NFL: Some surprised by Steeler’s tribute to Black soldier Back page TRAVEL: Beer gelato a hit at Tokyo farm Page 30 TELEVISION VIDEO GAMES: Spellbreak ‘The Boys’ are back in town adds battle royale Page 19 Page 20 stripes.com Volume 79, No. 110 ©SS 2020 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 $1.00 DECISION 2020 Military responses Here’s where the candidates stand on issues important to troops and veterans BY STEVE BEYNON Stars and Stripes WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and for- mer Vice President Joe Biden agreed in a questionnaire released Wednesday by a military advocacy group that the Defense Department needs to compete with near-peer mili- tary powers such as Russia and China. But the presidential candidates differed on the details and where billions of federal dollars should be spent. Trump boasted about “rebuilding the military.” Biden conceded the military might need a boost but he doesn’t back a runaway budget. President Donald Trump In the questionnaire released by Military Officers Association of America on how Trump Former Vice President Joe Biden highlighted his establishing and Biden would lead the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs, Trump touted the slammed Trump for abandoning Space Force and authorizing a Pentagon’s “largest-ever” budget, writing “our country has rejected a future of American “all fiscal discipline” and called boost to the military’s arsenal in decline and embraced our destiny of American dominance.” for a more surgical approach a questionnaire from the Military to defense spending in his The MOAA asked Trump, Biden and Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian candidate for president, Officers Association of America. response to the MOAA. a series of questions on how they will lead the military and improve care for veterans. EVAN VUCCI/AP PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP SEE RESPONSES ON PAGE 7 Gulf Coast braces for 2nd round of flooding in Sally’s wake BY JAY REEVES, ANGIE WANG and creeks swollen by the storm’s yet,” Escambia County emergency Vehicles sit under AND JEFF MARTIN heavy rains manager Eric Gilmore said. water on a flooded Associated Press In Pensacola and surrounding With the Florida Panhandle and street Wednesday Escambia County, where Sally’s Alabama on alert, Sally’s rainy in Pensacola, Fla. PENSACOLA, Fla. — Hom- floodwaters surged through down- remnants pushed farther inland Hurricane Sally eowners and businesses along the town streets and lapped at car door across the Southeast, causing made landfall near Gulf Shores, Ala., soggy Gulf Coast began cleaning handles Wednesday before reced- flooding in Georgia and threaten- up Thursday in the wake of Hurri- ing, authorities went door-to-door as a Category 2 ing more of the same on Friday in storm. cane Sally as the region braced for to check on residents and warn North Carolina and Virginia. a delayed, second round of flood- them the danger wasn’t over. ing in the coming days from rivers “We are not out of the woods SEE SALLY ON PAGE 9 GERALD HERBERT/AP PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM •STARS AND STRIPES• Friday, September 18, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EUROPE GAS PRICES EXCHANGE RATES Country Super E10 Super unleaded Super plus Diesel Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9100 Germany $2.458 $2.875 $3.126 $2.697 Azores -- -- $3.016 -- Euro costs (Sept. 18) ............................$1.15 Thailand (Baht) ..................................... 31.19 Change in price -1.6 cents -1.2 cents -0.9 cents -0.1 cents Change in price -- -- -11.0 cents -- Dollar buys (Sept. 18).......................€0.8262 Turkey (Lira) .........................................7.5588 British pound (Sept. 18) ......................$1.27 (Military exchange rates are those Netherlands -- $3.357 $3.578 $3.123 Belgium -- $2.258 $2.531 $2.341 Japanese yen (Sept. 18) ....................103.00 Change in price -- -35.8 cents -35.6 cents -43.5 cents Change in price -- No change No change No change available to customers at military banking South Korean won (Sept. 18) ........1,145.00 facilities in the country of issuance U.K. -- $2.774 $3.025 $2.596 Turkey -- -- $2.913 $3.419* Commercial rates for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Change in price -- -2.3 cents -2.0 cents -1.2 cents Change in price -- -- -2.3 cents -2.4 cents Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3770 Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For British pound .....................................$1.2909 nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.3217 purchasing British pounds in Germany), China (Yuan) ........................................ 6.7692 check with your local military banking PACIFIC GAS PRICES Denmark (Krone) ................................6.3000 facility. Commercial rates are interbank Egypt (Pound) ....................................15.7464 rates provided for reference when buying Country Unleaded Super unleaded Super plus Diesel Euro ........................................