MILITARY FACES COMBAT SPORTS Recruit dropped Ben Schwartz UFC, boxing back on 186 pounds to ready for spotlight, in Vegas after Nevada become a Marine ‘Space Force’ approves their return Page 3 Page 15 Back page Soldier saved lives by ramming car into shooter, police say » Page 3 Volume 79, No. 30 ©SS 2020 CONTINGENCY EDITION FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2020 stripes.com Free to Deployed Areas VIRUS OUTBREAK Unemployment claims approach 41 million in US Reviewing the battle plan amid reopenings BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Associated Press WASHINGTON — Roughly 2.1 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a sign that companies are still slashing jobs in the face of a deep recession even as more busi- nesses reopen and rehire some laid-off employees. About 41 million people have applied for aid since the virus outbreak intensified in March, although not all of them are still unemployed. The Labor Depart- ment’s report Thursday includes a count of all the people now re- ceiving unemployment aid: 21 million. That is a rough measure of the number of unemployed Americans. The national jobless rate was 14.7% in April, the highest since the Great Depression, and many economists expect it will near 20% in May. States are gradually restarting their economies by letting some businesses — from gyms, retail shops and restaurants to hair and nail salons — reopen with restric- tions. As some of these employ- ers, including automakers, have recalled a portion of their laid-off employees, the number of people OMAR RUBI/U.S. Navy receiving unemployment benefits Army Sgt. Isaac Rood, assigned to the 44th Medical Brigade, gives COVID-19 swab testing instructions to airmen outside the Javits has fallen. Center in New York City on May 26. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the DOD might alter strategies for subsequent outbreaks. SEE CLAIMS ON PAGE 8 Military virus aid could look different if 2nd wave hits BY LOLITA C. BALDOR ing at a variety of plans. But he said U.S. RELATED Associated Press forces might not be deployed the same way if or when the virus surges in a second large Troops could get hazard pay, awards WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary wave or even, more likely, a series of small- to recognize service during pandemic Mark Esper said that as the U.S. military er bursts. Page 8 prepares for another potential wave of the He also said that the military has started coronavirus, it could do things a bit differ- doing antibody tests on service members ently, providing more targeted aid for cities South Korea restores anti-coronavirus who had COVID-19 and recovered, in order measures in Seoul amid new outbreaks and states and possibly shorter quarantine to determine if their plasma can be used in KEITH SRAKOCIC/AP times for troops. others to prevent or treat the virus. Page 9 Help-wanted signs are posted Speaking as he flew back from a trip to Esper said he spoke with military service in front of a Burger King on the Marine Corps recruit base at Parris Is- Online: Get the latest news on the virus May 21 in Harmony, Pa. land, S.C., Esper said the Pentagon is look- SEE AID ON PAGE 8 stripes.com/coronavirus PAGE 2 •STARS AND STRIPES• Friday, May 29, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9681 CEO pay tops $12.3 million; wage gap widens Euro costs (May 29) .............................. $1.08 Thailand (Baht) .....................................31.85 Dollar buys (May 29) ....................... €0.8842 Turkey (Lira) .........................................6.8180 British pound (May 29) ........................$1.20 (Military exchange rates are those Associated Press Lisa Su of Advanced Micro Devices. She had com- Japanese yen (May 29) ......................105.00 available to customers at military banking South Korean won (May 29) .........1,206.00 facilities in the country of issuance pensation valued at $58.5 million after guiding her Commercial rates for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the The typical pay package for CEOs at the biggest Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3775 company’s stock to the best performance in the S&P Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For British pound .....................................$1.2285 U.S. companies topped $12.3 million last year, and nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., 500 for two straight years. Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.3773 purchasing British pounds in Germany), the gap between the boss and their workforces wid- China (Yuan) ........................................ 