NFL VIDEO GAMES Former Navy standout Fallout 76 gets new Perry eager to pursue life in Wastelanders a pro career Page 17 Back page stripes.com Volume 79, No. 10 ©SS 2020 FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2020 $1.00 MILITARY CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK DOD: Increase in reports of sexual assault, harassment BY CAITLIN M. KENNEY Stars and Stripes WASHINGTON — Rates of sexual assault and harassment reports in the military have in- creased since last year, accord- ing to a Pentagon report released Thursday. The Defense Department’s fis- cal year 2019 report on sexual assault in the military said there were 7,825 sexual assault reports involving service members as victims or subjects, a 3% increase compared to 2018. The increase in reports can’t be characterized as an increase in assaults, according to the Pentagon, because a sepa- rate survey on prevalence is only conducted every other year. The military received 1,021 formal sexual harassment com- plaints, a 10% increase from 2018. This year’s report focused on four areas related to the “strengths and challenges” that the military services have in their sexual assault response and TONY DEJAK/AP prevention programs, including “unit climate.” A man walks past a closed business Wednesday in Shaker Heights, Ohio. The U.S. economy shrank at a 4.8% annual rate last quarter as Most military sexual assaults the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country and began triggering a recession that will end the longest expansion on record. happen between service mem- bers who work or live nearby, and “when unit climates are tolerant RELATED STORIES of other forms of misconduct, risk of sexual assault increases,” Marine Corps basic the report states. For active duty training base hit by women, those who experience Deepening downturn sexual harassment had a three dozens of cases times greater risk of sexual as- sault than those who did not, ac- Page 7 cording to the report. 30 million have sought US jobless aid since virus hit This year’s report reflects feed- back from 61 focus groups at eight USNS Comfort BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER That is more people than live in the New York installations in the United States Associated Press and Chicago metropolitan areas combined, and with over 490 service members leaving NYC after and first responders who work it’s by far the worst string of layoffs on record. seeing little action WASHINGTON — More than 3.8 million laid- It adds up to more than one in six American with survivors. off workers applied for unemployment benefits On unit climate, focus group workers. Page 8 last week as the U.S. economy slid further into With more employers cutting payrolls to save participants said that service a crisis that is becoming the most devastating money, economists have forecast that the unem- members find it hard to fully de- since the 1930s. Get the latest on ployment rate for April could go as high as 20%. fine sexual harassment and that Roughly 30.3 million people have filed for job- That would be the highest rate since it reached male and female service mem- the virus outbreak less aid in the six weeks since the coronavirus bers define it differently. outbreak began forcing millions of employers 25% during the Great Depression. SEE INCREASE ON PAGE 8 stripes.com/coronavirus to close their doors and slash their workforces. SEE DOWNTURN ON PAGE 10 PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM •STARS AND STRIPES• Friday, May 1, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EUROPE GAS PRICES EXCHANGE RATES Country Super E10 Super unleaded Super plus Diesel Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9715 Germany $2.036 $2.489 $2.741 $2.700 Azores -- -- $2.992 -- Euro costs (May 1) ................................$1.06 Thailand (Baht) .....................................32.44 Change in price -3.9 cents -4.9 cents -4.1 cents -4.3 cents Change in price -- -- No change -- Dollar buys (May 1) ..........................€0.8961 Turkey (Lira) .........................................6.9887 British pound (May 1) ..........................$1.22 (Military exchange rates are those Netherlands -- $3.039 $3.240 $3.371 Belgium Gas prices were not available at press time Japanese yen (May 1) ........................105.00 Change in price -- -1.0 cents -1.1 cents -4.5 cents Change in price -- available to customers at military banking South Korean won (May 1) ............1,188.00 facilities in the country of issuance U.K. -- $2.399 $2.651 $2.610 Turkey -- -- $2.542 $2.501* Commercial rates for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Change in price -- -4.9 cents -4.1 cents -4.3 cents Change in price -- -- -4.1 cents -4.3 cents Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3779 Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For British pound .....................................