MOVIES: ‘76 Days’ looks at 1st COLLEGE FOOTBALL COVID outbreak Pages 20-21 Army linebacker a late bloomer MUSIC: Garth Brooks’ for Black Knights country comfort Page 32 Page 56 GAMES: Demon’s Souls, PS5 go great together Page 23 stripes.com Volume 79 Edition 170 ©SS 2020 FRIDAY,DECEMBER 11, 2020 $1.00 VIRUS OUTBREAK AMANDA GERLACH/U.S. Army Spc. Selena M. Castillo prepares to administer a flu vaccination at Fort Sill, Okla., in 2019. Bases chosen for troops to receive 1st vaccinations BY CAITLIN M. KENNEY Stars and Stripes WASHINGTON — Military health care workers in South Ko- rea, Germany and Okinawa will be among the first in the Defense ROSE L. THAYER/Stars and Stripes Department who can choose to re- A soldier assigned to Fort Hood, Texas, spoke Tuesday to base leadership about the difficulty that she faced in reporting a sexual assault, ceive the new coronavirus vac- including that she was forced to live in the same barracks as her perpetrator. cines once they are approved, de- fense officials said Wednesday. “The department is strongly en- couraging everyone to take it,” Ar- my Lt. Gen. Ronald Place, direc- tor of the Defense Health Agency, said during a briefing at the Penta- ‘It impacts my daily life’ gon. The Defense Department on Wednesday announced its plan Fort Hood soldiers react to failings of base leaders uncovered in Army report for distributing the allocation of coronavirus vaccines. The depart- BY ROSE L. THAYER from a victim of sexual assault. ment is one of five agencies to be Stars and Stripes Leadership issues Her chain of command did not know what to allocated its own supply of the vac- FORT HOOD, Texas — Standing in parade outlined in report could go do “because they are not getting the proper cines, along with the Department rest, an Army specialist on Tuesday told Lt. training,” she said. “We need people who care Gen. Pat White, commander of the central Tex- beyond Texas installation and not just take it with a grain of salt. It’s not a SEE BASES ON PAGE 6 as base, about being raped there by a fellow Page 4 joke. It really messes people’s lives up.” soldier in her unit, and then having to live in the The soldier was one of two women who chose RELATED same barracks building with him. next to my room. I was scared, but I couldn’t do to share emotional stories of sexual assault Behind her, nearly 2,000 other soldiers sat anything about that,” said the soldier, who is Tuesday at the stadium gathering with White, Report: 1st active-duty silent in the blue bleachers of Hood Stadium as not being identified because she was the victim who hosted the discussion following the re- soldier dies from she described her failed attempts to receive of an assault. lease of an Army report that found Fort Hood therapy and her constant fear of seeing her Eventually, she was able to speak to a major has created an environment permissive of sex- coronavirus perpetrator. who helped her living situation, but she told Page 6 “He was partying with people right there White that it shouldn’t require such efforts SEE HOOD ON PAGE 4 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, December 11, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EUROPE GAS PRICES EXCHANGE RATES Country Super E10 Super unleaded Super plus Diesel Military rates So. Korea (Won) 1088.14 Germany $2.431 $2.842 $3.095 $2.801 Azores .. .. $2.894 .. Switzerlnd (Franc) .8855 Euro costs (Dec. 11) $1.18 Change in price +3.6 cents +2.7 cents +2.8 cents +2.4 cents Change in price .. .. +4.2 cents .. Thailand (Baht) 30.03 Dollar buys (Dec. 11) 0.8046 Turkey (NewLira) 7.8686 Netherlands .. $3.348 $3.578 $3.454 Belgium .. $2.377 $2.621 $2.423 British pound (Dec. 11) $1.31 Japanese yen (Dec. 11) 102.00 Change in price .. +8.6 cents +9.8 cents +12.4 cents Change in price .. No change No change No change (Military exchange rates are those available South Korean won (Dec. 11) 1059.