7.1464 Otherwise, the top of the pay rankings again in- check with your local military banking ened further, according to AP’s annual survey of Denmark (Krone) ................................6.7533 facility. Commercial rates are interbank cludes several familiar names from the media and Egypt (Pound) ....................................15.8391 executive compensation. rates provided for reference when buying entertainment industries, such as Walt Disney’s Euro ........................................ $1.1038/0.9060 Median pay for CEOs in the survey climbed 4.1% Hong Kong (Dollar) .............................7.7528 currency. All figures are foreign currencies Robert Iger and Netflix’s Reed Hastings. Hungary (Forint) .................................316.36 to one dollar, except for the British pound, last year. For the typical worker at their companies, which is represented in dollars-to-pound, CEOs such as Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai and In- Israel (Shekel) .....................................3.5126 it rose 3.2%. It would take two lifetimes for the typi- Japan (Yen) ............................................107.74 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) cal employee at most S&P 500 companies to make tel’s Robert Swan had packages that were valued Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3085 INTEREST RATES even higher than Su’s but were excluded because Norway (Krone) ...................................9.8371 what their CEO did, or 169 years, according to data Philippines (Peso).................................50.55 Prime rate ................................................3.25 analyzed by Equilar for The AP. the AP’s survey looks only at S&P 500 bosses who Poland (Zloty) ..........................................4.02 Discount rate ..........................................0.25 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7547 Federal funds market rate ...................0.05 For the first time since the AP’s annual pay sur- have been in the job for at least two years, in part to Singapore (Dollar) ...............................1.4174 3-month bill ............................................. 0.14 vey began in 2011, a woman is at the top of the list: avoid distortions caused by sign-on bonuses. South Korea (Won) ......................... 1,235.95 30-year bond ...........................................1.43 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 75/55 Kabul 86/61 Seoul 82/60 Baghdad 103/74 Kandahar 99/73 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 82/58 81/61 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 71/45 64/43 73/61 Iwakuni 77/59 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 101/86 Brussels 65/43 Guam 113/87 74/48 Ramstein 77/64 87/80 Lajes, 71/45 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 110/80 104/83 68/60 69/48 67/45 Aviano/ Vicenza 71/54 Naples 90/74 Okinawa Morón 82/75 92/60 Sigonella Rota 75/54 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 103/89 84/64 76/59 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ..... 13 Comics ...................... 17 Crossword ................. 17 Faces ........................ 15 Opinion ................ 18-19 Sports .................. 20-24 Friday, May 29, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• PAGE 3 MILITARY Kansas soldier prevents shooting spree From wire reports worth, Kitchens said. Instead, they discovered that a man had been using KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Fort Leav- multiple weapons to fire randomly at enworth, Kan., soldier stopped a shoot- vehicles. ing spree when he rammed his vehicle The suspect was trapped under a car, into a gunman who had just wounded Kitchens said. another soldier Wednesday, police said. The soldier who was shot was taken to One soldier was seriously injured in the shooting on Centennial Bridge in a hospital, and was in serious but stable Leavenworth, Kan., and the suspect condition Wednesday afternoon. was taken into custody after another The suspect was also taken to a hos- soldier intervened, Leavenworth Police pital with serious injuries from the Chief Pat Kitchens said. crash. Leavenworth police had been called Two additional vehicles were struck to investigate a report of a person firing by gunfire, Kitchens said, but no other shots on the bridge. It’s unclear what led injuries were reported. to the suspect seemingly firing shots at Kitchens said police have not yet de- random on the bridge, Kitchens told termined why the suspect, said to be a reporters, but one person was struck Platte County, Mo., resident, began fir- — an active-duty soldier who appeared ing shots on the bridge, but police were to be an unintended target. looking into the person’s history within Kitchens said another soldier from the community. Fort Leavenworth was waiting in traf- The Leavenworth County Sheriff’s fic when he witnessed the shooting. The Office, the Platte County Sheriff’s Of- soldier intervened, he said, “by striking fice, the Kansas Highway Patrol and the shooter with his