European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 06, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday november 6, 1994 the stars and stripes Page 3 army Dis War strategy  writer Grafe Wohr Germany the army says air Force Gen. Merrill a. Mcpeak is wrong. General Mcpeak s version of the Battlefield is simplistic and dangerous army Brig. Gen. John costello said Friday referring to the former air Force chief of staffs recent proposals to streamline the armed forces. Mcpeake plan part of an ongoing congressional study to reduce overlapping missions of the military services Calls for Radical changes in the Way ground and air forces fight. But warned , who Heads the army s roles and missions directorate it would result in the potential for More casualties As a result of a decentralized  said it was unfortunate that the air Force proposals have been viewed As  said the army has been unfairly placed on the defensive in the Pentagon debate appearing old fashioned because it refuses to embrace ideas that Many senior leaders believe Are  strategy has been developed Over years and is constantly updated by real world experience in Thefield he said. You can t just throw that out overnight and say hey i be got a better idea " said costello who was in Grafe Wohr late last week to observe a joint services International training  said he found it heartwarming that airmen marines sailors and soldiers were gladly working Side by Side in the exercise untouched by the discord among their senior leaders in Washington. I m glad the de Bate is not going on in the Field he said. J under current doctrine tested most recently in the1991 persian Gulf War the ground forces commander controls weapons from other services to fight a deep Battle far beyond the front lines. This allows coordinated air and missile strikes to destroy enemy reinforcements and communications. The air Force i along with the Navy and Marine corps to a lesser de Gree also provides close air support jets that at tack targets directly in front of ground  lieutenants calling for airstrikes Are a Staple in Vietnam movies and front line troops in the Gulf War welcomed the sight of a-10 Thunderbolt ii tank killers and f-16 fighters in the desert  a strategy Calls for a clean split Between army and air Force roles to avoid overlap. The air Force would take Over the army s Long Range artillery and anti missile defense systems such As the Patriot. I Exchange the army and Marine corps would be responsible for their own close air supper to a role that Theair Force has traditionally played Down. The air Force also wants sole responsibility for Mili tary space programs and an end to the joint services special operations come. The immodest proposal were unveiled in late october As Mcpeak was ending his term As chief of staff. The outspoken former chief who recently retired said he hoped the new blueprints would stimulate new thinking. V -"._. But the army and Marine corps Are responding with an it aint broke so Don to fix it stance. The army is not going to Fly a-10 tank killer air planes. The army is not going to have aircraft carriers costello said. Also he said the army does t understand Why the air Force thinks it can Field Long Range missiles new of chief reportedly backs inherited plan c s4shi0 Brig. Gen. John costello. Backs overlapping missions costello said the congressional budget office has Al ready concluded that transferring air defense missiles from the army to the air Force would Cost $3.8 billion and would t add anything to the capability of the  he said the army is reopening Seplowe ground to defend its role. The army has never said it can fight by itself cos Tello said. We have Patriot units in Korea tank Battal ions in Kuwait water purification teams in Rwanda and construction engineers in Central America. Only the . Army can do that and we can t do that by our  he also said overlapping missions Are an important ingredient in combat. The split Between deep Battle and close air support would cause a wider Gulf Between the army and air Force potentially leading topless communication and fewer common procedures recipes for Friendly fire. Sometimes redundancy is a Good term costello said costello s counterpart in the Marine corps . Thomas l. Wilkerson agrees. Warfare is Muddy. It Ain t neat Wilkerson told the Washington Post two weeks ago. You have to build a fairly adaptable Force. What general Mcpeak  is now Eyer a very inflexible dogmatic arrange ment. Costello cited the near invasion of Haiti recently As an example of adaptable forces. The 82nd airborne div was in route from fort Bragg  ground and air forces were aboard Navy ships and marines were preparing for a Landing at Cap Hai Tien. A diplomatic breakthrough literally in the final hours meant those invasion forces had to shift gear rapidly to a peacekeeper Force. 