European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 11, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes monday july 11,1994guts target Host of army captains those who bypass voluntary separations May face rims by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington about 1,000 army captains who came on Active duty in 1986 and 1987 May be vulnerable to a reduction in Force next year if they Don t opt for one of. The two voluntary separation pay programs say army officials. That group of captains represents the largest single Section of the army a fiscal 1995 plan to draw Down officers said col. Chuck Henning chief of the officer division under the Deputy chief of staff for personnel. The army has reoriented its officer program More than once since it began several years ago Henning said. At first the focus was on sheer Quantity. Then it shifted to Quality. Today the army has entered a Fine tuning phase that concentrates on specific skills and requirements in each Grade. In general that Means officers in skills where shortages exist will not be eligible for voluntary separation programs. A the Mission through the rest of the draw Down is to manage officer losses carefully and precisely so that we have an officer corps that is prepared for the 21st Century a Henning said. The army expects to trim its officer corps from 103,000 in fiscal �?T91 to slightly More than 80,000 in fiscal �?T97, a level designed to support an Overall Active duty strength of about 495,000 soldiers Henning said. In terms of How the draw Down plan will affect specific grades next year the army has Good news for lieutenants. The retention boards of recent years that have selected some lieutenants for involuntary separation will not be needed in fiscal �?T95. The army can do that because personnel managers have properly sized the number of new lieutenants being brought on Active duty to support the army a the Mission through the rest of the draw Down is to manage officer losses carefully and precisely so that we have an officer corps that is prepared for the 21st Century col. Chuck Henning Post draw Down end strength Henning said. A this will now give lieutenants a robust promotion selection rate to Captain a Henning said. Captains who entered Active duty in 1986 and 1987 a referred to As a year group cohorts a Are at risk for rims. The army needs to trim 1,002 captains from those year  Henning is optimistic that enough will take the voluntary separation incentive or special separation Benefit to make a if unnecessary. Quot the army has not yet riffed a single Captain during the draw Down a he said. The army also plans to focus on captains who came on Active duty in 1984 and have been passed Over once for promotion about 490 captains must be trimmed from that group next year. A they will be eligible for Vii sub or Early retirement a Henning said. A the reality is that their chances of being selected for promotion on the second try Are  in terms of majors the army will concentrate on the 1979 year group. Next year Henning said the service is looking for 50 to 100 majors in that group to take Early retirement. Unlike previous years that offer will not be tied to the threat of selective Early retirement. A it will be a totally voluntary program next year a he said. Another group of majors who will be by Wayne v. Haul staff writer . Aid representatives in Zagreb Croatia have apparently asked countries that Fly Airdrop missions to look into supplying Bosnia a Bihac pocket said a spokesman for the . High commissioner for refugees. Meanwhile Airdrop operations delivering humanitarian supplies to Bosnia and Herzegovina from Rhein main a Germany remain in limbo base officials said. In a Telephone interview last week from his office in Geneva Unher spokesman Ron Redmond said that Bihac has become virtually isolated from any kind of Aid. A Bihac has been Cut off by Krajina serbs who live in neighbouring Croatia and surround the pocket a he said. A since May the Unher Hasni to been Able to get anything into the territory. Additionally the situation has been worsened by the fact that the Bihac muslims have been fighting among themselves. A muslims living in the Southern part of Bihac have remained linked to Bosnia while those living in the Northern part have been trading with the Krajina serbs a Redmond  in mid May the Kajma serbs stopped convoys from entering Ine Southern part. Then by the end of key they halted convoys to the North  Bihac a fairly Rich agricultural area is located in the Northwestern part of Bosnia and is Home to about 200,000 muslims. A we have some stockpiles of food in the Region a Redmond said. A however be cause of fighting we can to get to them. We believe that people there have been grow ing food but if it the blockade goes on much longer they re going to run out of  the operation provide Promise Airdrop Mission More than 16 months old has been at a standstill since the last flight june 10. According to capt. Valerie Wilson a provide Promise spokeswoman at Rhein main a the Unher has not asked for Airdrop , although the operation stands ready to Fly the twice a month missions Over Bosnia. All such missions Are flown at the request of the . Refugee Agency she added. Rhein main has not received confirmation that the Airdrop will increase to More than the Standard of twice a month col. Edward f. Mcphillips jr., commander of Rhein main a and its 435th Airlift Wing said thursday. If the United nations determines that an increase is needed and if its a Small one the base would be Able to support it Mcphillips said. However if the need is Large the base would require additional supplies personnel and equipment. In january the United states increased its number of c-130 cargo aircraft flying daily Airdrop missions to 12. Additionally the . Planes were accompanied by one French and three German c-160 Ransall cargo planes. Airdrop came to a sudden halt in Early april after . Fighters hit targets near the Muslim enclave of gora2de to Stop serbian forces from advancing on the .