$1.1809/0.8468 currency. All figures are foreign currencies Japan -- $2.919 -- $2.489 South Korea $2.259 -- $2.929 $2.499 Hong Kong (Dollar) .............................7.7505 to one dollar, except for the British pound, Change in price -- -2.0 cents -- -1.0 cents Change in price -3.0 cents -- -2.0 cents -1.0 cents Hungary (Forint) .................................305.11 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, Israel (Shekel) .....................................3.4230 Okinawa $2.249 -- -- $2.489 Guam $2.259** $2.679 $2.929 -- and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) Change in price -3.0 cents -- -- -1.0 cents Change in price -3.0 cents -2.0 cents -2.0 cents -- Japan (Yen) ........................................... 104.70 Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3059 INTEREST RATES Norway (Krone) ...................................9.0888 Philippines (Peso).................................48.49 Prime rate ................................................3.25 * Diesel EFD ** Midgrade Poland (Zloty) ..........................................3.77 Discount rate ..........................................0.25 For the week of Sept. 19-25 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7504 Federal funds market rate ...................0.09 Singapore (Dollar) ..............................1.3590 3-month bill ............................................. 0.12 South Korea (Won) ..........................1,172.79 30-year bond ...........................................1.45 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 73/66 Kabul 86/55 Seoul 77/58 Baghdad 108/75 Kandahar 88/60 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 74/58 70/67 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 66/52 61/44 77/61 Iwakuni 74/71 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 93/89 Brussels 60/44 Guam 102/82 73/50 Ramstein 74/69 84/81 Lajes, 70/51 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 102/74 97/82 72/69 69/54 66/51 Aviano/ Vicenza 71/61 Naples 84/68 Okinawa Morón 82/79 77/66 Sigonella Rota 84/68 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 97/85 75/70 78/71 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ............12 Classified ......................... 42 Comics ........................38-40 Crossword ...................38-40 Faces ...............................45 Opinion ............................44 Sports .........................46-56 Weekend ..................... 17-38 Friday, September 18, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• F3HIJKLM PAGE 3 MILITARY Experts say Japan’s new prime minister ‘Continuity candidate’ will adhere to Abe’s pro-military stance BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS Stars and Stripes YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Japan’s new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, is likely to adhere to his predeces- sor’s defense policies, which experts say will benefit the Pentagon’s interests. Suga, previously the chief cabinet sec- retary, took over as prime minister on Wednesday following elections by the gov- erning Liberal Democratic Party. His pre- decessor, Shinzo Abe, stepped down due to poor health. Suga had been Japan’s lon- gest-serving chief cabinet secretary, work- ing under Abe from 2012-20. Because of his long partnership with Abe, Japanese media has labeled Suga a “continuity candidate” expected to carry on the former prime minister’s work. Abe advocated strengthening U.S.-Japan relations, bolstering the Japan Self-De- fense Force and supporting U.S. troops in Japan, said Michael Cucek, assistant pro- fessor of Asian Studies at Temple Univer- sity’s Japan campus. Abe also pushed unsuccessfully to re- form Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which prohibits the use or threat of force and the creation of an offensive military. The self-made Suga shares Abe’s pro- military stance, but “was critical in say- ing there’s other things Abe could do to enhance Japan’s security,” said Stephen Nagy, a politics and international studies professor at Tokyo’s International Chris- tian University. /Department of Defense “He strategically has a lot of different LISA FERDINANDO ideas on how Japan can strengthen its se- Then-Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga signs in a visitors book at the Pentagon in Washington in May 2019. curity without that direct change to the constitution,” he said. “I think many peo- hard defense-oriented side of the party are “They will facilitate the U.S. because the announced a formal policy rejecting it. ple would like that change, but the pragma- guaranteed,” Cucek said. “We can expect security situation around Japan is getting Last year, Beijing sent a record-breaking tists