European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 16, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and John chairman of the joint chiefs of at a chief among Lutt Waks contentions is that the services made an but far reaching error at the end of world War mindful of the Lack of trained officers at the Start of that Congress and the military assumed that any future War would require vast mobilization and a read made offi cer As Many senior officers As possible were retained in the new peacetime what has of is that an overhead of greatly disproportionate size has found employment for itself in the systematic Over complication of every aspect of peacetime defense and whatever warfare we have wrote work that sometimes be Longs together is subdivided among Many different de directorates and with much when there is fighting to be grossly Over lab orate planning gives Rise to supervision by vastly Over staffed Headquarters very Remote from the scene of com the combat operations that Are thus planned Are naturally at wars end in when there were million people in the armed there were officers at or above the rank of army colonel or Navy including 101 three Star generals and in when Only million were in there were officers at or above colonel or including 118 three Star generals and admirals seven More than in world War Lutwak further suggested that the abundance of senior officers meant that very few of them could find Normal command and staff a remoteness from the Day today realities of their forces was becoming for the army has Only 17 each of which Calls for a two Star general to there Are Only a handful of other operational command slots calling for such a yet the army has 140 major there Are captains in the Navy a rank associated with ship command yet the service can place Only one in 100 in such a the air Force has full almost 30 for each Squadron the marines have lieutenant colonels for Only 182 troop command in such numbers posed a whereas the Pentagon set the Normal tour of duty at a command positions were rationed out to the officer corps six months at a the effect on the troops and the conduct of the War later led to the Universal conclusion that such Short rotations were a but in the period there have been five different colonels commanding the 55man Al Salvador military assistance other vestiges of Vietnam Are evident in Central critics besides the climate and a photo the area Falls under the responsibility of a joint command so that the air Force and Navy have their share of advisory slots on the Small assistance special Mobile training teams also make periodic trips to Al displacing regular members of the assist Ance team which cannot exceed its congressionally Man dated level of Small unit exercises and weapons training give Way to brigade staff procedures and civil action the salvadoran army has been urged to use gunships and helicopter assaults in classic Vietnam Era search and de stroy missions with poor Lutwak the critics goes to the very top of the american military to the five Flag officer positions that make up the joint chiefs of the formal joint chiefs positions i received were always late and were often the reverse of helpful that is worse than no advice at wrote former Secretary of defense Harold sometimes at a personal meeting with the chiefs a Small but irritating problem such As the inability of air Force Tanker aircraft to refuel Navy fighters would so Embar Rass All concerned that corrective action would be quickly but such instances were David who was chairman of the joint chiefs under Brown and president Jimmy Felt strongly that each services self interest was at the Root of the Bruce Palmer army photo the leaders of the various joint commands around the who would be the combat command ers in time of Are severely weakened because All of their Money and personnel realistically look to their individual services and not the joint command for career Jones has i cannot stress this Point too strongly he who controls promotions and assignments controls the organization and the services so Jones since four of the five members of the joint chiefs of staff Are also service a negotiated amalgam of the service views almost invariably prevails when suggestions Are finally proposed by the joint Jones the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is the Only military member that can offer Independent but the chairman has Only five people working directly for him to sift through the various who suggests the boldest reorganization would let traditional service commanders continue to run forces All the Way up to the size of an army corps and individual Navy but the theater commands composed of various service elements would be reserved for a new Breed of officer called National defense these leaders would be culled earlier from the Var ious services while still colonels and would represent the Best and brightest in the Lutwak As they Advance through the Flag ranks they would study joint tactics and the organization of the other services while acting As staff to the new director of the National defense a five Star officer who would be the chief military adviser in the the problem is not that a senior military officer with the Powers Lutwak proposes would stage a coup that said Seth Deputy undersecretary of the the problem is that such an in the policymaking councils of would immediately rival the Secre tary of defense in dispute him in and ultimately by virtue of his unopposed military authority and overwhelm civilian policy direction both dovish and said the navys it has always been the Navy that has complained the longest and loudest at any sign of the proposal Likely to have the most Impact on the debates was made by a study group sponsored by the conservative minded Georgetown Center for strategic and International released in the proposal makes the follow ing Points the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff should be designated As the principal military adviser to the presi the Secretary of defense and the National Security replacing the current joint chiefs of staff in that the defense budget should be shifted from an an Nual to a biennial the theater commanders of the armed forces those ont Lescene generals and admirals who would Lead our combined land and sea forces in combat should be Given a stronger role in personnel and Money a Long Range capital investment plan should be Cre ated for the entire department of simultaneous reductions should take place in the size of the office of the Secretary of the Penta gon service staffs and the staffs of relevant congressional committees and june 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17