European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 04, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The Andis ripes vol. 52, no. 108 50p wednesday August 4,1993 d 8693 a army pullout from Europe costs More than expected by Kevin Coste Loethe associated press Berlin the . Army is spending More Money than it had expected to move american soldiers out of Europe a spokesman said tuesday. " the draw Down will Cost the army $340 million during the budget year ending next month and $200 million in the following fiscal year said col. Richard m. Bridges spokes Man for the . Army Europe in Heidelberg. The Money pays for the full array of army troop reduction costs from moving equipment to breaking leases and shipping personal goods Home. At the time we began the draw Down we fully believe that the Money that would be offset by not having the unit train would be sufficient to cover these costs Bridges said. That has not proven to be the case.". Bridges said the projections were thrown off by Sev eral factors including operation desert storm in 1991. And then we had a new administration with a new number of 65,000 Soldier which while right for the times is forcing us to go Down even faster Bridges said. The army is scheduled to reach that level by the endow 1995, with most of the soldiers stationed in Italy and Germany. You need a very flexible very agile Force Bridges said. At the present time we believe 65,000 can pro. A. 4u� a   to. 4vide that agility that  going below that number does t seem to make a lot of sense he said. The Overall . Troop strength in Europe is to beaut to 100,000 by the end of 1995, Down from 311,000 two years ago. Bridges added that the army is cutting its civilian work Force from about 50,000 people to about 28,000. Most of them Are germans. German Union leaders have issued occasional complaints about the army s handling of the dismissals. We do get criticism. The largest criticism is that Weare purposely laying off Ger Jan civilians so that we can hire americans. And there is nothing that could be further from the truth Bridges said. He said the army will make Good where it has shown to be at fault. I think there have been some court cases that have been settled in that regard and we have accepted the settlement the spokesman said. Is paying off for americans by Kevin Robinso business writer As european currencies search for solid ground to escape a Quicksand of economic uncertainty . Navy Petty officer 1st class Chuck Connor sees the re sults when he pays the rent for his off base Home in Gaeta Italy. My rent is paid to an italian landlord in lire usually at $545. Now it s $495," said the administration " supervisor with the 6th Fleet representative in  Exchange rates Are real High and doing pretty Good for us on the Economy. Right now i m fat dumb and , who has seen the Dol Lar jump from 1,250 italian lire to an International Market Exchange rate of 1,660 in just eight months joins other americans in Europe who Are enjoying increased buy ing Power with their dollars. Infant across the Board the Dollar has not fared this Well in nearly two years. And As members of the euro Pean Community struggle to find a Middle ground for its mixed value of currencies Money experts expect the trend to continue. But How nigh the value will go or even How Long it will last is anyone s guess said Joachim Pels an International economist with Goldman Sachs i Frankfurt Germany. Because of the events of this see confusion on Page 2 German Mark 1.70 1.44 v-v.-11 Yew a French franc 5.90 4.97 5.98 a a by via i.  italian lira 1,296 1,113.50 1,601.50 3reelidrachor�i 192,31 17t52v 232.57 turkish lira 4,626.30 7.026.20 11,439.90 Spanish peseta 108.41 93.91 140.10 belgian franc 35.72 30.34 36.65 Sas clock is ticking serbs warned As allies endorse airstrike threat Macedonia grapple with the War next door see pages \7 19 Washington a the european allies decided late monday to go along with a .proposal to threaten airstrikes against serbian aggressors i Bosnia and Herzegovina. The White House said the allies endorsement tells the serbs that the clock is  Only hours after president Linton expressed Confidence monday that the allies would no permit Sarajevo to fall or starve nato ambassadors approved a . Proposal to use air Power if necessary to liberate the bosnian capital and ensure delivery of Relief supplies. The europeans initially balk Edat supporting the . Plan but changed course after a 12-Houremergency session monday night in Brussels  said the message in the europeans decision is that the allies Are determined to protect United nations forces there determined to secure the humanitarian Relief , he said the United states and its allies want to see an enforceable successful and fair peace  d like to see an end to the fighting. There should be an end see threat on Page 2 it it ass to Var  disaster bound a Titan 4 rocket roars off monday from Vandenberg aficalif., carrying a top secret satellite payload. Two minutes later the rocket blew up in what a space expert termed a "$2 billion  see Story on Page 6. Body Huml