$1.2505 nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.3893 purchasing British pounds in Germany), China (Yuan) ........................................ 7.0616 check with your local military banking PACIFIC GAS PRICES Denmark (Krone) ............................... 6.8688 facility. Commercial rates are interbank Egypt (Pound) ......................................6.8955 Country Unleaded Super unleaded Super plus Diesel rates provided for reference when buying Euro ........................................ $1.0861/0.9207 Japan -- $2.529 -- $2.489 South Korea $1.859 -- $2.559 $2.519 Hong Kong (Dollar) ..............................7.7516 currency. All figures are foreign currencies Change in price -- -4.0 cents -- -4.0 cents Change in price -4.0 cents -- -4.0 cents -4.0 cents Hungary (Forint) .................................325.20 to one dollar, except for the British pound, Okinawa $1.829 -- -- $2.489 Guam $1.839** $2.289 $2.539 -- Israel (Shekel) .....................................3.4964 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, Change in price -4.0 cents -- -- -4.0 cents Change in price -4.0 cents -5.0 cents -4.0 cents -- Japan (Yen) ...........................................106.56 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3093 INTEREST RATES Norway (Krone) .................................10.2741 Philippines (Peso).................................50.48 Prime rate ................................................3.25 * Diesel EFD ** Midgrade Poland (Zloty) ..........................................4.18 Discount rate ..........................................0.25 For the week of May 1-7 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7575 Federal funds market rate ...................0.05 Singapore (Dollar) .............................. 1.4111 3-month bill ............................................. 0.11 South Korea (Won) ..........................1,209.91 30-year bond ...........................................1.24 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 61/49 Kabul 70/51 Seoul 66/59 Baghdad 92/64 Kandahar 89/60 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 71/59 77/55 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 56/44 56/51 65/56 Iwakuni 62/56 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 82/77 Brussels 60/51 Guam 88/72 57/47 Ramstein 66/54 84/80 Lajes, 55/50 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 96/68 94/77 64/61 55/44 63/53 Aviano/ Vicenza 59/52 Naples 65/57 Okinawa Morón 72/63 78/54 Sigonella Rota 76/48 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 90/82 70/55 66/58 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ............40 Classified ......................... 41 Comics ..................36, 42-43 Crossword .............36, 42-43 Faces ............................... 37 Opinion .......................38-39 Sports .........................45-52 Weekend ..................... 15-36 Friday, May 1, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• F3HIJKLM PAGE 3 MILITARY Air Force issues 150K gun locks in bid for safety BY JENNIFER H. SVAN cidental firearm discharges were Stars and Stripes responsible for the deaths of 458 people in 2018, 54 of whom were The Air Force is giving away under the age of 14. That same JOSHUA FREEDMAN AND JUSTIN MURPHY/Naval Postgraduate School 150,000 gun locks at all stateside year, there were 24,432 suicides bases as part of efforts to reduce by firearm in the United States, This slide from an April 2018 conference presentation at the Naval Postgraduate School illustrates how suicides and accidental deaths, according to agency data. researchers were inspired to look into using live relay nodes for mesh networks, by combining concepts the service said in a statement. Cable-style gun locks can be from research into grenade-launched network devices and the use of trained falcons against drones. The cable locks will be issued used for both pistols and shot- on a first-come, first-served guns. The cable is threaded basis. Airmen should contact through the weapon and blocks Wi-Fido: Military researchers say their base’s violence prevention the barrel or the use of ammuni- officer for details about local dis- tion. It’s secured by a padlock and tribution, officials said. key. Basic cable locks retail for $5 dogs, birds could extend networks “Adding a cable lock to a fire- to $10 online. arm adds on average a couple The Air Force initiative isn’t minutes to a person’s ability to the first within the military com- BY CHAD GARLAND fire a device into the air, where it pull the trigger once they’ve ac- munity. The Department of Vet- Stars and Stripes ‘ In modern warfare, hung from a small parachute and cessed the weapon,” Brig. Gen. erans Affairs began giving out relayed bursts of