European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 28, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 stars and stripes wednesday March 28 2007 sure Start parents tasked daily Homework by Megan Mccloskey stars and stripes Camp Foster Okinawa some sure Start parents on Okinawa Are being assigned Homework seven Days a week so they can have More free time those with children in the Spe Cial preschool program at Zuke ran elementary school on Camp Foster have to take at least 15 min utes for themselves each Day then write their activity Down in a journal and Call a fellow Parent to Check if they also did their Home work the schools sure Start instructor Louise Thompson said she started the 15minute require ment in february because she noticed during Home visits some parents tended to be harried and stressed they told me they we rent doing anything for themselves Thompson said so i thought what can we do to help them sometimes stayathome parents dont feel like its of to take a break sure Start is an Early childhood development program for 4yearolds its modelled on the successful head Start program in the United states that helps give children of Low income families the same learning advantages As their wealthier Peers Home visits and Parent Volun Teer time in the classroom Are required to participate in sure Start and priority for the pro Gram is Given to the children of those ranked Al to e4 Leilani Adolpho 29 who has five kids aged 10 and younger said Shes had fun with the Home work so far it makes me Stop and think about what i can do today just for me she said Thompson gave the parents a mini spiral notebook to write Down the activity they do each Day and to record what there As signed partner did that Day she checks the Book periodically and parents who fail to make a Call to their partner have to spend those 15 minutes in the classroom volunteering Sharon Carter the Early child Hood specialist for the Okinawa District of department of defense dependents schools said there Are Basic guidelines sure Start teachers must follow but other than that they Are free to improvise and add requirements i think its Good Carter said about Thompsons 15minute Rule i Hope it will catch on with our other sure Start teachers Kyla Markham 28 said the pro Gram has been popular among the parents and has been a Good Way to form relationships with others in a similar position the Lone father in the group 25yearold Jacobi James said its a pain keeping up with the Book and my partner but he said he  really complain about someone requiring he play video games email Megan Mccloskey at Afri coms shaping up As a Model of support by Jeff Schogol stars and stripes Arlington a dozen service members Are expected to go to Liberia this year to help train that country military said Theresa Whelan Deputy assistant defense Secretary for african affairs the troops Likely to come from us Europe an command will help the liberians with Small unit training As part of the us govern ments ongoing efforts since 2003 to help Liberia demobilize its old army and raise a new one of 2000 troops Whelan said in a thursday interview with stars and stripes the Mission is typical of what us service members can expect to perform once us Afri Ca command becomes fully operational by 2008 she said the Model of the us in a supporting role using a few people to support the africans in addressing their Security needs which in turn will help address essentially the Model that were looking at she said on feb 6 defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the creation of Aricom which will ultimately be responsible for All of Africa except Egypt which has existing military ties with us Central command right now most of the continent Falls under Euc oms Purview with Cen com responsible for seven nations in Northeast Africa and us Pacific command responsible for Mada Gascar and other islands off the continents East coast Afri coms purpose is to make Africa the primary concern of one combatant command instead of a secondary or tertiary concern for three other commands Whelan said still some people have a misconception about Aricom As a massive concentration of us troops on the african continent she said Aricom int a Force i guess is the main Point she said some people dont quite understand that they seem to think some kind of us military division is going to Roll across the Sahel Northern Africa or something the Overall us troop presence on the Afri can continent now about 1800 is not expected to change much once Aricom becomes fully operational Whelan said we will have Small training teams just like we do now right now in the Sahel Whelan said we still have our troops at Camp lemonier we still have the us Navy Mak ing ship visits and port Calls up and Down the coasts and us Navy personnel conducting training missions the commands goal will also be to help Afri cans improve their own Security Whelan said its not the United states doing it for every body if s the United states being there with them and being supportive she said As such missions us troops can expect to perform in Africa include helping train african forces to conduct peacekeeping operations and secure their Border Whelan said the command also plans to refocus efforts to help african navies and coastal forces Cut Down on illegal fishing especially in the Gulf of Guinea and Southwest Indian Ocean she said As for responding to crises that arise on the african continent any missions that Afri com would undertake would be part of the Overall response from the us government Whelan said it wont just be an Aricom decision about what it would do or would not do in a particular crisis she said it would be a broader us policy decision and Aricom would be a component of the Overall response if it was determined that a crisis required some kind of military response asked How Aricom would Deal with the volatile Horn of Africa where islamic insurgents Are fighting government forces and Afri can peacekeepers in Somalia Whelan reiterated that Aricom would be part of Overall us policy not a policymaker in its own right Aricom will not be responsible for solv ing the problems of the Horn of Africa she said email Jeff Schogol at Iwakuni mayor urged to support move of aircraft by Chiyomi Sumida stars and stripes the Iwakuni City Council on Friday urged mayor Katsusuke Ihara to accept a plan to move us Carrie based aircraft to Marine corps air station Iwakuni from naval air facility Atsu i the councils resold agreement signed by the us and Japan last May to realign us forces in Japan part of the plan Calls for relocating Atsu Gibase Carrier air Wing 5 squadrons to Mas Iwakuni by 2014 Ihara has been a staunch opponent of the plan in March 2006 he sponsored a citywide referendum in which the majority of voters rejected the Transfer of 48802 voters 43433 or 889 percent opposed it the next month Diara was reelected mayor reaffirming Public support of his position the City Council on Friday called for the mayor to be More realistic and enter into negotiations with Tokyo in order to get the Best Deal for noise abatement measures and subsidies Iwakuni is in a Geo politically important location and is destined to contribute to the National Security and stability of our asian neighbors said Hiroaki Maeno one of the five Council members who proposed the Resolution which passed by a vote of 22 to 11 Maeno said Igharas strategy of flatly refusing the plan brings no benefits to the people of Iwakuni it is the role of the mayor to sit at the negotiation table and convey the voices of citizens he said the Central government announced Iwakuni is destined to contribute to the National Security and earlier this year that municipalities that accept additional us military facilities operations and troops would receive subsidies commensurate with the size and magnitude of the Burden our City is in deep financial Trou ble Maeno said adding that Tokyo has promised 35 billion yen about million in subsidies in Exchange for accepting the realign stability of our asian Hiroaki Maeno City Council member crucial for our cites finances opponents of the plan say fridays Resolution will not make the mayor change his mind we understand that the Resolution was brought about because of the cites severe financial situation said Jungen Tamura a City Council member who added that making Iwakuni a Hub for us military aircraft was Sim ply too much there Are currently 50 aircraft stationed at Iwakuni air station he said in Addi Tion refuelling aircraft from the Marine corps futenma air station would move to Iwakuni through re alignment if Carrie based aircraft from Katsugi Are added everything would be concentrated on Iwakuni enough is enough is the voice of the residents he said however Ihara said that he would take the Resolution seriously said Tat Suya Matsubayashi chief of the cites military affairs office i will further deepen negotiations with the govern ment and review the Issue from Vari Ous angles Ihara said according to Matsubayashi while sharing information with citizens and City Council members i will seek a direction for a solution email Chiyomi Sumida at Volvo military sales Purchase your new Volvo xc70 or xc90 with the Premium package and get the climate or convenience package for free also for a limited time Only All new orders for a Volvo v70 v70r xc70 with the Premium package will also receive the Rte navigation system valued at for free so you can now Purchase your new v70v70r or xc70 through the Volvo military sales program and save up to under stateside Srp Contact us for further details about this and other Winter wonder offers Japan 046 825 098 936 8640 email