Unhappy Homecoming
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MILITARY MILITARY MUSIC North Korea proceeds Launch of hypersonic Punk band Algiers faces with missile test amid glide body a major step challenge of balancing deadlock in US talks forward for Pentagon politics and art in 2020 Page 3 Page 3 Page 16 42-year-old QB Brady starting over with Buccaneers » NFL, Back Page Volume 78, No. 240B ©SS 2020 CONTINGENCY EDITION SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 stripes.com Free to Deployed Areas Unhappy homecoming 82nd Airborne troops return from Mideast to austere conditions BY LOLITA C. BALDOR they were herded into buses, denied water and about the poor conditions. Their complaints Associated Press the use of bathrooms, then quarantined in packed got quick attention from senior Army and Pen- barracks, with little food or access to the outdoors. tagon leaders. Now changes are under way at WASHINGTON — It wasn’t the welcome home “This is no way to treat Soldiers returning from Fort Bliss and at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, that U.S. soldiers expected when they returned from war,” one soldier told The Associated Press in an where the first soldiers placed under quarantine war zones in the Middle East in the past week. email. When their planes landed at Fort Bliss, Texas, The soldiers posted notes on social media SEE RETURN ON PAGE 5 Large tents established in a remote training area to provide accommodations for hundreds of 82nd Airborne Division troops returning from Afghanistan and Middle East deployments are seen Tuesday at Fort Bragg, N.C. ZACH VANDYKE/AP Coronavirus leads Army to shut down recruiting stations, redouble online efforts BY COREY DICKSTEIN ficials said. home while social distancing practices to cruits. Muth has been among the leading Stars and Stripes The Army’s 10,000-plus recruiting contain the virus remain recommended by advocates for Army recruiters to focus force will shift to a nearly 100% focus on federal health officials, a spokeswoman for heavily on digital operations since the ser- WASHINGTON — The Army on Friday digital operations via social media, phone the command said. vice fell short of its 2018 recruiting goal. began closing the doors of its more than calls, text messages and video chats for Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, Recruiting Com- “We are very confident in our ability 1,400 recruiting stations across the nation an indefinite period, U.S. Army Recruit- mand chief, said he was confident the to operate in the virtual space, as it has in an effort to protect its recruiters from ing Command announced. Recruiters are mission would not grind to a halt without the fast-spreading coronavirus, service of- expected to work almost exclusively from face-to-face meetings with potential re- SEE RECRUITING ON PAGE 5 PAGE 2 •STARS AND STRIPES• Sunday, March 22, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES Dow drops more than 900 points on virus fears Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9854 Euro costs (March 23) .....................$1.1038 Thailand (Baht) .....................................32.60 Dollar buys (March 23) ......................€0.906 Turkey (Lira) .........................................6.5513 British pound (March 23) ....................$1.21 (Military exchange rates are those Associated Press The index has declined in four of economic damage has waned as Japanese yen (March 23) ..................105.00 available to customers at military banking the last five weeks. investors wait for the Trump ad- South Korean won (March 23) ..... 1,228.00 facilities in the country of issuance Wall Street ended the week the Commercial rates for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the The latest sell-off wiped out ministration to deliver on legis- Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3776 Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For same way it began: in full retreat the gains from a day earlier and lation that will pump billions of British pound .................................... $ 1.1766 nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., from the coronavirus. Canada (Dollar) .................................. 1.4298 purchasing British pounds in Germany), capped the market’s worst week dollars into hurting households China (Yuan) ........................................ 7.0981 check with your local military banking Stocks fell sharply and the since the financial crisis of 2008. and industries. Denmark (Krone) ................................6.9850 facility. Commercial rates are interbank price of oil sank Friday as federal Egypt (Pound) ....................................15.7520 rates provided for reference when buying Investors are worried that the “The coronavirus is shutting Euro ....................................... $ 1.0693/0.9352 currency. All figures are foreign currencies and state governments moved coronavirus will plunge the U.S. the economy down,“ said Lindsey Hong Kong (Dollar) .............................7.7589 to one dollar, except for the British pound, to shut down bigger and bigger Hungary (Forint) .................................327.87 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, and other major economies into Bell, chief investment strategist Israel (Shekel) ..................................... 