-declared Safe area. The missions resumed april 29, but at a significant reduction. N scrutinized Are those in the 1977 year group who have been passed Over twice for promotion and whose second missed Opportunity was the most recent promo a Tion list that was released just a few weeks ago. The army plans to trim 300 majors in Over strength skills from this category. Only those in critical skills will be allowed to continue to 20 years of service before retiring Henning said. All others will be offered Early retire ment and those who take the offer quickly will have an Edge. Majors who take the offer immediately can get a retirement Date As late As aug. 31, 1995, while those who done to will get an a a involuntary Early retirement Date of March 1, 1995. A to Garner As much transition time As possible its to the advantage of every officer in this group who is not in a critical skill to Volunteer Early a Henning said. A if we done to hear from them they stand to lose up to six months transition  officers who still refuse to take the Early retirement offer with the March 1 deadline face involuntary separation which is far less valuable in terms of retirement pay and benefits finally majors who have at least 15 years service in a variety of Over strength skills and who have been passed Over for promotion once will also be eligible for Early retirement Henning said. The army will continue to look at senior Field Grade officers with at least 20 years of service for selective Early retirement next year. About 345 lieutenant colonels in year groups 1967 through 1975 and 156 colonels in year groups 1969 and 1970 will be selected Henning said. The army has made one slight change any colonels who Are considered but not chosen for involuntary Early retirement next year will never be considered again Henning said. Draw Downs among officers in the army medical department will focus closely on specific skills. The army wants 158 volunteers for Vii arid sub and 210 for Early retirement next year. Additionally 135 lieutenant colonels and l25 colonels with More than 20 years of service will be chosen for selective Early retirement. The draw Down targets for the warrant officer Legal and chaplain communities next year Are extremely Small. Henning said the draw Down which is about 80 percent Complete has not been painless but has been carried out efficiently. A the army made a Promise at the beginning of the draw Down to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Post Vietnam Era when we had Large year group cohorts that travelled through their careers with decreased promotion and training opportunities a he said. This time the army made a commitment to draw Down the Force proportionally across the spectrum of grades and skills he said. A a we be made significant Progress in accomplishing that a he said. A it Hasni to been pleasant or easy but it has been very successful and very Well  officers can get details on specific eligibility criteria for each Grade and separation program from local personnel offices.. Fails to Sway foes on Bosnia truce Extension. Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina apr chances for peace in Bosnia clouded sunday As the expiration of the latest cease fire agreement and resurgent fighting pitted government forces against serbs and renegade muslims in the North. The cease fire which took effect june 8, had been largely ignored Over the past few weeks both by bosnian government forces and rebel serbs fighting to hold the 70 percent of the nation they have captured in 27 months of War. Still Lack of agreement to extend the cease fire indicated that the warring sides remained reluctant even to the idea of a truce let alone an Overall political settlement. The chief . Official for former Yugoslavia Yasushi Akashi had shuttled Between officials of the Muslim croatian federation and bosnian serbs since Friday in an attempt to get agreement to an Extension. But the cease fire expired at noon sunday even though Akashi aides said both sides had shown interest in extending it. Amid the fighting russian president Boris Yeltsin urged the serbs to accept a plan to partition Bosnia. Russia is a traditional serbian ally and Yeltsin a support of the plan is bound to turn up the heat both on Serbia proper and its allies the bosnian serbs. Yeltsin spoke in Naples at a meeting of the seven largest Industrial democracies and Russia. That gathering was expected to endorse the envisaged partition calling for 51 percent for the Muslim croatian federation and 49 percent for the bosnian serbs. Bosnian government leaders have reluctantly accepted the plan and their parliament will meet for Likely ratification next monday. Bosnian serbs have strongly criticized it but under pressure from their supporters in Serbia proper say they will study it. Yeltsin endorsed a draft statement of the Naples meeting urging the serbs to accept or face a a grave risk of renewal of War on a larger  the International Community is weighing two Steps lifting punitive Trade sanctions on Serbia if the bosnian serbs accept and exempting bosnian government troops from an arms embargo on All warring sides if the government embraces the Deal. The warring factions have until july 19 to accept the plan