European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 26, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes wednesday october 26,1994 officials seek to keep lid on gangs -.  a. A.--. By Jon Connor v staff writer Wiesbaden Germany Wiesbaden Community officials spurred by signs of potential  activity Are mov ing to head off serious problems. The High school has cracked Down on certain types of clothing. Military police Are increasing patrols and opening a gang hot line. And on monday a gang aware Ness meeting was held for adults within the jurisdiction of the 221st base support in which oversees the Mainz and wies Baden military communities. It. Col. Michael Durham the Community commander and three military policemen presented slides showing Graffiti that have appeared at schools and else where. The symbols Are the same As those used by major gangs in the United states they said. We feel a lot Are doing it for artistic impression said sgt. Drew Cassidy an my who serves As a drug awareness and resistance education officer. It s not exclusive to Wiesbaden Mainz said staff sgt. Todd Lenavitt another dare officer. We re All other military communities finding the same  other slides showed Community teen agers wearing clothes that sometimes Are signs of gang membership. Typically such clothing included baggy pants worn Low. Lenavitt warned that such clothing styles can merely be a fashion statement not proof of gang activity. Another common gang Emblem the Bandanna was recently banned from Wiesbaden s Gen. . Arnold High school. Because of the disruptive influence created by the wearing of bandannas. Students Are not to Wear or display this item at school Wiesbaden principal Henry Demps wrote in a memorandum to parents. Cassidy Lenavitt Crook the ban also applies to any school sponsored activity. In the memo Demps said these items Are associate with specific divisive group activities in the United states and have begun to be associated with disruptive influences at  the dress code Drew varying comments at monday s meeting.  effect is that going to have realistically asked one resident. A " a -.",  a lot of people know it has to do something with the to . _ _ 1 .1 a _ j to  patrol As examples of increased efforts at deterrence. The maps also have scheduled random walk through at local schools to Monitor student activities. In addition Crook said a hot line has been established to focus on possible gang related incidents. Durham the Community commander told residents that he needs names an faces when dealing with gang activity not hearsay. A he also said he has Zero tolerance for drugs and weapons used by children. Those found in violation could be sent Back to the United states depending on the circumstances he warned. Those not sent Back could be required to perform Community work Durham said. We do not have a gang problem Durham assured residents but added there were some inclinations to Ward gang activity a gang was defined As two or More people whose members regularly break the Law. Some residents disagreed with Durham s assessment. There Are gangs Here i can Tell you that said one Man who described himself As a former los Angeles gang rember i be noticed  he did riot elaborate " a gangs. This is a very serious thing responded another during the slide presentation Cassidy and Lenavitt resident. Outlined the characteristics of stateside gangs. Their Hal Haggard a spokesman for the department of de Structure is highly organized Lenavitt said with a Nili sense dependents schools Europe said dress codes Are tary like Chain of command. Left to the discretion of the local school  parents were told that indicators of gang activity in staff sgt. Lonnie Crook operations sergeant for the elude Garista rap music stylized hand signals steadily 221st bib Provost marshal office said at the meeting falling grades and a switch to friends who display these that military police Are trying to get More involved in the traits. Community. Crook cited increased presence and a newly formed Bike if you noticed a gradual change. There might be something there Lenavitt said. From Page depot remains  after Check ing out the tip a 100 percent inventory of stinger missiles at the depot was conducted and All missiles were accounted  inventories of stinger portable anti aircraft missiles dragon anti tank assault weapons and redeye portable anti aircraft missiles were audited at Glenn s request. Glenn made the request after a 1991 study by the defens department s inspector general found paper work problems that made it impossible to account for 188 stingers. The hand held missiles Are some of the bes weapons in America s Arsenal. Stingers and Redeyes arc Strong enough to Knock a plan out of the sky dragons arc designed to Pierce the Armor of a. Tank. The Pentagon said that none of those mis Siles is missing and that it s trying to fix its bad bookkeeping.  