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the U.K. .. $2.741 $2.994 $2.700 Turkey .. .. $2.995 $3.359* Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ Change in price .. +2.7 cents +2.8 cents +2.4 cents Change in price .. .. +2.8 cents +0.5 cents many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) .3770 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ Britain (Pound) .7513 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2717 your local military banking facility. Commercial China(Yuan) 6.5432 rates are interbank rates provided for reference PACIFIC GAS PRICES Denmark (Krone) 6.1244 Egypt (Pound) 15.7113 when buying currency. All figures are foreign Country Super E10 Super unleaded Super plus Diesel Euro .8229 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Japan .. $2.889 .. $2.589 South Korea $2.239 .. $2.899 $2.609 Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7515 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Change in price .. +3.0 cents .. +2.0 cents Change in price +4.0 cents .. +3.0 cents +3.0 cents Hungary (Forint) 292.65 Israel (Shekel) 3.2507 Okinawa $2.219 .. .. $2.589 Guam $2.229 $2.639 $2.899 .. Japan (Yen) 104.26 INTEREST RATES Kuwait(Dinar) .3051 Change in price +3.0 cents .. .. +2.0 cents Change in price +3.0 cents +2.0 cents +3.0 cents .. Norway (Krone) 8.7745 Prime rate 3.25 Philippines (Peso) 48.05 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 *DieselEFD **Midgrade Poland (Zloty) 3.64 Federal funds market rate 0.09 Saudi Arab (Riyal) 3.7513 3­month bill 0.08 For the week of Dec. 11-17 Singapore (Dollar) 1.3348 30­year bond 1.69 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 42/39 Kabul Seoul 36/33 40/26 Baghdad 65/47 Tokyo Drawsko Osan Kandahar Mildenhall/ 41/31 51/41 52/33 Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 32/27 48/43 45/40 Iwakuni Kuwait City 53/50 Bahrain Brussels Zagan Sasebo Guam 66/55 71/66 Ramstein 35/28 54/50 45/33 33/30 84/81 Riyadh Lajes, 69/45 Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 64/61 37/26 72/57 Aviano/ 36/32 Vicenza 42/30 Naples 53/47 Okinawa Morón 72/69 61/58 Sigonella Rota 58/47 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 63/60 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 84/72 60/55 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 16 Classified .................... 42 Comics .................. 44-45 Crossword ............. 44-45 Faces .......................... 39 Opinion ........................ 41 Sports ................... 48-56 Friday, December 11, 2020 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY Biden: Austin is ‘right person’ for Pentagon BY COREY DICKSTEIN “His many strengths and his in- Austin, who is known to avoid Stars and Stripes timate knowledge of the Depart- speaking publicly, vowed to follow WASHINGTON — President- ment of Defense and of our gov- the U.S. mantra of a civilian-led elect Joe Biden implored Con- ernment are uniquely suited to the military, if confirmed. gress on Wednesday to grant his challenges and crises we face,” Bi- “When I concluded my military defense secretary nominee, re- den said. “He is the person we service four years ago, I hung up tired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, a need in this moment. And, given my uniform for the last time and rare waiver to allow him to lead the urgent threats and challenges went from being Gen. Lloyd Aus- the Pentagon. our nation faces, he should be con- tin to Lloyd Austin,” he said. “It’s “There are good reasons for this firmed swiftly.” an important distinction, and one law that I fully understand and re- Austin, 67, retired from the Ar- that I make with utmost serious- spect,” Biden said Wednesday in a my in 2016 after leading U.S. Cen- ness and sincerity.” brief speech to introduce Austin to tral Command for about three He said his vast uniformed ex- the public as his nominee. “I years. The 41-year veteran and perience would serve him well in would not be asking for an excep- JOE GROMELSKI/Stars and Stripes graduate of the U.S. Military A- the position, but he would seek tion here if I did not believe this Then­Gen. Lloyd Austin, attends a Senate Armed Services Committee cademy at West Point, N.Y., has regular insight from advisers who moment in our history didn’t call budget hearing in Washington in March 2015. extensive combat experience, have spent more time in the civil- for it — it does call for it — and if I leading troops in Iraq and Afghan- ian world. didn’t have the faith I do have in years. A waiver of the 1947 law fense.” istan. “I come to this role now as a ci- Lloyd Austin.” had only been passed one other Duckworth was among 17 Dem- He has a history of breaking vilian leader — with military ex- Austin would require an excep- time, in 1950. ocratic senators to vote against a barriers. Austin was the first perience to be sure — but also with tion to a long-standing law that re- Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., waiver in 2017 for Jim Mattis, the Black Army general to command a deep appreciation and rever- quires career military officers to an Iraq war veteran and member former Marine general who be- a division and a corps in combat.