MUSIC: Writer still finding joy NFL in ’83 cassette haul Page 19 Number of opt-outs over virus concerns BOOKS: Colin Jost’s trending higher than ‘Punchable Face’ Page 30 many expected GAMES: Be a shutterbug in Back page Umurangi Generation Page 22 stripes.com Volume 79, No. 75 ©SS 2020 FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2020 $1.00 EUROPE REALIGNMENT The logistical lineup What will it take to move 12,000 troops from Germany? Closures, time and lots of money BY JOHN VANDIVER impose immediate costs rather than savings, costly new operations centers to allow U.S. Eu- U.S. soldiers march AND MARCUS KLOECKNER military officials said as plans were first de- ropean Command and other headquarters to through the Boeblingen Stars and Stripes tailed Wednesday. seamlessly continue working. Local Training Area, Along with 5,600 troops heading to other Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters near Stuttgart, STUTTGART, Germany — Removing bases in Europe under the proposal and about Wednesday from the Pentagon that “probably Germany, during the 12,000 troops from Germany will likely mean the area most affected would be the Stuttgart Installation Management several base closures and cost billions of dol- 6,400 heading home, planners must determine how to move thousands more military family area,” where the U.S. military has been since Command, Directorate- lars for an operation that could begin in weeks defeating the Nazis in World War II. Europe’s Best Warrior but take years to complete. members and civilian workers, find them hous- The plan proposes moving EUCOM and its Competition in March. The realignment, triggered by President ing and expand Defense Department school component, U.S. Special Operations Command Donald Trump’s call to move some of the capacities, among other challenges. roughly 36,000 troops out of the country, would They would also need to establish potentially SEE LOGISTICAL ON PAGE 4 JASON JOHNSTON/U.S. Army Bleak economic data points to struggles ahead for US economy BY MARTIN CRUTSINGER keeps forcing more layoffs. the sharpest such drop on records dating to AND PAUL WISEMAN The economy shrank at a dizzying 32.9% 1947. The previous worst quarterly contrac- Associated Press annual rate in the April-June quarter, when tion, a 10% drop, occurred in 1958 during the the viral outbreak shut down businesses, Eisenhower administration. LYNNE SLADKY/AP WASHINGTON — A grim picture emerged throwing tens of millions out of work and So dizzying was the fall that most ana- A sign hangs in the window of Thursday of a U.S. economy that endured a sending unemployment surging to nearly 15%. lysts expect the economy to produce a sharp an empty shop in Miami Beach, record-shattering plunge last quarter and The government’s estimate of the second- bounce-back in the current July-September Fla., on July 13. is struggling to rebound as the coronavirus quarter fall in the gross domestic product was SEE BLEAK ON PAGE 8 PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM •STARS AND STRIPES• Friday, July 31, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER GM loses $806M in second quarter EUROPE GAS PRICES EXCHANGE RATES Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9120 Associated Press Unavailable at press time Euro costs (July 31) .............................. $1.15 Thailand (Baht) ..................................... 31.39 Dollar buys (July 31) .........................€0.8278 Turkey (Lira) .........................................6.9829 DETROIT — Even though General Motors was British pound (July 31) ......................... $1.27 (Military exchange rates are those able to reopen its U.S. factories for the last half of Japanese yen (July 31) .......................102.00 available to customers at military banking South Korean won (July 31)...........1,161.00 facilities in the country of issuance the second quarter, the company still lost $806 mil- Commercial rates for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3770 lion from April through June. PACIFIC GAS PRICES Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For British pound .....................................$1.3043 nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., The Detroit automaker closed its plants on March Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.3427 purchasing British pounds in Germany), Country Unleaded Super unleaded Super plus Diesel China (Yuan) ........................................ 7.0028 18 and they remained idle for two months due to the check with your local military banking Japan -- $2.899 -- $2.489 Denmark (Krone) ................................6.3138 coronavirus. Production didn’t resume fast enough facility. Commercial rates are interbank Change in price -- No change -- -1.0 cents Egypt (Pound) ...................................15.9683 rates provided for reference when buying to stem the losses. Euro ........................................