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MILITARY VIRUS OUTBREAK FACES Trans service EU proposes McElhenney’s Apple+ members cheer easing restrictions comedy ‘Quest’ dreams ban reversal on visiting bloc of sunnier days to come Page 3 Page 8 Page 18 Baseball’s offensive slump is one for the record books ›› MLB, Page 24 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 12 ©SS 2021 TUESDAY,MAY 4, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas VIRUS OUTBREAK Moving to help US sends transport planes with supplies to India as pandemic ravages nation BY ELLEN WULFHORST New York Daily News The U.S. has sent a number of large military transport planes loaded with supplies, including desperately needed oxygen, to In- dia for its lethal battle against CO- VID-19, a top security official said Sunday. India is home to more than a third of the world’s new COVID-19 cases, according to U.S. officials, and that grim tally soared to a new peak Saturday, with 401,993 cases recorded after a 10-day stretch of more than 300,000 daily cases. Overwhelmed hospitals are turning away sick patients, with supplies of oxygen and medicine running low, and skies are smoke- filled from crematoriums working around the clock to burn the bod- PRAKASH SINGH/TNS Staff unloads COVID-19 relief supplies from the U.S. at the Indira Gandhi International Airport cargo terminal in New Delhi on Friday. SEE HELP ON PAGE 7 Lawmakers tee up proposals to improve military child care BY SARAH CAMMARATA FAILING GRADE or her decision to stay in the military, and it and we’re going to get everyone’s attention Stars and Stripes also can be a barrier to spouse unemploy- and we’re going to get them to respond,” WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are tee- A Defense Department report in June 2020 on ment and hurts the overall well-being of said Speier, chairwoman of the military ing up legislative proposals that would tack- its child development programs found out of military families, experts said. personnel subpanel of the House Armed le child care problems in the military, as 761 child development centers, 378 are in Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said she will Services Committee. thousands of children remain on month- “good” condition, while 135 are in “poor” or introduce a proposal in mid-May with Sen. A Defense Department report in June slong waitlists and the Defense Depart- “failing” condition due to the high cost of Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., that requires the 2020 on its child development programs ment’s backlog to repair existing facilities repairs and deferred maintenance. Defense Department to conduct a review on found out of 761 child development centers, swells. SOURCE: Stars and Stripes its child care centers, including examining 378 are in “good” condition, while 135 are in The Defense Department, along with ex- their conditions, establishing a plan to mod- “poor” or “failing” condition due to the high perts and military advocacy groups, have care centers and schools remain shuttered, ernize them and finding ways to expand ca- cost of repairs and deferred maintenance. recognized high-quality child care as a re- blocking access to after-school care too. pacity. “Failing to me suggests that there might tention and readiness issue for service The inability to access affordable and “There has been a lack of recognition that even be environmental conditions that are members. The coronavirus pandemic also quality child care can impact a service when a service member serves, so does his has exacerbated the problem, as some child member's ability to report for duty and his or her family. … We’re elevating this issue, SEE IMPROVE ON PAGE 6 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Tuesday, May 4, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER Delta last to end social distancing on flights EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1,122.33 The Washington Post starting selling all their seats “While Delta’s decision to Switzerland (Franc) 0.9118 Euro costs (May 4) $1.18 Thailand (Baht) 31.15 Saturday marked the end of a last summer. Southwest started block middle seats has given Dollar buys (May 4) 0.8086 Turkey (New Lira) 8.2928 British pound (May 4) $1.36 pandemic era in the air: no doing the same in December, many customers a reason to Japanese yen (May 4) 106.00 (Military exchange rates are those available more social distancing on and Alaska Airlines and Jet- choose Delta over the past year, South Korean won (May 4) 1,089.