3.6117 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) swaths of the nation’s economy in deep recessions. Steps to con- at Ally Invest. At the same time, Japan (Yen) ........................................... 110.96 the hope of limiting the spread of Kuwait (Dinar) ....................................... .3111 INTEREST RATES tain the spread of the outbreak oil prices are being pulled lower Norway (Krone) .................................11.2831 the outbreak. Philippines (Peso)................................ 51.33 are causing massive disruptions by increased supplies at a time Prime rate ................................................3.25 The Dow Jones Industrial Av- and layoffs. Optimism that emer- when demand is declining. Poland (Zloty) ......................................... 4.24 Discount rate .......................................... 0.75 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7573 Federal funds market rate ...................1.09 erage slid more than 900 points, gency actions by central banks “This is kind of a double-wham- Singapore (Dollar) ..............................1.4499 3-month bill .............................................0.03 ending the week with a 17.3% loss. and governments to ease the my for the economy,“ she said. South Korea (Won) ...........................1249.01 30-year bond ........................................... 1.75 WEATHER OUTLOOK SUNDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST SUNDAY IN EUROPE MONDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 42/35 Kabul 56/39 Seoul 55/35 Baghdad 58/50 Kandahar 74/51 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 54/36 48/44 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 45/39 37/29 58/42 Iwakuni 56/48 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 73/69 Brussels 36/28 Guam 71/61 47/32 Ramstein 57/50 82/78 Lajes, 41/28 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 71/61 78/68 58/54 41/30 41/32 Aviano/ Vicenza 45/41 Naples 62/51 Okinawa Morón 72/68 58/47 Sigonella Rota 57/39 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 86/78 58/50 59/53 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ..... 20 Comics ...................... 14 Crossword ................. 14 Music ....................16-17 Opinion ..................... 19 Sports ...................21-24 Travel .................. 12, 15 Sunday, March 22, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• PAGE 3 MILITARY N. Korea test-fires missiles near S. Korea BY KIM GAMEL South Korean officials said was AND YOO KYONG CHANG part of winter training drills. Stars and Stripes The show of strength came after the United States and South SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea canceled plans for a joint Korea test-fired two short-range military training exercise this missiles that flew more than 250 month because of the coronavi- miles before splashing into the rus pandemic. sea off its eastern coast Saturday, the South Korean military said. The allies insist they are con- North Korean leader Kim Jong tinuing regular training and re- Un also guided an artillery fire main ready to fight if needed. competition between large com- Gen. Robert Abrams, the com- bined army units “on the western mander of U.S. Forces Korea, front” Friday, state-run media said measures have been imple- reported. mented to protect the health of The military activity showed troops while maintaining “our the North is continuing to develop fight-tonight readiness posture.” its weapons programs as nuclear “That mission has not gone talks with the United States have away with COVID-19, and you been deadlocked for more than a need to not look any further than year. the last two weeks with multiple The two projectiles, which North Korean missile tests,” he were presumed to be short-range told reporters on March 13. ballistic missiles, were launched “We’re still flying. We’re still from a western area Saturday, training. We’re still shooting gun- according to the Joint Chiefs of nery. We’re still qualifying our Staff. weapons. We’re still conducting It said the projectiles flew maneuver training,” he said. more than 250 miles and reached KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY, KOREA NEWS SERVICE/AP Some 28,500 American service a maximum altitude of 30 miles. “Our military is maintaining North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervises an artillery firing competition between army units, Friday, in members are stationed in South a readiness posture and track- the country’s west in North Korea. Korea, which remains techni- ing and monitoring