$1.1788/0.8483 Okinawa $2.239 -- -- $2.489 currency. All figures are foreign currencies Like other automakers, GM counts revenue when Change in price -1.0 cents -- -- -1.0 cents Hong Kong (Dollar) .............................7.7504 Hungary (Forint) .................................293.13 to one dollar, except for the British pound, vehicles are shipped from factories, so it had little South Korea $2.249 -- $2.919 $2.509 Israel (Shekel) .....................................3.4082 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, money coming in for about seven weeks in April and Change in price -2.0 cents -- No change No change Japan (Yen) ...........................................105.09 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) May. Guam $2.249** $2.659 $2.909 -- Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3057 INTEREST RATES Change in price -1.0 cents No change No change -- Norway (Krone) ...................................9.1299 The company reported a loss of 50 cents per share Philippines (Peso).................................49.08 Prime rate ................................................3.25 excluding one-time items. That was better than Wall Poland (Zloty) ...........................................3.74 Discount rate ..........................................0.25 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7500 Federal funds market rate ...................0.09 Street expected, with analysts polled by FactSet * Diesel EFD ** Midgrade Singapore (Dollar) ..............................1.3761 3-month bill ............................................. 0.10 predicting a $1.77 per-share loss. For the week of July 31 - Aug 6 South Korea (Won) ..........................1,196.04 30-year bond ...........................................1.24 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 69/65 Kabul 97/72 Seoul 81/74 Baghdad 114/88 Kandahar 105/77 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 84/74 82/72 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 84/63 66/54 81/74 Iwakuni 81/76 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 97/93 Brussels 71/56 Guam 115/100 94/61 Ramstein 81/75 84/81 Lajes, 95/54 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 115/87 102/91 71/68 85/60 87/62 Aviano/ Vicenza 88/71 Naples 90/75 Okinawa Morón 84/81 106/68 Sigonella Rota 100/69 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 94/83 86/68 83/75 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ............13 Classified .........................43 Comics ..................38, 44-45 Crossword .............38, 44-45 Faces ............................... 16 Opinion ............................ 39 Sports .........................46-56 Weekend ..................... 17-38 Friday, July 31, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• F3HIJKLM PAGE 3 MILITARY Hearing on harassment focuses on Fort Hood BY CAITLIN M. KENNEY the interviews with members of Stars and Stripes Guillen’s unit this week are simi- lar to what inspectors had already WASHINGTON — Before observed at the installation, ac- Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen was cording to Wempe. killed by a fellow soldier at Fort Most soldiers surveyed said Hood, she confided in family members that she was being ha- they would report if they were rassed at the central Texas base sexually harassed or assaulted, but she was afraid to report it to Wempe said. Nearly all soldiers her commanders, her sister, Lupe said their leaders take reports Guillen, has said. seriously. Guillen’s disappearance and Rep. Veronica Escobar, D- death in April sparked an inspec- Texas, citing the inspector gen- tion of Fort eral’s report which has not been Hood’s Sex- released to the public, asked why ual Harass- there was a difference between ment and 86% of Fort Hood soldiers saying Assault Re- they would report an assault and sponse and the 50% who said they had actu- Prevention ally reported an incident within program by the last year. investigators That was data from the anony- with the U.S. mous survey, Wempe said, and it Army Forces Command. was a small sample size consist- Guillen On ing of only four people who in- Wednesday, Col. Patrick Wempe, dicated they had been assaulted the inspector general of the com- CAROLYN KASTER/AP and only two of them indicated they had reported. Because it was mand, told House lawmakers that A makeshift memorial for U.S. Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen, is seen at the base of the Washington an anonymous survey, the inspec- Fort Hood’s SHARP program Monument earlier this month in Washington. meets the Army’s standard. tors could not look into those spe- “No single inspection can be cific cases. definitive. We believe our inspec- it reflects the Army’s values of media