European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 18, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday october 18, 1994 i i. The stars and stripes Page 3 jobs from Page 1 Ian personnel matters from one location rather than Many local civilian personnel offices. A a a a a. A a a. A a Usa eur undertook the task of forming a centralized system As a Pilot program forthe department of defense. It expected the system to be fully operating by dec. 1 of this year. The Dale has been pushed Back to Jan. 15 because of initial setup problems Goeke acknowledged that the Central automated referral system the main com Putur system designed to process civilian personnel actions was inoperable the first two weeks of july. A we had people working overtime seven Days a week to get the system on line a Goeke said. A a because of the two week Down time we ended up with a backlog that put us behind by about tour to six  Goeke added that the backlog has been resolved and the new system is operating smoothly. However Field representatives arc reporting continuing problems. �?o1 spend 75 to so percent of my Day Han Dorng complaints from customers in Neucom a said Susan Dorsey a personnel adviser at the Stuttgart european come civilian personnel Liaison office. A eth Cortti Cally the concept of a centralized system sounds Good but so far its not working a the problems Are More than i can Han die. My Boss an array general was even getting involved in the Day to Day handling of personnel problems. It should never get to that  even As Dorsey finished speaking a coworker finished handling a Telephone complaint. A a i just got off the phone with a person who says the application she filed two weeks ago cannot be found anywhere a said John Brown the Deputy personnel adviser for the Neucom Liaison office. A nobody at the Stuttgart service Center or at the sicken him office knows where it is. Its  besides numerous reported instances of unfilled Job vacancies other problems reported at the Stuttgart Liaison office include recurring personnel data errors. Quot people promoted within the last three months still Haven to been paid for it a Dor Scy noted. A a there a not much Contact from Choc to managers who need civilian employees. In addition some service Center members Are  the Stuttgart Liaison office works As the intermediary Between the  civilian personnel restructuring concept amp of Vicenza Tiv off Belgium a nato shape support group chevres Netherlands so tonnes Tauf. Source Usa fur a a a. Center and Neucom managers in need of civilian personnel help. The former Stuttgart co is one of four offices already on line with the new civilian personnel operation Center. Five other offices will switch to the new system after the Center in  corrects its current problems. �?o1 feel reasonably confident by the time they Choc pick us up it the centralized system is going to work a said Joe Beard manager of the Wurzburg co. The Wurzburg co is scheduled to come on line with the regional Center next month. A Udod and Usa eur Are All behind it. In a behind it too a Beard said a a a a. Is amps personnel at the Stuttgart Nurnberg and Heidelberg civilian personnel service centers have declined to comment on How the new Choc is working. Requests for com men is have been repeatedly referred to the Usa eur Public affairs office. John Brown of the Neucom Liaison office in Stuttgart however did offer a few insights. A was a senior official at the former Stuttgart co 1 can say the five years i worked there we always had problems with civilian personnel matters a said Brown a a in a say the problems arc worse now because we re in a transitional phase. Whether he Goeke can fix the problems or not is not known. The verdict is hot in  ill by Carlos Bongioanni staff w Riter recent efforts to centralize the army a civilian personnel service system in Europe have prompted Many to ask a a what a going on a specifically the . Army Europe is changing from locally operated and managed civilian personnel offices to locally operated service centers managed by a regional operations Center. The deadline is Jan. 15. Y a / a a y. A a meeting the needs of the civilian Job Market is a massive undertaking a said Leland Goeke usage urn a director of civilian personnel. A a we be always had problems with the system in the past. By. Changing the. System we Hope to tackle Many of the institutional problems of the old co  among those problems officials said were confusing personnel rules poor cooperation Between offices and inadequate customer service. The new system is designed to dedicate More than half of the civilian personnel office work Force to direct customer service with the remainder handling various paperwork. That a a turnaround from the old system in which up to 70 percent of each locally managed co was dedicated. To doing paperwork. Before 1990, each army Community in Usa eur had one civilian personnel