the two forces could work for a common goal. A it is to Alt nations advantage to Lay the groundwork now rather than in time of crisis or War a said Grau assigned to the office at fort Leavenworth Kan. At the same conference col. David Glantz also of the fms said 45 years of misunderstanding must be overcome before military cooperation is possible. Exchanges Between governments Are essential to break through the ill conceived stereotypes each nation has held of the other Glantz said. In addition despite the importance each nation had for the other during the cold War the knowledge each has of the other is limited and often wrong. A overcoming the knowledge Gap that has existed for almost half a Century will be no easy task a he said. Quot but it is an essential one if understanding is to grow and with it cooperation in military As Well As other realms. A the climate is right and the need is Clear. Only the will is required to make the Promise of intellectual cooperation a  Grau said official conversations and Basic contingency agreements should highlight initial military foundations after political and economic agreements have been made. These efforts Are necessary so each Side can understand the military approaches of the other when working within coalitions Grau said. Nato and the Warsaw pact had distinctly different operating procedures. A unlike nato where individual nations controlled their own forces the soviets exercised peacetime operational control of coalition forces with the Warsaw pact a he said. The soviets considered nato difficult to command because of the myriad political influences that exist he said. Also the soviets saw the different logistics and communications systems As an example of the stumbling blocks to a smoothly operating coalition. The differences in philosophies in forming coalitions must be overcome Grau said because there Are real possibilities in which the . And one of the members of the Commonwealth of Independent states will become partners. A future threats and the need for future military action is difficult to predict a Grau said. A however circumstances May arise in which the vital interests of the . And one or More of the newly Independent states Are involved in which recourse to armed Force is  he outlined six possibilities a a Small american Force working with a larger joint Force. A a Large american Force working with a smaller National Force. A american forces and former soviet Republic forces of nearly the same size. A an element of a Force from a former Republic such As a naval flotilla or bomber Wing joining a . Command. A the opposite of the fourth in which an american element joins a command from one of the new states. A american and sex soviet Republic forces joining a coalition under a True International command. Each circumstance contains unique requirements from each member but All demand an understanding of each sides approach to coalition warfare Grau said. A was political and military to military exchanges increase groundwork needs to be done to facilitate this future possibility a he  probing army settlement on Mcdonnell overcharge Washington a the army criminal investigation come and the defense department inspector general Are looking into an army decision to Settle a $53.3 million overcharge dispute with Mcdonnell Douglas for $2.4 million the Pentagon a spokesman said thursday. Spokesman Pete Williams confirmed the investigation in response to questions about a los Angeles times report. He said that in 1987, the defense contract audit Agency conducted 15 audits and found a defective pricing involving five groups of Apache helicopters produced at the Mcdonnell Douglas helicopter subsidiary in Mesa Ariz. Williams said the audits resulted in a recommendation by the audit Agency of a Price adjustments of $53,3 million to the original  the total Price of the original contract was about $4 billion. But after reviewing the audits in this Case a the army determined that the appropriate adjustment should be $2.4 million and settled for that amount in december of 1990,�?� Williams said. The spokesman said auditors initial Price adjustment recommendations Are often substantially reduced during negotiations with the contractor. However Williams added the army a aviation systems come is reviewing that settlement a to determine whether that was reasonable and if it went through the proper review