European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 27, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A orc. A amps Michael Abrams locked Gates such As at Coleman Cavern in Gellhausen Germany Are signes of the draw Down in Europe. Draw Down by the numbers by Vince Crawley staff writer world is gone. A new one has taken its place. The unprecedented withdrawal of troops that sent a half million americans Home from Europe is not Over. But k the end is in sight. According to estimates compiled by the stars and stripes More than 800,000 americans were stationed Over Here in 1990, when the United states began planning to reduce its cola War Force alter the collapse of the soviet Union. Now closer to 350,000 remain. The number will continue to dwindle this summer and into the autumn tapering off after the new year until in 12 month s time it will be All but finished. By the end of 1995, about 100.000 service members and a total population of Between 250,000 and 300.000 will remain. Our charts Don t show sailors and marines aboard ships who numbered 16,200 on dec. 31. The new world is an unstable place and no one is talking about cutting the troops in Europe below 100,000. But the seemingly simple task of a Europe 1990 wide Roll Call is also an exercise in uncertainty. Officials with the . European come Headquarters say the final Post Rawdon count will be about 110,000 service members on the Roll because military schools family moves and peacetime vacancies leave Active duty units undermanned by 10 percent at any Given time. In a six month project the stars and stripes has attempted to do what the . Census Bureau never bothered with a full accounting of americans in Europe a past present and future. The numbers Are not As accurate As census statistics Are. No Community in America is so changeable As the military Community with nearly every citizen moving every three years. The population of family members is loosely tracked by Many military Headquarters so the numbers on the How the numbers dropped 1994 1996 a amps Susan Harris following pages often use the . Army in Europe s formula of multiplying troop populations by 1,3 to estimate the number of families and civilian workers. To complicate matters Many family members work in civilian jobs on base. The most obvious discrepancy is that our numbers show an Active duty population of 114,000 at the end of the draw Down. We calculated the 1996 numbers by subtracting All known draw Down announcements from today s figures and they added up to 114,000. That Means that not continued on Page 16 peace dividend costs army $500 million by Joseph Owen Heidelberg Bureau . Soldiers in Europe number Only about two fifths of what they did in 1990, but the Cost of moving them out has delayed any major savings in the . Army Europe budget. Draw Down measures in 1993 and 1994, for example will have Cost the army in Europe More than $500 million much of it siphoned from training and base operation funds. Draw Down costs for the current fiscal year Are estimated at $256 million about 11 percent of the commands $2.39 billion budget. It. Gen. Daniel r. Schroeder likens what the army is going through to a corporate divestiture although on a far grander scale. Quot one of the myths out there is that As you go through this divestiture there ought to be savings from the behaviour Quot Schroeder said in february. Instead he said the draw Down keeps command expenses artificially High. Large onetime costs include return of ammunition and equipment to the United states Utility contract termination fees Severance pay to workers and installation closures. The army s Quot District heat Quot contracts Are a Good example. In the 1980s, municipalities and companies entered decade Long pacts with the army to funnel heat from newly built heating plants to army controlled buildings. Nobody foresaw the end of the cold War so such contracts appeared to make economic sense. Now the army Thust make up investors expected losses from such projects in cities where no further use of the facilities is foreseen. Ammunition shipment is an even bigger Money eater. By last july the army had moved More than550 tons of ammunition a enough to fill trailers lined up end to end from Washington d.c., to Hartford Conn. To understand better what was happening to the command Schroeder and his top funding manager paid visits last summer to six senior executives at four major . Corporations a ism general motors Martin Marietta and Sears a that also were reducing operations. The corporate leaders said the draw Down appeared to be occurring As it should but the budgeting process for it was illogical because Federal budget process does t lend itself to creating a separate investment account to amortize one time costs Schroeder said. Also he said Congress starts work on the budget too far in Advance to permit reasonably accurate Cost projections and often bases budget figures on Quot failed assumptions Quot such As How much a Host country will repay the defense department for installations the army gives up. The result the command pays draw Down and deployment costs from Money that would have funded training or Community based programs. Quot i think the euphemistic expression is that we were sucking it up Quot Schroeder said. The army finally convinced Congress that the problem was creating budgetary havoc in Europe so Congress included a $97 million line item in the commands 1994 budget that was dedicated to Quot Retro eur Quot a that is the withdraw of troops and equipment from Europe and the closure of installations. Those special purpose funds Don t cover the costs a about $159 million in fiscal 1994 a of realigning what remains of the command but it was a firs step Schroeder said. Wednesday april 27,1994 the stars and stripes