office for a total of 32. That number dwindled to nine in .1990 As the army in Europe began to draw Down. Eventually the regional Center will manage 23 civilian personnel service centers throughout Germany Italy the Netherlands and Belgium. Goeke said each service Center employee will be Able to serve Between 80 and 100 customers. Overall about 500 civilian personnel office workers will serve 40,000 civilian personnel in Europe. He said that number is Down from 1,300 co employees in 1989 who served nearly 105,000 civilian personnel throughout Europe. Under the new system 42 percent of civilian personnel workers will be dedicated to rating and processing applications issuing referral lists and handling other related forms and paperwork Goeke said. A these a Back room operators will All be centrally located at our operations Center in Meckenheim Germany a Goeke said. Goeke said the new system will allow about 54 percent of their workers to provide professional and technical service directly to the customer. The remaining 4 percent will work directly with area support group commanders to help those commanders Deal with human resource management specifically with the foreign National work Force. Goeke said the old co system had so Many confusing rules that it was not flexible enough to meet varying needs. In and edition since 70 percent of its Best people were always in the Back processing forms and rating applications the system was not responsive to customers needs. Goeke also cited a Lack of cooperation Between individual pos. A they weren to sharing information among the offices under the new system customers will have Access to any and All jobs through out the Region a Goeke said. Usa eur is the first defense department command to Region Alize. The army plans to have i six More regional centers by fiscal 1998. The other services and defense agencies will have 14 Region a centers by fiscal�?T98. A a there a a big cultural change occurring in the civilian personnel Community a said Mike Vajda assistant director of the civilian personnel operations Center in Meckenheim. A a what a happening in the co Community is what a happening military wide. We re finding new ways to do business with fewer  cyberspace regiments join army War games by Mark Kinkade stall writer Heidelberg Germany -. Military planners hoping to prevent a bloody civil War Are pie paring to move a massive Force of Europe based troops to a strife Lorn t Hird world nation. Gut planners Arentt vhf Riel if the deterrence Effort fails. After All its just a game. Atlantic resolve the . Army Europe a newest War game begins wednesday at locations throughout Europe. The three week exercise is the Post cold War replacement for the Well known reformer or return of forces to Germany said col. Tom Machamer chief of usage urn a exercise division and one of the exercise planners. A cold War scenarios Are no longer valid a Machamer said in an interview Friday. A today we have to be prepared to go up against a threat that is not  it involves More than just going into an All out conflict Quot Atlantic resolve is the latest exercise to make use of computer simulations. Of the 100,000 troops represented in Tui scenario Only about 12.200 . Troops will actually he deployed to training areas in Gra Fenohr and Hohrn fils. . Air naval and ground forces will participate in the exercise As will about 2.200 service members from other nations. The rest of the War is played out in cyberspace where a computer takes input from the Field and Esti mates what would occur in reality Mac lamer said. In the exercise a .-led Multi National Force is deployed from Europe to help the Island state of South titania defend i Seif against North titania. Ethnic tension and a failing Economy Are driving North titania to threaten the South with violence. Nato initially deploys troops to deter the North but the Effort fails and the Force must repel an it Iva Sion and secure South titania a Borders. A a a a. Using Central Europe As a launching platform for military action is the chief difference Between reformer and Atlantic resolve Machamer said in reformer troops were deployed Trout the United states to augment Europe based troops As a deterrent to a Warsaw pact invasion he said. The change he said is a reflection of changing War fighting requirements and a smaller manpower Pool from which to draw forces. A a it a still important t for us to consider reinforcing troops Mac. Hamer said. A but the scenario is designed to use our theater forces to accomplish the  another difference is the use of i a multinational Force Machamer said. German dutch French and British forces will also participate in the exercise. V corps commander it. Gen. Jerry r. Rutherford will Lead the forces he said. A we have to form a nato joint task Force establish a command line and integrate political and military actions that could affect the task Force a Mac lamer said