7 i Don t see any redundancy in that operation at All costello said. I see complementary moves to quickly bring that operation to a  the army s Mam Dis agreement with the air Force is that Battlefield com Manders would lose flexibility and capability to react tothe Ever changing Moderi Battle and peacekeeping Fields. We can have our disagreements and some Dis agreements Are healthy costello said. Some Are  by Chuck v1ncii Washington Bureau an air Force official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the new chief of staff Gen. Ronald r. Fogleman supports the Basic conceptual framework of the plan devised by his predecessor Gen. Merrill a. Mcpeak. The senior leadership of the air Force in eluding general Fogleman was briefed on that plan before Mcpeak talked about it and the signed off on it the official said. Maj. Gen. Charles d. Link a special assistant to Fogleman who is acting As air Force Liaison to the roles and missions commission has indicated that Fogleman has expressed no doubts whatsoever about the Broad concepts of my Peak s plan the official said. Link has been quoted in other news stories assaying that Mcpeak s arguments amount to an air Force corporate position that Fogl Manwill pursue. A of  a however Fogleman is Likely to be More Low key in negotiating the air Force s posture on roles and missions with his counterparts in the other services than Mcpeak was the official said. I think hell be a Little More conciliatory the official said. In the waning Days of his tenure Mcpeak an gered the other service chiefs with a highly unusual Public Campaign in which he talked bluntly of various redundant functions that the other services should give up and leave to the air Force. -.-. \ they include the army s Long Range artillery and anti missile defense systems and the Marine corps Fleet of f/a-18 fighters. The plan also Calls for giving primary responsibility for the Mili tary s space program to the air Force which now handles the bulk of the duties in that area any Way. V. Mcpeak also advocates abolishing the special operations come which he views As a superfluous service that complicates combat command structures. To show that the air Force is willing to give up some things Mcpeak s plan offers to give army attack helicopter and Marine corps harrier Jet the Job of providing close air support for ground troops. That role is now assigned to air Force a10 Thunderbolt ii tank killers and f-16 fighting Falcons.  ". Retirees gear up to fight High Dodds tuition  Bureau Naples Italy Gary Sombati a Navy Retiree spends about $17,000 a year to Send his two children to defense department schools in Naples. He s not a Happy Man. Sombati and  Reti Rees in Naples said they Are preparing to file a civil suit against Dodds in at tempt to lower thex St of school tuition. I m not afraid to pay Money for my Chil Dren s education Sombati told the Mem Bers of the advisory committee on dependents education last week during open forums in Naples. But my retirement pay is $18,000 a year and i have to pay $17,000 of it to Send my kids to school. I m letting you know now that Dodds is opening itself to a class action suit the newly retired Petty officer said. The . Government should not deny these children Access to an american de  pay about $8,500 per child per year for their children to attend depart ment of defense dependents schools. Despite Sombati s emotional Appeal Bartley Lagomarsino Deputy director of Dodds said the problem is not a Dodds  he said the decision i mandated by Congress and is in its hands. But Sombati and other retirees Dis  say Dodds is misinterpreting its own regulation. In a position paper writ ten by a retired Navy lawyer retirees ast Sert that the defense Secretary s policy Calls for a percentage Cost based Only on the number of tuition paying pupils not on the Cost of educating Dodds pupils worldwide. There has been some comment that under the statute tuition could Baj in ured either. As an average of All costs per student tuition free and tuition pay ing or As an average of the extra Cost per tuition paying student wrote retired Navy capt. William c. Henderson ii. According to this argument. Dodds has simply chosen the option dictating the higher  Henderson president of the naval forces eur bog Retiree Council has writ ten several pliers on the tuition problem and has sought help from military com Manders throughout Europe. Mike Monaco one of the petitioners in the proposed suit gave an aide to first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton a letter asking for assistance. He received an answer from the office of the undersecretary for education say ing the tuition fees could not be waived. We keep telling them we Aren t asking for a free ride Sombati said. I gave 25 years of my life to the Navy. My Home is where i hang my hat but my wife has a family Here and it s important Toher arid to the  Sombati s wife Nancy knows the problems suffered by children of retirees firsthand. Twenty two years ago her father had to pull her out of a Dodds facility because he could not afford the Tui Tion. She then was put into an italian school the difference in curricula was so drastic that she was immediately set Back one full year and eventually had to take correspondence courses to finish her education two years behind schedule. The italian school system does not in clude any physical fitness programs or extracurricular activities such As computer science or language clubs. Upon entering ninth Grade in italian schools students must choose what Ca reer path they will take for the remainder of their High school education. Those who change their minds Midstream often have to repeat an entire year or More of school. Wylie Miller a retired air Force tech Nical sergeant believes that attending an italian school put his daughter at a disadvantage socially As Well As in seeking admittance to College. She lost her friends her peer group and her opportunities. As military Reti Rees we Are still subject to recall we still fall under the uniform code of Mili tary Justice. We Are still a part of the military Community we have served proudly for years. We just want the Opportunity to give our children the education they Are entitled