European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 23, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday May 23, ,1994 the stars and stripes Page 3 on top of it army staff sgt. Jaime Cayado of Concord  eyes his target saturday while parachuting onto the flight line at Kelly fab in san Antonio. Cayado a member of the Golden knights the army s official Aerial demonstration Parachute team was competing in the festival of the armed forces air show. More than 250,000 spectators attended the show which also featured the thunderbird the air Force precision flying demonstration team. Women s High dropout rate by the Baltimore Sun Washington a the . Air Force Academy has lost 25 percent of the freshmen women in two of its last three classes an attrition rate at least double that of the other military academies. Officials at the air Force school Are Uncertain whether there is any link Between the High dropout rate and the widespread complaints of sexual harassment that recently have swirled around the Academy near Colorado Springs Colo. However it. Gen. Bradley c. Hosmer the Academy s superintendent told the school s Board of visitors at the groups annual meeting in Washington earlier this month that female cadets May be leaving the school at higher rates because of the Quot pressures and tensions Quot of integrating women into a traditionally male environment. He told the Board a made up of. 15 presidential and congressional appointees a that his staff would try to come up with a More detailed explanation. A there must be some reason. We have to look into it More a said one Board member rep. Norman Dicks a Wash who earlier this month was told of the attrition rates by the Baltimore Sun. As a result of Cadet losses the Academy will bring in one of its largest freshman classes in recent memory about 1,400 cadets with 15 percent to 16 percent women. The school generally has a freshman class of 1,200, with 12 percent to 14 percent women. Women make up about 13 percent of Swap More Dod official says the estimated 4,000 cadets at the air Force school roughly the same numbers As at the . Military Academy in West Point n.y., and the . Naval Academy in Annapolis my. All three schools started accepting women in 1976. But recently the similarities in numbers of women at the air Force Academy and the other schools have ended. This school year 46 women resigned from the air Force Academy a freshman class 24.9 percent of the women in the class. At the same time Only 18 women or 13 percent dropped out of the West Point freshman class and 20 women or 12 percent left the naval Academy a freshman class. Last year West Point and Annapolis had higher rates of attrition for women than the air Force Academy. But two years ago the air Force school again had 25 percent double the rate at Annapolis Ana triple that of West Point. The Issue of sexual harassment at the air Force school surfaced in february 1993 when a female freshman was sexually assaulted. Shortly after the attack Hosmer called All the women cadets together. Removing his insignia of rank he asked the women to be candid about sexual harassment. For several hours the women told of incidents that ranged from off color remarks to being fondled by male cadets. The general brought in additional investigators to handle the charges started a hot line for complaints and intensified training in an Effort to curb sex Raj harassment. By Kevin Dougherty Kaiserslautern Bureau ramste1n a Germany the draw Down of . Forces in Europe Means the army air Force and Navy must Exchange ideas More regularly on Quality of life for Servic members and their families a Pentagon official says. More dialogue among the services will help them to manage programs better at a time when most everyone is being asked to do More with less Money said Carolyn Becraft last week. She is the Deputy assistant Secretary of defense for personnel support families and education. A the . European come is reviewing the state of Quality of life pro Becraft Grams and a Quot sharing of ideas across services is one Way to enhance opera Lions she said. She added that the services have already made a concerted Effort to improve communication. A that kind of dialogue was not taking place before a she said. Becraft concluded a five Day visit to Europe on Friday that included consultations with military officials on Quality of life programs personnel support and  also addressed the 38th annual conference of american women a activities Germany. In an interview at Ramstein a be Craft called the past few years a turbulent times for Syryi remembers civilians and families hut said the worst is almost Over. A a. V Quot part of what we Are dealing with is change a Becraft said. Quot you can look at it As bad or you can look at it As Good. I look at it As an  while she believes that Calmer Days Are at hand Becraft said there Are still other issues that make life difficult for service members and their families. For example deployments Are on the increase she said meaning spouses and dependents Are spending More time on their own. That requires More family support initiatives she said. Quot commanders know that Quality of life is an important part of readiness. She said Quot they can to let readiness slide a to that end the Clinton administrations proposed 1995 defense budget Calls for a $57 million increase in Quality of life spending Becraft said. The increase is targeted for child care family centers and morale welfare and recreation programs. Quot Quot we Are in the beginning of a budget Cycle a Becraft said. Quot we will have to see How it will come out in the  Becraft also addressed education. As part of transition assistance for separating  the department of defense is launching a troops to. Teachers program. The program is do signed to encourage  to become teachers and to get school districts in the United states to hire them. The first step is to help former service members earn a teaching certificate through the University of Maryland. Then they would compete for jobs in school districts that have a difficult time attracting teachers. Becraft a Post also includes overseeing the department of defense dependents schools. She said she is committed to providing a Quality education for All pupils despite the draw Down Quot i know it is emotional a Becraft said of the closing of schools and the loss of teaching positions. Quot i know it is hard but we have Fine  however Jan Pepelnjak a spokeswoman for the overseas education association Germany the Dodds labor Union believes personnel cuts have gone too far and will adversely affect children and teachers. As two examples she cited deep cuts in the compensatory education program for average pupils and an expected increase in the teacher child ratio. A you can to offer the same kind of Quality if you have fewer people and fewer opportunities for kids Quot Pepelnjak said. Quot its misleading for Becraft to say we will maintain the Quality when she does no to know How Many positions will be a cut.�?�, Pepelnjak claimed teachers proportionally 4 Are taking a far greater hit a in terms of Job cuts than administrators. A to say we Haven to taken out administrative slots is just not True a Becraft said in response. As an example Becraft said that Dodds in Europe has combined three regions into one and has drawn Down without having to fire teachers. A today we Haven to had to if teachers a Becraft said. A a that a a tremendous achievement. A if is disturbing to any  Birndorf Germany a amps three soldiers with the 159th aviation regt put classroom efforts to practical use thursday by helping to extinguish a fire in a German pizza r restaurant. The three soldiers a spec. Brian Jacob spec. Brek Shockley and spec. Richard Poling a had been attending a combat lifesaving course at finder Barracks when a lunchtime fire erupted in Mario a a pizza parlor just outside the Barracks Gate. Master sgt. Gregory Barge of the 7th support group which was sponsoring the class said the soldiers each helped fight the Blaze and evacuate patrons. Berge who took statements from each Soldier said Jacob went into the Kitchen with a fire extinguisher and fought the fire. Poling grabbing a fire extinguisher at tempted to climb into the attic to fight the fire which had Spica it to a through a Kitchen vent Buthe was driven Back by intense smoke. Shockley helped to evacuate customers and kept onlookers away from the Blaze. Berge said one of the restaurants owners came to his office looking for the soldiers so he could thank them in person. A the just went on and on about How thrilled he was that americans would take time to do this a Berge said. He said the owner told him that the Kitchen was nearly destroyed by the fire and that the restaurant would be closed at least a month. Jacob Poling and Shockley Are All with cob 7th in of the 159th aviation regt in Gic Belstadt they returned to their base thursday evening after completing the four Day course. Quot