European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 27, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Paga 4 the stars and stripes saturday november 27,1993 rotation often focus of army s experiments by Chuck Vinc Washington Bureau Washington the army has experimented with six unit rotation plans Over the j ast 40 years five involving the . Army Europe. But All of the programs eventually died according to a nov. 10 report by the Gen eral accounting s a Brief history of the initiatives Gyroscope was a three year Rota Tion program that ran from 1955 to 1959. The program which allowed sol Diers to bring their families whenever possible was intended to boost moral and combat effectiveness and reduce support did not increase because units underwent turbulence during their initial orientation period Halfway through the tour when replacement troops arrived and near the end of the tour As units prepared to depart. There was also no reduction in support costs. The overseas unit replacement plan in effect for certain units in South Korea from 1961 to 1962, was designed to take advantage of the two year duty Tours of draftees. Units spent their first year training and the second on assign ment in South morale and unit Esprit de corps increased the plan proved to be expensive and died when army leaders embarked on a buildup of forces in Europe. Long thrust tested eight time from 1961 to 1964, was a complicated initiative involving the deployment of three stateside Battle groups to was designed to test the strategic mobility of army ground Cut the time needed to draw pre positioned equipment from 10 Days to to Vodys but the initiative was costly and hampered unit readiness because of problems associated with deployment scenarios. Rota plan which enjoyed a Short lived existence in Europe from 1962 to1963, had a unique objective. To re Duce the amount of Gold leaving the soldiers of b Btry 4th in 3rd Field arty in Germany in 1984 were among those in the cohort cohesion operational readiness and training program which kept gis together through Basic training stateside assignments and initial overseas Tours. United states. The Dollar was then tied to the Gold Standard. The idea behind Rota plan was that the flow of cold from the United states could ebb if fewer . Military family members overseas pumped Money into foreign economies. The plan called for soldiers and their families from three Battle groups in Europe to return to the United states and be replaced by three stateside Battle groups without family members. Those units were to serve six months in Europe and then be replaced by other Sim Ilar stateside units. After two successive rotations the plan was scrapped because of personnel turbulence sparked in part by Thelong thrust initiative. The plan failed to Dent the fall in the . Gold suppl because Many family members followed the troops overseas even though they were not command sponsored. Brigade 75 and brigade 76 probably were the most successful unit rotations. The concept consisted of rotating combat units to Europe on six month unaccompanied Tours to counter a soviet buildup. The two brigades made 11 deploy ments from 1975 to 1979, with unit commanders reporting no major prob lems. But the plan was killed because of the excessive Strain it placed on state Side divisions that supplied personnel for the deploying brigades. The cohort cohesion operational readiness and training pro Gram began in 1981 in Europe an South Korea. It was designed to keep soldiers together for three year through Basic training stateside assign ments and initial overseas Tours after which their units would be dissolved. Such units trained in the unite states for 18 months and rotated to Europe for another 18. Afterwards unaccompanied soldiers redeployed to the states while accompanied troops were reassigned to other units in Europe to meet their foreign tour obligations. Cohort units rotating to South Korea trained for two years in the United states and deployed overseas for the final12 months of their three year Cycle. The program ended in South Korea in1990 because of a Lack of replacement units army restructuring and the per Sian Gulf War. The program ended in Europe a year later because Susareu could no longer absorb increasing num Bers of accompanied soldiers who Hui Tobe reassigned within the theater., the army s three Light in Rory Divi Sions the 7th, 10th and 25tb/still employ aspect soft he program. Those units periodically receive Small groups of soldiers As package replacements but the units do not rotate overseas. Army from Page 1 report analysts looked at three unaccompanied tour alternatives rotating individuals for one year Tours As is done for South Korea Tours. Rotating units for one year Tours. Rotating units on intermittent six month training such rotations would pose additional problems because there Aren t enough specially units to sustain such rotations according to military officials. For example some combat support and combat service support units Are Reserve units and could not be deployed for lengthy periods. Unit rotations do not offer major Cost or Readi Ness advantages Over individual rotations the report said. The Cost of moving personnel without their families remains the same whether they Are moved As individuals or As part of the report cited drawbacks that would Stem from Shorter overseas Tours. For example shifting to one year Tours would effectively triple the number of re assignments Over three years forcing the army to spend More for personnel moves. In addition service members on unaccompanied overseas Tours Are entitled to move their families anywhere in the Continental United states for the duration of their Tours. When members Are reassigned to the United states the government will again Payto relocate their families to the new duty station. Most worrisome to personnel planners however Are the morale and readiness concerns tied to Sepa rating service members from their families for extended periods the report said. Surveys consistently have shown that family Sepa ration ranks near Theop of the list of factors service members consider Junen deciding whether to stay in the Gao s analysis supports some military officials who recently battled a House initiative that would have forced the services to rotate entire units to Europe on one year unaccompanied bipartisan group of about 30 House lawmakers led by reps. Timothy j. Penny d-minn., and Johnr. Kasich a Ohio backed such a move As part of a package of Broad recommendations for cutting $90billion from the Federal deficit by 1998. After intense opposition from the Clinton administration the european tour initiative was stripped from the package which was eventually voted Down last monday on the House floor by a six vote margin. Mccurdy was among the 30 House lawmakers who helped put the Penny Kasich plan together. Schroeder has Long advocated rotating entire unit overseas for unaccompanied Short Tours. 178 russian troops slain in 93, news Agency reports Moscow a at least 178 rus Sian service members have been slain in the military this year and an additional 1,794 have died because of accidents a news Agency said Friday. Theft and other crimes committed by about 2.8 million service members and officers have Cost the state 5.9 billion rubles $4.8 million so far in 1993, itar Tass said. Although the number of All reported crimes fell compared with last year theft of state property armed robbery bribery and drug trafficking Rose it said. A total of 18.340 crimes committed by soldiers and civilians employed by the military was registered in the first 10 months of 1993, the report said. Soldiers committed 11,984 crimes Down 12.8 percent from last year while civilian committed 6,356, a drop of 20.4 percent. Crimes and accidents claimed 1,972lives, the report said. Itar Tass cited a study by the military prosecutor s office showing that High ranking officers including commanders of Large units and their deputies Are increasingly engaged in criminal to experts the crime Situa Tion has worsened especially inside the airborne strategic missile troops the naval forces and Border guard said