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ flights. Blue followed in January. the signature hospitality of our many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain (Dinar) 0.3769 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ Delta was the final holdout, Delta announced at the end of employees and the experiences Britain (Pound) 1.3904 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2289 your local military banking facility. Commercial ending its practice of blocking March that it would make all they deliver to customers every China (Yuan) 6.4737 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.1658 middle seats on Saturday. That seats available for flights start- day have also deepened their Egypt (Pound) 15.6577 when buying currency. All figures are foreign is more than a year after the air- ing May 1. One key factor, chief trust in our airline,” Bastian Euro 0.8291 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7674 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ line first introduced the prac- executive Ed Bastian said, was said in an announcement. Hungary (Forint) 298.46 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2455 tice as the coronavirus cratered that the airline believed nearly During an earnings call in Japan (Yen) 109.15 INTEREST RATES the number of air travelers. 65% of those who flew with Del- mid-April, Bastian said the Kuwait (Dinar) 0.3013 Norway (Krone) 8.2910 Prime rate 3.25 Other major U.S. carriers ta in 2019 expected to have at change would provide “a pow- Philippines (Peso) 48.05 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.77 Federal funds market rate 0.07 have long since returned to full least one dose of a vaccine by erful tool for improving our fi- Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7498 3­month bill 0.01 flights. American and United the beginning of May. nancial performance.” Singapore (Dollar) 1.3303 30­year bond 2.30 WEATHER OUTLOOK TUESDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST TUESDAY IN EUROPE WEDNESDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 57/46 Kabul Seoul 84/59 60/50 Baghdad 97/68 Drawsko Osan Tokyo Kandahar 64/41 65/53 Mildenhall/ Pomorskie Busan 80/64 Lakenheath 50/38 54/41 67/61 Iwakuni Kuwait City 62/58 Bahrain Brussels Zagan Sasebo Guam 89/72 82/78 Ramstein 58/38 66/62 53/45 47/42 84/81 Riyadh Lajes, Stuttgart 92/65 Doha Azores Pápa 61/58 57/41 95/73 Aviano/ 65/43 Vicenza 57/44 Naples 66/53 Okinawa Morón 76/73 82/51 Sigonella Rota 73/51 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 70/51 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 89/80 69/66 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 11 Classified .................... 13 Comics .........................16 Crossword ................... 16 Faces .......................... 18 Opinion ........................ 14 Sports .................... 19-24 Tuesday, May 4, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY Trans troops cheer reversal of ban maybe a little sketched out by her Those who meet being trans, or the people who maybe disagree with how she military standards lives her life. She’s still like, ‘I’m here to be a good human and take can enlist and care of you and do what I can to make you better.’” serve openly The number of service mem- bers who identify as transgender BY J.P. LAWRENCE ranges from 1,000 to 8,000, the di- Stars and Stripes rector of military accession policy KABUL, Afghanistan — Maj. at the Pentagon, Stephanie Miller, Alivia Stehlik’s fears that trans- told reporters in March. gender soldiers would be kicked A 2016 Rand Corp. report said out of the Army faded Friday as the estimated 2,450 transgender former President Donald Trump’s personnel on active duty would regulations were overturned. minimally affect military readin- Those who meet military stan- ess because only a tiny percentage dards are once again allowed to would access transition-related enlist and serve openly. health care each year. But the policy change — an- But over the years, transgender nounced in March by Defense service members have suffered Secretary Lloyd Austin and taking discrimination, fought psycholog- effect Friday — won’t erase Steh- ical trauma and sometimes been lik’s memories of how she said she forced out of the military. felt while serving as a transgender Jamie Ewing, who was in Af- woman in Afghanistan in 2018 ghanistan as a contractor when when the White House initiated Stehlik was there, was kicked out moves to bar most transgender of the Army in 2013 because she people from serving. was transgender, after serving for Trump argued on Twitter that more than five years. transgender service members’ Army Staff Sgt. Dianna Nazzal, medical costs were a drain on the Photos by Sara Skiles who was transitioning while de- military and said they would no Then­Capt. Alivia Stehlik, right, a transgender service member, and Capt. Sara Skiles deployed to ployed in 2018, said she struggled longer be allowed to serve “in any Afghanistan in 2018.

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