European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 14, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday february 14, 1993 t the stars and stripes b Page 3 urged to spend memos say officials banked on peace dividend that did t exist by Vince Crawley staff writer internal memos from officials in Frankfurt Germany say the . Army urged them to spend troop morale funds rapidly last year in Hopes of cashing in on a a peace dividend that it turned out never materialized. The bundle of Money a which some commanders thought they could a a tape once they had earmarked their existing funds a was supposed to have been Ere a cd by savings during the dramatic troop cuts in Europe Over the past two years. To Date 100,000 soldiers and their families have left the european theater. Following the persian Gulf War and the end of the cold War Gas were shipped Home so suddenly that much of what they spent before leaving remained in the military Economy in Germany. This caused morale welfare and recreation funds to swell to nearly $140 million almost double the amount of earlier years. The accounts commonly called mar funds Are created when soldiers and families spend on base. Part of the profits from on base businesses stays in the military Community to run local morale pro Grams. Other portions of the profits Are channelled into army wide projects to improve military Quality of life. The Headquarters of the . Army Europe said this past week that i Vestiga Tionson Frankfurt a morale funds last summer found some cases of miss pending. However the investigators found a no undue command pressure and a no evidence of fraud criminal intent or efforts to Over spend mar  instead the army Headquarters a a in courage cd area support groups a to use their mar moneys for projects to Benefit soldiers and families rather than let the Money accumulate a col. Phillip w. Childress the army in Europe a senior spokesman said in a written response to questions from the stars and stripes. A year ago a congressional panel warned the army in Europe not to spend its $140 million morale fund surplus on military operations. As troop cuts continued the accounts had been reduced to $97.6 million by january of this year the army said. Commanders rather than trying to save the Money As the army in Europe was being Cut by half attempted instead to spend most of their Cash on hand. Such practices were not out of line said it. Col. Dick Bridges spokesman for Frankfurt a v corps. Allowing the Money to pile up would have meant it was not being put to its intended use of improving troop morale and Quality of life he said. Quot however documents show that officials in Frankfurt were under the impression that if they overspent their troop morale funds they could req just additional Money from the army a european Headquarters in Heidelberg. They were mistaken. A still want to try to a tape some of usage urn a alleged $17 million a excess a a col Kenneth a. Hibl said in a Handwritten note in the margin of a feb. 12, 1992, memo outlining recommendations from a commanders wives group on morale projects. Hibl was then the commander of the Frankfurt area support group and the memo was sent from Alan Smith his director of personnel and Community activities to col. Michael Sanderson the v corps adjutant. A remember we cannot capitalize on the Usa eur funds unless we expend our ask funds first a Sanderson said in a written financial memorandum dated March 12,1992. In the memo Sanderson spelled out the a Bottom line of a previous meeting a execution must be accelerated in order to capitalize on non appropriated funds that Are available at Usa eur a he wrote. A the key for financial guarantees is to draw Down our a Cash in Bank a As of March the Frankfurt and Wurzburg area commands had been most successful in a Forward programming their major construction funds Sanderson wrote. Army officials said a Forward programming refers to a Standard practice of making a priority list for unfunded projects. That Way if unexpected funds suddenly become available  do not have to scramble to look for Correct ways to spend the Money. In the first three months of fiscal 1992, Frankfurt had budgeted 36 percent of its funds and Wurzburg had budgeted 42 percent according to a Chart attached to Sanderson a March 12 memo. In contrast the other three area support groups under v corps a bad or Cugnach Hanau and Numberg had spent an average of just 7 percent of their annual budgets according to the Chart. A once an ask has All of their Nona reprinted funds programmed they can request a Usa eur financial guarantee to Back them up if they do not earn the projected available Cash a Sanderson wrote in the memo. A then an ask could request a Grant or loan to do other.  the army a european Headquarters has distanced itself from the plan outlined by Sanderson. Childress the army spokesman said he could not a speculate on Colo incl Sanderson a position in  he added that a Overall the commands intent has always been to use available mar funds in the most efficient and practical Way possible for Bona fide projects benefiting soldiers and  the same month that Sanderson wrote his memo Hibl the Frankfurt commander apparently followed Sanderson a suggestion and requested a a financial guarantee from the army a Headquarters in Heidelberg according to a source familiar with the financial dealings. However the army refused Hible a request writing Back that a the Usa eur mar fund docs not have the financial Means to support your request there is no a pot of dollars consisting of unencumbered Cash a according to the source. On May 5, Hibl again asked for Money from col. Kenneth j. Gingras the chief of the Community and family support division in Heidelberg and inc Man who oversees morale funds for the army in Europe. A Over the vast two years the Usa eur and v corps command and staff elements have pressured us to spend non appropriated fund dollars and reduce our Cash balances. This pressure Contin ties a Hibl complained to Gingras. A the 103rd area support group has complied and we continue to March Forward in implementing your instructions a Hibl wrote. A we arc projecting a Cash shortfall of $1.8 million by the end of the year Quot l Libl wrote. Saying he was aggressively trying to Cut costs be asked for Art a immediate Grant in the amount of $1.8  the bad news according to Gingras was that the army in Europe docs not give Grants and that it did not have an enormous pot of peace dividend dollars. In an interview last summer with the stars and stripes Gingras said that in the Spring of 1992 the army and its 15 communities in Europe had collective holdings of close to $140 million spread out Between 29 Bank accounts. But it was not a pile of Money just sitting around for the asking. Much was invested and much was tied up in daily operating costs. It could not be touched or cashed in because people owned it. A a it a spoken for a he  Midsummer Frankfurt a liquid assets had fallen to near Zero Down from almost $6 million the year before and three separate agencies were investigate ing its books. A source familiar with the command climate at the time defended the actions of the Frankfurt officials. A some of the communities May have Well had expectations that there was a potential Windfall a said the source who asked not to be identified. As communities were closed in Europe it was not unreasonable to conclude that some of the mar Money would be Given to those communities that were expected to remain open the source said adding a what was going to happen to that Money some people apparently thought they could tap into that surplus path of least resistance reportedly led to troubles by Vince Crawley staff writer the Frankfurt Germany military Community a miss pending of $350,000 in troop morale funds in the past two years is a Complex Issue that the military is close mouthed about. The Community a financial dealings Are tangled up with everything else that happened in 1991-92, a tumultuous time for military people in Europe who endured a War homecomings and sweeping troop cuts. After fighting the persian Gulf War Gas were whisked Back to Europe Only to find that tens of thousands of them were going to be rushed Back to the states by Christmas As part of the sweeping troop cuts following the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the rickety communist world it concealed. An entire army corps including 17,000 troops from Frankfurt a 3rd army div disappeared from Germany in the space of six months. Also amid All the turmoil the army revamped the Way it governed and financed its communities in eur ii Many changes created needs of a unprecedented dimensions for Frankfurt military leaders said Elke Schabel a financial administrator with the army a regional command called the 103rd area support group. A a a at a time when Washington should have drastically increased funding for the military overseas the Only Money readily available belonged to the Community morale welfare and recreation fund Schabel said in a memorandum written last summer to the support group commander. Borrowing Money from morale funds a made it possible to react effectively to the rapid sequence of demands placed on commanders As they juggled troop cuts unit moves and the creation of the new area support group Structure Schabel wrote. Using the morale funds was the a path of least Resis Tance its fast and easy a according to the wording of an undated command briefing document outlining the a causes for  but the misspent Money led to three separate agencies investigating Frankfurt a morale fund ledgers last summer. Although changing Over to the new area support group system did not result in the miss pending a the turbulence caused by and the complexity of reorganizing several communities into the 103rd ask allowed the problem to occur undetected Quot the army said in an official statement signed by Gol. Phillip w. Childress senior spokesman for the army in Europe Frankfurt officials told the stars and stripes that they hoped the Money they spent from morale accounts would be reimbursed by tax Dollar funds and that they thought the procedures they followed had been Correct. However the army a european Headquarters would not allow the reimbursements to take place last Spring. Garner by then the morale funds already had been depleted. The purchases in question took place As the army restructured its military communities changing their names to area support groups and base support battalions. This required a High Speed renovation and purchases that could not be made through the Correct channels a in a timely manner a Schabel wrote in her memo. So morale funds were used to renovate and refurbish offices she wrote. However regulations governing morale funds do not allow the funds to be used for such purposes. A the driving Force behind accomplishing this difficult task through the use of non appropriated funds was the Community commander a Schabel wrote. At the time maj. Gen. Jay m. Garner was both the com-1&Quot Unity commander and the Deputy v corps commander. He now works at the Pentagon. On Friday a spokesman for Garner told the stars and stripes that Garner had not seen the army in Europe a inv stiga lion and could not comment on it. Purchase orders were Quot most inappropriately issued by the civilian personnel office the directorate of engineering and housing and the adjutant a office of the v corps Headquarters Schabel wrote. The Money was used to buy a a variety of furnishings communication promotional and display  these items included $18,145 Worth of brochures and promotional items be cause a Gen. Garner wanted ape co image change a Schabel wrote. Apr co Means the appropriated fund civilian personnel office. A highly unusual circumstances and tremendous task oriented command pressure prevailed and should be considered As mitigating a Schabel wrote. A i done to doubt that some mistakes were made a the civilian formerly in charge of Frankfurt a morale funding said in an interview last summer with the stars and stripes. A you have to understand the spirit of the time a said Bill Parsons former acting director of personnel and Community activities in Frankfurt. Parsons now works at fort Belvoir a. A we were coming off desert storm. Getting things done was a priority he said. A a. That attitude carried Over into everything we