European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 17, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Invasion of Czechoslovakia August 197b the stars and stripes Page 11 nato is making sure it will not be caught napping As in 1968 by Thomas Kent Belgium a ten years after the soviet invasion that crushed Czechoslovakia Brief Experiment in liberalization and took nato intelligence by the 15nation Western defense bloc is finishing an overhaul aimed at making sure it int caught napping improved intelligence and Communia crisis management exercises and better cooperation among member nations Are designed to make the Alliance More Alert than it was just before Midnight when Warsaw pact troops rolled into but nato still suffers from an Assort ment of including its need for 15way political consultation in an and disparities among its member armed some of these problems Are under study in a Lon term defense program for the but others May never be solved for fear of compromising the Independence of member a Maneu vers monitored nato military men for months had monitored the soviet and Warsaw pact Maneu vers near Czechoslovakia that underlined soviet displeasure with the Liberal government of Alexander but the military failed to predict when the inva Sion would and some nato political strategists believed the soviets would not invade at when it did the soviets scored american Tyman Ihen commander of nato admitted was a tactical in Many press reports of the inva Sion moved faster than natos own Intelli gence and Secretary of state Dean testifying at a congressional apparently first Learned of the invasion in a wire service dispatch rushed to him on Capitol Hill in the late afternoon of the am thes european edition l Lulu Rand Unm Law Piru Stan pm a Mem h to  m of Ira not menu Attr the Tomm rim omit hmm w to x Kopun h concerning comm n  to Nii Villimil m do Inck ing my Loury Muhy Sun my fog not he Namomi tit imn us pox do 11 it k b4kv or mud get arum c my my omit my Alt Fred Norh Chi Tan no York a Loci room am Codon my of now do y town  r 04111 my Apo Mimon Iii nun on or a no Lull circulation offices us room we my a mob l Chi my rut Mil loot tag Stum mice won we Vonc Iii cd spin air Sih Mil Gruy in Lam kingdom or mum Canion Civ military 4mumi m Bassadore in Paris found out Aboul it Only after a delay of several hours because of a communications the British government got its first word from the soviet ambassador in some key officials working at the nato Headquarters in Brussels were unaware of the invasion until they were awakened by reporters seeking More once some member countries began receiving information from their own Intelli gence they did not share it with the Alliance for the use of All member coun As a nato officials it took 24 hours until evening on 21 for nato intelligence experts to assemble a cohesive picture of what was nato did not use the information it finally received on the invasion to make tentative military preparations of its own As Warsaw pact troops stood in readiness just across Borders from nato there was no immediate move to put the nato armies on natos consultative North Atlantic As in a study published last said nato at least could have gone into its Mil itary vigilance status a readiness level in which All Headquarters Are manned 24 hours a Day and staffs Ore recalled from u said warning time must not be wasted in any situation where Warsaw pact troops Are mobilized near nato fron the which impressed nato officials with the Warsaw pacts ability to mount a Large operation in almost total be led to a rethinking of natos Prepa rations for a sudden Center revamped natos situation Center in Brussels has been revamped in the past 10 years and is now manned 24 hours a Day by professional As opposed to the less Well trained officers who used to rotate through a few Days of duly a officials say the amount of intelligence flowing through it has tripled since 1968 the alliances communications system has been upgraded sharply and now includes three communications by a multimillion Dollar nato Inte grated communications system should permit instant voice communications with any nato capital or even to Low level Fiew commanders nato also has upgraded its biannual sex some involving government minis designed to practice political and military consultations in an nato sources say member countries have begun contributing More key intelligence to natos common Steps taken nato has moved to strengthen its Mili tary forces against a future Reposi zoning heavy equipment for troop reinforcements and correcting some of the problems in sharing equipment among Dif Ferent a program is under Way to strengthen nato farces in Northern Ger a Likely flashpoint in a nato Warsaw pact but natos biggest potential problem in a crisis cannot he prevented with comm exercises or troop u is the need for consultation and substantial agreement among the 15 member nations for any concerted military action in an each nato nation still has Sovereign control Over its armed forces a far cry from the centralized command of the Warsaw pact and this can always slow natos responses to a fast developing sit letters to the editor preparations for Carters visit in the few weeks before the news of president Carters visit to Wiesbaden a had leaked there were some very disturbing rumours and alleged u these no uncommon practices Only serve to weaken our purpose Here and de stroy some of these these items were not directly tied to Wiesbaden but