European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 04, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse The Sims and stripes vol. 52, no. 108 500 wednesday August 4,1993 r d 8693 a army up i lout from Europe costs More than expected by Kevin caste 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 it said. That has not proven to be the 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 vide 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 German 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. S is paying off for americans by Kevin Robinso business writer As european currencies search for solid ground to escape a Quicksand of economic uncertainty us 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 High 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 currency values Jfe srm a Iii my i German Mark 1.70 .1.44 1.66 a 1992 a French franc dutch Guilder italian lira greek drachma turkish lira Spanish peseta belgian franc 5.90 4.97 5.98 1.296 1,113.50 1.601.50 192.31 177.52 ? 23257 4,626.30 7.026.20 11.439.90 108.41 93.91 140.10 35.72 30.34 _ 36.65 is Clinton demands end to misery for Sarajevo As air threat backed Macedonia grapples wit the War next door see pages 17 j9 Bosnia and Merze Govin Washington a armed with Allied approval of his plan to use air Power in Bosnia and Herzegovina president Clin ton on tuesday demanded an end to the misery in Sarajevo before another Winter of grave. Grave difficulties begins. One administration official speaking on condition of anonymity said bombings could begin As Early As next week. Officials with the North Atlantic treaty organization Are expected to meet next week to discuss re ports from the Alliance s military authorities on the logistics of any airstrikes. Assistant Secretary of state Stephen Oxman the . Delegation chief said Frato military authorities have been asked to prepare the necessary plans on a urgent a Pentagon spokesman capt. Michael Doubleday said no additional . Aircraft or other forces were being moved into the bosnian area in preparation for air strikes though he did not Rule out that reinforcements could beaded later. House did not say what would trigger an airstrike. Nato allies will meet next Mon sea Clinton on Page 2 disaster bound a Titan 4 rocket roars off monday from Vandenburg aka calif., 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. 54