100 percent worldwide inventory of the assets by serial number will be accomplished by december said James Klugh pod Dep Uty undersecretary for logistics. Glenn chairman of the Senate govern mental affairs committee praised that move but found it less than reassuring. That May be a very accurate inventory but it does t Tell us what May be out there that we can t account for he said we Don t know whether any Are  the Gao found that after the 1991 per Sian Gulf War the army did t know what to do with 1,400 stingers. No unit claimed them and the record keeping was so poor that no one knew where the missiles belonged. The Gao also concluded that 40 of the 6,373 stingers that went to the persian Gulf were not returned to the depot other army locations or the other  the army docs not know where these missiles Are Gao said Glenn said it does t mean they Are miss ing it just Means we Don t know whether they Are missing and that raises questions about America s ability to keep sophisticated weapons out of the hands of terrorists. That does t mean they be gotten into the wrong hands but it Means we can t prove they did not  by Chuck Inch Washington Bureau Washington fiscal 1994 was a miserable budget year for the army and the squeeze is Likely to remain in the near future one of the service s top financial officials said tuesday. Along with the continued general de Cline in defense spending a number of unavoidable circumstances last fiscal year combined to put even More pressure on the service s financial resources said maj. Gen. Robert t. Howard who Over sees the army budget it was a miserable year and i m glad it s Over Howard Tola the 139 delegates from All of the service s major commands who Are gathered in Washington this week for the annual army family action planning conference. His briefing offered a look at Why installation commanders and program managers Are seeing funds for a variety of initiatives dry up. The problems actually began with the original fiscal 94 budget request which in retrospect had about $900 million in shortfalls caused by several incorrect eco nomic assumptions Howard said. Congress then ended up cutting $217 million from the army request. Unfunded costs for the myriad contingency operations in Rwanda Cuba and Haiti put a $241 million Dent in the budget. Howard listed an additional $233 Mil lion in costs for such items As the locality pay increase for civilian employees a for eign National pay raise world War ii commemoration activities and a lower than expected return from property disposal sales. All told those factors put a Strain of $1.6 billion on the service s budget and the situation worsened when the army senior leadership decided to Fence off $ 140 million to fund contingency opera Lions.  the end the major commands had to cancel or restrict All kinds of activities including schools Field training flight operations spare parts procurement an depot maintenance. All this makes it very difficult to plan from one week to the next Howard told the conference delegates. It s very diff  commanders to figure out what their Bottom line  these numbers illustrate Why you re having a hard time providing a better Quality of life for soldiers and their families added Brig. Gen. John myer com Mander of the army Community and family support Center. The army s budget problem last year was a microcosm of the broader situation that has developed since the cold War ended Howard said. The draw Down Over the last five years has seen spending on weapons modernization drop by 47 percent while Active duty troop strength has declined 34 per cent and army facilities measured in Square footage have been Cut 15 percent. Howard said one trend that is particularly worrisome is the continued Cut in the civilian work Force. That will Lead to More work being contracted out which is generally More expensive than doing it in House with army employees. But Howard could riot offer much Hope for any significant Relief from the army s budget woes in the near future particularly if Congress does not approve requests for supplemental appropriations to cover the costs of ongoing contingency operations. We Don t expect future years to be much better than fiscal 94, he said. We re All going to have to make  army Fries to make do with building funds by Chuck Inch Washington Bureau Washington defense spending cuts and mounting costs for contingency operations Are putting a crimp in the army budget but the service is still find ing ways to improve the Quality of life for soldiers and their families an army offi Cial said tuesday. Maj. Gen. John h. Little the army s assistant chief of staff for installation management said base commanders Are doing a delicate juggling act with their available funds to balance combat Readi Ness with a reasonable Quality of life. Little who spoke to the 139 delegates attending the annual army family action planning conference said funding for base operations functions is running Well below the level army leaders Are comfortable with. Despite the budget pressures the army remains focused on a number of Quality of life initiatives one of which is a Long Range program to upgrade bar Racks and family housing he said. For Barracks housing single soldiers the army is earmarking $250 million a year to renovate facilities. At that level of funding it will take 25 years to get through the entire Barracks inventory. That s a Long time Little acknowledged. But it s about All we can afford right  in building new Barracks the army is continuing with its concept of single sol Dier communities featuring modern apartment complexes in which each sol Dier has private living quarters and shares a Bath and Shower with one other Soldier. In family housing the army has More hurdles to overcome because family housing funds Are fenced by Congress meaning the service can t shift Money from other spending accounts to supple ment construction and renovation. The army is tackling the problem in several ways. In its budget request to be unveiled Early next year the service will ask for an increase of about $100 million a year for maintenance and renovation