All of them did effect the entire Community in one Way or the these were some of the said actions painting Over rusted and other equipment the sudden Rush to hide or remove unused or unsightly pos game rooms that had been closed Tor six months in Barracks were suddenly re opened and washers and dryers that were promised Over a year ago miraculously a the last two items 1 ran into 1 find utterly according to those men on the air base no participating in the activities of the Day in reference were or dered to remain in their employees working in Haine Berg shop Ping Center were directed to comply with certain dress and maintain an attitude of Good cheer u they wanted to retain their this i was told by an if these last two items were they Are a mockery of our own democracy and deserve looking for an administration that rests so heavily on human rights this is a great if this  attitude is allowed to persist we will receive no help with present problems and mounting future problems will never be name withheld Germany editors note William Deputy Community Wiesbaden military replies the Wiesbaden military Community welcomes the Opportunity o respond to the writer but regrets that due to the general nature of the Tetter it is not possible to pro vide a specific response to each of the statements made by the the actions taken by the Wiesbaden military Community in preparation of the presidential visit were no More than a Rea oct acc and prudent individual would take in preparing Lor any distinguished we of the Community fell that u was Only Normal to put the Community Best foot removal of a med or unsightly pos is a continuing problem within the Community and requires constant this is done on regular Basil and no extraordinary Effort was devoted o this problem Ai a result of the presidential no Evi Dence could be found indicating that any rusted vehicles bad been painted waiters and dryers have been on or Der for this Community for the past u months and constant Effort has been exerted to obtain these items la a timely any receipt of washers and dry in at the time of the presidential visit was purely without further clarification it is not possible to identify any Day rooms or game rooms that had been closed Lor the time specified in the writers a continuing program to upgrade Day rooms has been in Progress within this it is possible that the completion of one of these projects Many have been coincidental with the presidential discussions with the manager of the cafes Exchange in Haine Berg revealed that u 1s cafes policy for All employees to report to work properly As part of their Normal association with Cus to maintain a pleasant no evidence could be found to substantiate the writers allegation that they must do these things la order to retain their no evidence could be found to substantiate toe writers claim that soldiers who were not participating in the activities of the Day bad been ordered to remain in their the writer indicates that his comments Are based on hearsay and u be has evidence of specific actions or incidents they should be indent filed so that appropriate correction can be this can be handled through his Chain of command or under the commanders open door policy in private with either the Deputy Community commander or the Community the writer May be assured that his problems and complaints will be Deal with in an open and positive single go claims discrimination its just not fair Why is it that a single person receives a three year tour in while a mar ried person Only receives a two year tour single people Are being punished for be ing and it seems to me to be a Clear Case of Dis Doest anyone agree 4 Cheryl Kemp Germany editors note two funny military personnel replies redaction of overseas tour lengths for bachelors has Lone been advocated by this matter has continually received the Strong personal interest of George Usa eur commander in and primarily As a re suit of his help seems to be on the department of the army recently announced that a reduction of the Bachelor fou year enlisted tour length in from m to u has been approved through the executive level for implementation to fiscal year this to length reduction is still subject to congressional approval of the fiscal year 79 but indications Are favor Able that approval win be forthcoming if final approval is the reductions will be conducted on a phased beginning and coding latest figures show that slightly More than 70 percent of first Ermers Are Bache several thousand Usa eur soldiers would Benefit from the tour length it to acknowledged that this redaction of the Bachelor fou year first termer tour length Vodd create an la that the mender three year first Tenner would costume to serve the Mon Shtoor in this department of defense directives specify that n three year enlisted May be Given Only one assignment after training unless assigned to a Short tour this policy precludes reducing the three year enlistees thus requiring two unless the tour the individual is saving in eone u designated a Short less than smooths a Par tial so Tauoa to this problem of equity into allow the three year first termer to Reen in Early As permit a return to the while not totally solving the equity tins would provide the three first termer with some How this option requires a great Deal More and any resulting change is not expected in the near reminder All letters to the editor most contain full printed name and address of the writ and must be unsigned will not be considered for