European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 25, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Truer say february 25, 1993 . The stars and stripes pages chiefs Hope to bar Gays from combat by the Baltimore Sun Washington members of the joint chiefs of staff refusing to concede defeat on integrating Gays into the military want to bar avowed homosexuals from combat units and restrict them to rear Echelon jobs unofficial said tuesday. The proposal by the nation s top military officers also would seek to limit homosexuals to off base housing the senior military official said. The plan is an attempt to satisfy president Clinton s demand for lifting the military s ban on Gays with mini Mal Impact on front line combat troops. The chiefs acknowledge that segregating Gay Menand women would spark years of guerrilla warfare Between Gay rights activists and the armed services even though they think such a policy could prevent anti Gay violence and other disruptive behaviour during operations in the Field the official said. We can t allow people to come out of the closet said the official who has poker with the chiefs an agreed to be interviewed Only if his identity was not Dis closed. He criticized soldiers who want the right to stand up and say i m a homosexual on Phil Donohuk and have my is minutes of Fame. If this person thinks it s More important that he identify himself As a homosexual than to think about the Solidarity of his unit then we Don t want him. He s said right then i Don t give a Damn what the effect is on people in the unit we say Tine you do that in civilian life we re Only interested in people who place the consequences of what they do to the unit above this kind of  on tuesday a White House adviser said Clinton has not reviewed the option of segregating avowed homosexuals though he has repeatedly stated his opposition to discrimination against Gays who want to serve in the military. We know there s going to be resistance to the presi Dent s desires at every step of the Way and they la come up with every convoluted and lame step they can the official said. The military chiefs arc at Thoj earliest stages of Duvel in the stars and stripes 10 years ago feb. 25,1983 president Rea Gan fired two More administrators at the environmental Protection Agency. The two were under investigation for allegedly assigning Epa secretaries to do personal work for them on government time. 20 years ago feb. 25,1973 Israel accepted partial blame for Downing a libyan Airliner in the Sinai desert with the loss of 106 lives. 30 years ago feb. 25,1963 Arctic cold v numbed parts of the South and East with record lows and threatened the first known freeze Over of Lake Superior the world s largest fresh water Lake. 40 years ago feb. 25,1953 former German Field marshal Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt who gained Fame As one of Hitler s greatest commanders but was never accused of War crimes died at 77. 50 years ago feb. 25,1943 Britain s Royal air Force Hopes enough . Flying fortresses and liberators will be available soon to make round the clock bombing possible an Raf spokesman said. World War ii 50 years ago today feb. 25 american military leaders in the. Pacific set plans or operation Reno the Advance through the Southwest Pacific Back to the Philippines. In Tunisia Allied troops reoccupy Kasserine ending a Battle that caused 10,000 Allied casualties More than half american against 2,000 Axis dead. British planes heavily bomb Nurnberg in Bavaria. Source 2194 Days of War w. H. Smith publishers inc world almanac Book of world War ii Bison books corp., 1981 a half of House sits on the Edge of a Bluff after the rest fell Early tuesday in san Csc Monte Calif. The House was among nine evacuated after a january deluge. Flood watch issued As storms pummel saturated California by the associated press the National weather service is sued a flood watch for much of South Ern California on tuesday As the lat est in a series of storms drenched the area. In Arizona the National guard went to the Aid of Navajo families Al ready trapped by floods. In Southern California two weather fronts were expected to bring up to 6 inches of rain heavy Snow High winds and a Chance of Hail before tapering off wednesday Early tuesday in san Clemente a landslide on a rain soaked Bluff car ried four Homes tumbling 50 feet onto Railroad tracks and the Pacific coast Highway. The houses were among nine Palisades residences declared unsafe and evacuated after january s 13-Day deluge weakened the Hillside. There were no injuries. The slide blocked Amtrak trains be tween san Diego and los Angeles. Arizona National guard helicopter were sent tuesday to the Navajo reservation in the state s northeastern Corner to evacuate 50 families stranded by flooding. Other troops were deployed to prevent looting of Homes flooded during the weekend in the verde Valley. The Navajo nation at first asked for help getting supplies to the families in the Bird Springs area Northeast Fwinslow said Mike Nez the tribe s emergency services director. Dut monday evening officials decided to evacuate the families from their scattered Homes. Oping a response to Clinton s Jan. 29 directive on  were directed to work with Secretary of defense los Aspin to make recommendations for an executive order in june that would end the military s longstanding exclusion policy. Now they arc carrying out their orders even while continuing to oppose a policy change. The air Force and other services have appointed advisory task forces to consider More than two dozen issues during the six month review ordered by Clinton mostly relating to the Legal and practical Impact of bringing homosexuals into military Lite. The official said that from the chiefs perspective segregation of those who come out of the closet May be the Best Compromise Between the president s anticipated final order and the depth of feeling against lift ing the ban that nost officers and enlisted personnel share. One Issue for review is the option of treating homosexuals in Nitich the same Way that the military treats women who Are prohibited from ground combat and combatant ships. Clinton wants to Cut benefits for employees by staff and wire reports Washington. The budget that president Clinton sends to Congress next month will ask for additional cuts in benefits for Federal workers and retirees. It would eliminate the popular Lump sum pension option reduce payments to survivors of Federal retirees and lower theage limit on benefits paid to surviving children of . Workers. Most of the attention on the presi Dent s civil service Cost cutting plans has focused on pay. Clinton wants to skip the2.2 percent general pay raise for workers in 1994 As Well As any geographic adjust ments for retirees in High Cost Arcas other Clinton proposals include Lump sum payments the payments which can be rolled Over into iras Are now limited to employees taking discontinued service retirements those involuntarily separated or people retiring be cause of life threatening conditions such As aids or cancer. The Lump sum was due to become available to All retirees in 1995, but it would be eliminated under the budget plan. Child survivor benefits the budget requires civil service child survivor Bene fit rules to conform to the social Security practice. The proposal would permit child survivors of Federal employees Roget payments until age 18 or to age 19 if they were full time students. Currently they can get benefits until age 22 if the Yare full time students. The proposed change would not affect anyone registered for benefits before oct. 1,1994. Survivor annuities the budget pro noses reducing benefits for survivors of future retirees. Under current Law a Reti ree can provide a survivor Benefit by Tak ing a reduced pension. The survivor Benefit can be As much As 55 percent of the retirees original and unreduced earned annuity. Under the Clinton plan the survivor Benefit would be based on the Reti Rees annuity after the required reduction was taken. The changes proposed by Clinton redirected at Federal employees covered by one of the two civil service retirement plans the old civil service retirement system of the newer Federal employee retirement system. A defense depart ment personnel official said the changes if enacted by Congress would not automatically apply to no appropriated fun employees who Are handled under Sepa rate retirement plans. However we generally try to keep Naf policies in line with the civil service system As much As possible the official said