European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 11, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday August 11, 1993 commentary the stars and  Page 15 service awards Point to truth behind Somalia the significance of the general s words May have escaped a civilian audience. But when the former assistant division commander of the 10th inf Moun Tain div told a Florida National guard officers association conference that the wearing of combat patches by soldiers who served in operation restore Hope in Somalia had recently been authorized it told volumes about the nature of the humanitarian peacekeeping operations in which . Forces Are increasingly involved. The army has Many ways to recognize different forms of service. Beginning in the civil War soldiers began wearing a cloth Patch on the left shoulder of their uni form to show the unit to which they were assigned. If they served with that unit in combat they wore that Patch on their right shoulder for the remain Der of their military careers. Both Gen. H. Norma Schwarzkopf and Gen. Colin l. Powell for example Wear the America div Paten stars of the Southern Cross on a shield of Blue on their right shoulder to show their service with that Divi aging in Mission Harry g. Summers Sion in combat in Vietnam. Now soldiers of the 10th inf Mountain div can Wear the crossed bayonets of that division Patch on their right shoulder As Well. The latest decision shows that Somalia is officially seen As a hostile environment requiring ground combat operations against a hostile Force. That mis Sion of course stands in Stark contrast to what those pushing for increased . Involvement in humanitarian peacekeeping operations had in mind. Further evidence of this disparity is in the service medals awarded for duty in Somalia. Service medals arc another form of military recognition. Differentiated from decorations awarded for individual acts of bravery or exemplary achievement service medals arc awarded to everyone who participated in a particular action or event. Everyone who served for at least one Day in the armed forces during the korean Vietnam or Gulf wars for example was awarded the National service medal even though he or she never set foot outside the United states. And the military has a medal to denote humanitarian service As Well. Called appropriately enough the humanitarian service medal it is awarded to those who take part in civilian humanitarian Relief operations. Most of the Florida guardsmen present at the Confer ence Wear that ribbon for their disaster Relief operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew that caused such devastation in South Florida last year. And Many 10th inf Mountain div soldiers Wear it As Well for they too took part in Hurricane Andrew Relief. But they Don t Wear it for their humanitarian operations in Somalia. Although the air Force Airlift cars who Fly somalian food supplies into Kenya arc awarded the humanitarian service medal those on the ground in Somalia arc awarded the armed forces expeditionary medal the same service medal awarded for the Grenada incursion and the invasion of Panama. What the military is saying loud and Clear to those who can read its somewhat arcane signals is that humanitarian peacekeeping operations arc in reality Small scale combat operations. And this has enormous significance. In the past it has been the military that stood accused of deliberate obfuscation of the realities of War. It talked about target servicing when it meant blowing people and things to bits. It talked about col lateral damage when it meant killing civilians who had the bad Luck to be too close to a target. Now its the politicians and professional do Good ers who gush about humanitarian peacekeeping oper  but the reality so far is that american military forces on the ground have been primarily using the Pecac making combat skills of our soldiers and marines not the peacekeeping skills of humanitarian Relief workers. Words have consequences. A generation ago social scientists slathered about How we. Needed to train our soldiers in counter insurgency to Deal with revolution in the third world. But the reality in the Jungle was not the tools of social science but one infantry squad closing with another with fire and Man Euver. Now some of these same people arc talking about reorienting the military toward  but the reality in Somalia or Bosnia or Cambodia is that be fore you can have peacekeeping you must first  c los Antolos Olmos Syndicate student Aid program May not make the Grade hundreds of times in last year s Campaign president Clinton evoked thunderous cheers with the Promise that he would establish a Trust out of which any american can borrow the Money to finance a College education As Long As they pay it Back with a Small percentage of their income Over time or with two or three years of National service Here at Home. Doing whatever work the coun try urgently  National and Community service Trust act of 1993 and the legislation per mitting direct government Loans to Stu dents both Wellon their Way to the presi Dent for signature fall Short of redeeming that pledge liven in their pared Down form it s questionable if the government can finance them. But they represent a serious and bipartisan Effort to move National policy Forward Inthis area and to show voters that Caner pain rhetoric can translate into Agenda setting  direct loan program had to survive heavy lobbying by financial firms that profit from brokering govern ment guaranteed Bank Loans. To appease them the Compromise version in the budget reconciliation Bill Calls for direct Loans to be phased in slowly Over the next five years. It was Clinton s support that offset the lobby pressure and made it possible finally for backers in Congress to gain ground. They included reps. Thomas 1 ". Petri r-wis., and Robert i. Andrews d-nj., and Sens. Paul Simon d-i11., and Dave Duran Berger r-minn., who had been pushing the direct loan idea for years. On the National service legislation the question for most Law makers was not the goal but the pathway. During the Campaign Clinton escaped close questioning on How it would be pos sible for very Many of the 6 million Stu dents now receiving some form of government Aid to pay Back their Loans with Public service. Except i or the world Var ii Mili tary and the great depression Public works programs the government has never had any thing like that number of people working for  pea a corps currently has only5,500 volunteers in the Field while Vista volunteers in service to Amer Cathe peace corps Domestic counterpart has about3,300. The Cost of the kind of program Clinton implied in the Campaign would be out of sight. In March Clinton proposed a More modest but still expensive scheme. When the Bill leached the Senate republicans forced further reductions in Seale. Nomore than 100,000 youths will be involved in the three year . Jiachi David s. Broder will work for the Federal minimum wage in Community designed programs and after two years of full time service be Eli Gible for $9,450 in education Grants a sum chosen to assure that military volunteers would not Sec their civilian counterparts get a better Deal. Proponents of National service differ on the right scale but this is a Cas where smaller May actually be better. Donald j. Liberty a longtime proponent of National service told me that he Wor Ries that the projected program May be too Small to have the visibility und mass it needs to become a Recagni cd part of american life. But sen. Nancy Kasse Baum r-kan., who made significant contributions to improving the legislation still voted against it for the opposite Rea son she thinks it is too ambitious. Catherine Milton who runs what is widely regarded As a successful set of Pilot programs through the 3-year-old commission on National and Community service told me that she thinks it will not be easy to recruit and place 20,000 volunteers in the first year As the new legislation contemplates. Hut she is supportive of the Bill. And Lili Segal the White House architect of National serv ice Points out that if it hits the 20,000 level in its first year the Community serv ice program will be larger than the peace corps was at its Peak of visibility. Critics of the proposal argue that it is just one More big government bureaucracy meddling in an area where there arc plenty of local and private efforts under Way. But the Structure is highly decentralized and overhead costs Are limited by Law to 6 percent at the Federal and the state level. A More serious prob Lem is that once authorized the new pro Gram will have to scramble for financing. As with other Campaign promises Clin ton said this program will pay for it  it won t. Instead it will have to compete for Money in a budget where discretionary Domestic spending is Frozen for the next five years. In the House it will fight for funds with All the existing student and school Aid programs. In the Senate it will be up against environmental programs Low income housing Veter ans hospitals and space programs. Sen. Harris Wofford d-pa., who helped Massachusetts democratic sen. Fulward m. Kennedy Shepherd the legis lation through a great Many Senate mine Fields told me he counts on Clinton in creasing our investment in education. So i Don t think there will be that Competition in the next few years. " but that is More Hope than reality. Many legislators who support the concept of National service voted against the Bill because they thought it unrealistic and unfair to Promise even a Down payment against Clinton s Campaign Promise i these times of massive Federal debt. On paper Clinton has won a substantial Victory it remains to be seen if it be comes reality