European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 10, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Doilis Magazine Tallion Short on by John j. Fialka Washington Start he . Navy lost almost one Quarter of its Aerial mine sweeping capability in the aborted Mission to Rescue the hostages in Iran. According to Navy sources the loss could be a problem if the United states encounters or initiates mine laying operations in the persian Gulf Region because the Rh-53d sea stallion helicopters that were modified for use in the raid Are the Navy s main mine sweeping vehicle. It you get involved in a mining situation they Are Handy to have around said one Navy source. A by spokesman Slid he Navy originally had 30 Rh-53ds. Seven of them re now lying on Iran s dash a Katir or great Salt desert. They Are part or inc wreckage of the aborted drat phase of the planned raid. An eighth helicopter returned to the no Metz. Pentagon officials have said the elaborate and expensive mine removal gear inside the eight helicopters was removed when the aircraft were modified for the Rescue Mission. Just Why other types of helicopters were not used for the raid particularly the air Force s Hh-53, which a designed for night Rescue missions is one of several questions being raised about the aircraft part of the Mission. In addition to the remaining sea stallions the Navy has Only three mine sweeping boats on Active duty and they Are All in Charleston . The Senate armed services committee is probing the causes of the failure of the raid which was aborted after three of the eight choppers failed. It is considering whether the raiders were Given All the equipment and skilled manpower the Mission required. Secretary of defense Harold Brown and others have repeatedly asserted that the Mission had All of its Essen tial equipment because the commanders were Given All the equipment they requested. Questions of adequacy have continued As retired air Force it. Gen. Daniel o. Graham former director of the defense intelligence Agency said he is still dissatisfied with the explanations of Why Only eight helicopters were sent when the plan to Rescue the hostages required that six be operable for the trip from desert 1 the refuelling base where the Mission ended to a Mountaintop hide out near Tehran. I would be very surprised if the planners did t give options to higher authority to double up on helicopters. Somewhere along the line a decision was made to hold that number to eight remarked Graham during a re cent panel discussion dealing with the raid s failures and the general state of the armed forces. The panel was sponsored by the american Security Council a pro de sense lobby group. Graham and another member of the panel retired adm. Thomas Moorcr. Former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said they believe that the raid could have been hampered by the relative youth and inexperience of some of the participants a reflection of the increasing loss of skilled manpower in the armed services. In a speech last month adm. Thomas b. Hayward the chief of naval operations said the helicopter Crews were severely tested by the sudden fierce sandstorm they flew through on their Way to desert 1 the Crews Confidence grew with each passing mile when suddenly without warning they found themselves surrounded by dust. Their special night vision devices were useless. They said it was like flying in a milk bowl a darkened milk bowl at that. Vertigo dizziness and nausea was common among All the Crews said Hay Ward. The Crews of the six choppers that made it to desert i Hayward said arrived in a near state of physical exhaustion from the exceptional Effort required to Fly for so Long on instruments while being buffeted about in this extraordinary  asked what be Felt was the main cause of the Mission s failure Moorer the planner of the raid on son Tay prison in North Vietnam in 1970, said it was probably had Luck. You run these kind of missions on tuesdays and they work and you pm run them on wednesday wild the same men my they won t  Graham said it was his guess that the Carter administration had imposed Loo Many restrictions on the raiders. There s a Maxim about this kind of operation said Graham. It s sheer audacity that makes it work. Sub elements of the plan should not involve  raising the Legal drinking age by Matt Bokor associated press Georgia will do it in three months. New Hampshire and Massachusetts did it last Spring. Florida and at least eight other states Are thinking about doing it too. The Issue being discussed in site houses and High schools and colleges is drinking or More precisely How old people should be before they May legally consume alcoholic beverages. A new Georgia Law will go into effect sept. 1 boosting the age from 18 to 19 but exempting Young people in the armed forces. Other states Illinois Massachusetts Michigan Montana new Hampshire new Jersey and Tennessee also raised the minimum Legal drinking age during the past  or. Gerardo Gonzalez a University of Florida researcher who runs a College alcohol awareness program called Bacchus contends such Laws Are backfiring. My feeling is that raising the drinking age causes More problems than it solves Gonzalez said after a recent visit to the University of new Hampshire to talk to College officials about the effects of the new Law in that stale. What they have found arc problems like their Resi Dence assistants being assaulted by students when they try to enforce the new Law and increasing traffic Fatali ties among the 18 to 20 age group said Gonzalez. When the Issue came up in the Florida Senate in May it was sent Back to committee after a joking suggestion by sen. Jack Gordon a Miami. Gordon Drew Hearty laughs when he suggested an amendment to prohibit people Between the Ages of 34 and 36 from drinking noting statistics that show that age group has the highest incidence of alcoholism. Gordon also raised the main argument against raising the Legal drinking age saying it s hypocritical to permit 18-year-Olds to vote and serve in the military but bar them from buying a drink. Proponents All along have argued that the higher drinking age would reduce the number of alcohol related Highway deaths. The no. 1 killer of Young people in this slate snot cancer. It is not heart disease. It is alcohol re lated accidents said democratic rep. Fran  the drinking be will help to sate the him of Young people who Are dying by the hundreds in Alco hol related  Gonzalez and others contend there s no such proof. While the efforts Are Well intentioned the evidence docs not support such a move Gonzalez said. In Massachusetts they have found an increase in dw1 driving while intoxicated arrests in teen agers he said. We get the opposite effect of what it  the same thoughts were voiced in Washington at the National Institute of alcohol abuse and alcoholism which picked Bacchus As a National Model. There s no conclusive evidence that the drinking age makes any difference because Young people arc drinking tuesday june 10, 1980 at a younger age prior to any age limit said Institute spokesman Paul Garner. Let s face it most of the kids get the liquor out of their Homes  Garner and Gonzalez say what s needed Are programs like Bacchus to inform Young people about what will happen when they drink to excess. Death in an Auto Mobile should be High on the list they say. I think it s pretty Well established that Laws in and of themselves do not change social customs Gonzalez said. What we need is to support a comprehensive and sustained commitment toward alcohol education drinking and driving the effects of alcohol on grades and some of the other negative  Gonzalez program is used on at least 14 College campuses around the nation. Students Visil dormitories sororities and fraternities warning their Peers about the hazards of Over indulgence and giving tips on How to be More responsible. For example they urge parly hosts to serve nonalcoholic beverages along with booze and not Force one More drink for the Road on departing guests. Garner said there is some evidence that people Are More aware about the risks in exc Eulie drinking audits effects on Young people. The other night on television they had a chug a lug contest Between two College groups he said but there was a disclaimer at the end of the sequence saying that we the network Don t Cundon these kinds of practices and that alcohol May be harmful. To me hat was a great  the stars and stripes Pogo 13