European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 12, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday december 12,1994u.s. Airman Dies in fall from pakistani hotel room from the associated press Islamabad Pakistan a the . Embassy is investigating the death of a american airman who fell from his fourth floor hotel room window embassy officials said sunday. Staff sgt. Mark Shearer 28, died Early Friday the officials said speaking on condition of anonymity. The embassy refused to say whether foul play was suspected or whether it was an Accident. Shearer was based at Robins apr ga., an air Force spokesman in Washington said. Hotel manager Jamil Khan said Shearer was alone in his room at the time of the fall. A fall i can say is yes he slipped from the window a Khan said. A but Why he fell or How he fell i say because the . Embassy Security is doing their own Shearer was in Pakistan with army Gen. . Binford Peay Iii commander of the . Central come who was on a tour of the Region. Peay returned to Florida on Friday. Shearer is survived by his wife and two children embassy officials ambush israelis Marj a Uyun Lebanon a iranian backed guerrillas ambushed an israeli military patrol in South Lebanon on sunday killing an israeli Soldier and wounding six other people Security sources said. Four guerrillas were killed. The shiite Muslim group Hezbollah or party of god said its guerrillas detonated a Roadside bomb and then launched the firefight. It claimed that 25 israeli soldiers were killed or wounded. The bomb exploded shortly after midday As the five vehicle patrol accompanied by foot soldiers reached the crowded Entrance of Marj a Uyun capital of the israeli held enclave in the South the sources said. The guerrillas then raked the patrol with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades the sources said. Israeli troops killed four guerrillas in the gun Battle. The rest of the ambush squad fled with israelis in bomb kills 1, hurts 6 Tokyo a a bomb exploded sunday on a Philippines airlines flight carrying 292 people blowing a 2-foot Hole beneath the passengers feet and setting the ceiling on fire. One passenger was killed and six were injured. Passengers put out the fire with their blankets japanese radio said. The Boeing 747, with 272 passengers and 20 Crew members aboard made a sate emergency Landing about an hour later at Naha Airport on Okinawa in Southern Japan. It had been on its Way to Tokyo from Manila and Cebu in the Philippines. Several hours after the explosion a caller claiming to belong to Abu Sayyar a Muslim fundamentalist group responsible for numerous bombings and kidnappings in the Southern Philippines telephoned the associated press in Manila and claimed responsibility. The stars and stripes Page 5 . May get Steep Bill for cancelling attack Jet Washington a a Federal court decision involving the cancelled a-12 Avenger attack Jet could Cost the Pentagon As much As $1.6 billion to cover losses to the aircraft a two manufacturers and subcontractors. / a a a a a v a. A a a. / a the . Court of claims concluded that the Pentagon contract with Mcdonnell Douglas corp. And general dynamics corp. Should not Nave been cancelled a for default a meaning the manufacturer was to blame a As the Pentagon has argued. The Pentagon in 1991 nullified a $4.8 billion contract with the two companies to build eight prototype jets arguing that the project had serious Cost overruns and was behind schedule. The manufacturers filed a lawsuit seeking payment of $1.6 billion to cover their losses but the defense department argued that no such payment was warranted because the contract had been terminated As a result of the manufacturers failures. The defense department also filed a lawsuit seeking nearly $1.4 billion the government already had advanced the two companies at the time of the cancellation. A. A a a a a a Quot a a a. Judge Robert Hodges or. Of the . Court of claims issued an order late Friday supporting the manufacturers. He concluded that the contract was a not terminated because of contractor default but because then Defenso Secretary Dick Cheney a withdrew support and a prior to that the Navy did not believe that the contractors performance justified termination for default a Hodges said in a three paragraph order. The judge said that he would hold hearings next year to determine How much the government owed the contractors. A Navy spokesman it. Cmdr. Tim of Leary said saturday that the Navy would a vigorously pursue whatever remedies were available under the court -.order. A Quot. A a. A Cheney cancelled the a-12 Jet contract in january 1991 after concluding that the program had suffered from billions of dollars in Cost overruns and numerous schedule delays. The contract to build eight prototype aircraft was Only the first stage of a $52 billion program to build 620 of the radar eluding Jet fighters that were supposed to replace the aging a-6e Carrier based attack jets. Adrift in the storm the Container ship Hyundai Seattle floats helplessly some 550 Miles South of Adak a naval installation in Alaska s Aleutian islands after being disabled by an engine fire. A Winter storm with winds of up to 57 Mph and 30-foot seas hampered weekend efforts to Rescue the 27 Crew members aboard the 798-foot vessel. The freighter had been sailing from Pusan South Korea to Seattle when the Ore erupted Friday. The Blaze was extinguished within hours by the Crew and no lid uries were reported a coast guard official said. California seeks to head off i new round of base closures Washington a president Clinton wont trim social Security to ease the budget deficit his chief of staff said sunday As the chairman of an entitlements commission warned that cuts Are inevitable without drastic changes now. _. A the president made Clear during the Campaign a and before that a that we Are not going to touch social Security and we re not a White House chief of staff Leon Panetta said on cd so face the nation. But sen. Bob Kerrey d-neb., told no cd a meet the press that social Security could not remain solvent if left intact because 260 million americans will become eligible for benefits Over the next 50 to 60 years. / he suggested that Reform could begin with millions of americans stashing Money in savings accounts to supplement their future social Security benefits. #. Kerrey co chairman of the bipartisan commission on entitlement and tax Reform proposed a plan last week to Cut the deficit by raising the retirement age for social Security and medicare to 70 and limiting income tax deductions to 28 percent. Kerrey also proposed cutting entitlements other than social Security a which include medicare food Stamps Federal pensions and welfare a by 10 percent then holding their growth in line with inflation and population growth by William Claiborne Washington Post los Angeles a officials in California hard hit by earlier shutdowns have begun lobbying the base closure commission in Hopes of avoiding further military cutbacks when the defense department proposes the next round of closures March 1. Meeting with staff members from the defense base closure and realignment commission in san Diego gov. Pete Wilson said California had been treated unfairly by the three rounds of base closures ordered since 1988, suffering nearly 70 percent of the Job losses even though Only 15 percent of the nations military personnel Are based in the state. A the next round of base closings is expected to be the worst a the Republican governor said. A but we wont sit Back and let the Federal government continue to strip away California jobs and undermine americans military preparedness we re going to fight for our needed military he spoke with commission staffers last week at a conference of local officials on areas Likely to be affected by the 1995 round of base closings. A transcript of his remarks was released Friday. The states chief economist Philip Romero has assembled a team that is already preparing to defend californians military bases with detailed projections of economic losses in every Community dependent on military jobs Wilson spokesman Sean Walsh said. The executive director of the commission Charles Smith said in a Telephone interview that the service branches Are preparing their lists for base closures which Are expected to be sent to defense Secretary William Perry by Early january. In addition to weighing military preparedness criteria the Pentagon will use a computer Model to predict economic impacts on each affected area. Smith said. The commission begins its hearings immediately after Perry releases the base closure list March 1. It develops its own list which it sends to the president. If the president approves the list he then submits it to Congress which can approve or reject the list but cannot make changes in it. Smith said the commission will consider economic effects but it is required by Law to consider first the military value of the bases and the effects on Force Structure. Apparently sensitive to that order of priorities Wilson stressed in his remarks that California is strategically important As a a american a Gateway to and guardian of the
