European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 14, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes Friday March 14, 1986 report assails Dod loss theft inventory management Reform Nof a priority senator says Washington a the Pentagon is wasting millions of dollars because its huge inventory of items ranging from bullets to computers and helmets is so poorly managed that it is subject to widespread loss and theft a general accounting office report said thursday. Sen. Pete Wilson r-calif., who asked for the study said he was surprised at the extent of the problem which he described As so Large that we Don t even know yet what its full dimensions  the defense department the Federal government s largest Agency has a $130 billion inventory of thousands of items stored at hundreds of locations around the world. The Gao Congress watchdog Agency said manage ment of the system is so poor that the services often do not know supplies have been stolen including highly Sensi Tive and pilfer Able items such As ammunition and explosives night vision devices and combat gear As Well As general merchandise Wilson said. Wilson told a news conference the Pentagon has t Given management Reform the priority it deserves and said the Effort that is going to be required to improve this situation obviously has not been  asked about the Gao s findings defense department spokesman Robert Sims said i think it s helpful for peo ple to bring to our attention problems that we be been dealing with and i Don t think any area has received much More attention than inventory accounting and the question of thefts and so Forth. Secretary Caspar Weinberger has been in Contact with sen. Wilfon about this As he pursues his work Sims added. I would just say that we have done a great  Sims said some of the specifics mentioned by the Gao. May not have reflected what we have done and what we have provided them in the Way of  in one instance Gao investigators went last december to Supply warehouses at Hahn a in Germany Wilson noted. They found the Gate closed but unlocked and weren t seen As they entered Supply buildings where they could have easily removed anything that could be carried by hand or put a bomb in the building he said. Another example cited by Wilson was new army Hel mets which the Gao found have been showing up in Pawn shops near fort Bragg . The helmets originally Cost about $100 apiece but were being pawned for about $70, and the service did t know they were stolen until in formed by pawnbrokers he said. The services also have problems tracking the shipment of parts and material from place to place Wilson said. One example he cited was the army s practice of ship Ping unneeded items from storehouses in Europe to the United states and then rerouting the items Back to other bases in Europe. Complaints about How the Pentagon manages its huge inventory Aren t new Wilson noted. In the past four years there have been More than 300 separate audits by the Pentagon and the Gao on inventory management. But his revelations about Pentagon waste come at what could be a bad time for the defense department the senator conceded. President Reagan has sought an increase of 11.9 per cent in Pentagon spending for the fiscal year starting oct. Congressional critics say they will try to reduce that figure substantially and they argue that past horror Sto Ries about waste and High priced spare parts like $600 toilet seat covers mean the Pentagon budget needs to be reduced. Weinberger urging that the full budget request be approved has told congressional committees in the last month that the Pentagon is undertaking reforms to try to end waste and spending scandals. A presidential commission recently proposed overhaul ing Pentagon management arguing that was the Only Way to reduce waste. Wilson said i m viewed As a Hawk on defense spend  but he also said that we Are not attempting to provide ammunition to defense budget  i m not in favor of cutting the defense department budget he said. However the senator said the need to increase Pentagon spending in no Way excuses waste of the Type we re seeing  Wilson asked for the Gao overview because of reve lations last fall about mismanagement of spare parts inventories aboard the Kitty Hawk aircraft Carrier based in san Diego. The Gao s final report won t be finished for six weeks Wilson said noting he had been Given an interim report. Wilson said he was deeply concerned about the military services ability to properly manage account for and secure their  Sims said in any Large organization and i Don t want to be defensive on this a Small number of untrustworthy individuals can subvert the program and the whole system in fact. In Many of the cases cited by the Gao he said individuals in a position of Trust had misused that to steal military property. We won t stand for that. We be been working on that. We be had 173 convictions in District courts and 468 convictions in the military Justice system. These Are convictions since 1982 for theft. We have done a number of things on the Security front the spokesman added. We be had More personnel reliability checks similar to those we have with people who Are dealing with nuclear equipment. We be had com Puter Cross checks to spot unauthorized users and we re expanding those. And we re increasing our training to prevent theft and to detect it. So we re certainly appreciative of sen. Wilson s inter est in this and his efforts Sims concluded. We think the Gao has highlighted some of the things that we Are Al ready aware of and Are dealing with it. It is a serious problem. We re doing everything we can about it. We won t tolerate theft. We re going to lock people up if we find that they re stealing government  Navy of discharge 4 Wiers for lying about collision cause san Diego a the Navy is Dis charging four aviators who lied to conceal that a crash Between Jet fighters occurred because one Pilot was taking personal photographs of men in the other plane Accord ing to published reports. The san Diego based fliers originally said the March 17, 1985, Accident Over the Pacific Ocean happened in heavy Clouds that reduced visibility but a tape from an inboard video camera showed the aircraft were not in the Clouds at the time of the Accident according to the reports. What actually happened was a midair photo session in which one plane got too close to the other according to a report thursday in the san Diego Union. The reports said a Board of officers has ordered the fliers discharged for lying about the cause of the Accident. The men Are expected to be Given general discharges this Spring pending final review in Washington. In the Accident it. Joseph Grund and his navigator it. Donald Cutts were in an f-14 tomcat Over the Western Pacific Ocean. In another f-14 were Pilot it. A thur b. Flynn and navigator it. Mark Wolf. The four were looking for soviet Long Range bombers which routinely Shadow . Carrier Battle groups. According to the Navy s official investigation the jets were 25,000 feet Over the Ocean when Flynn waved Grund in As close As 15 feet from his Jet so he could take pictures of Grund and Cutts in flight. What happened then was i Felt we were coming together. I tried to Man Euver under Flynn s plane and i heard a thump Grund told the san Diego Union. The Impact caused an air to air missile designed to blow apart enemy military air Craft to fall into the Ocean. Taxpayers getting refunds from irs faster than in 85 Washington a the internal Revenue service has approved More than 12.5 million refunds for taxpayers this year a figure that is almost 50 percent above the 1985 Pace. Refunds certified this year total $9.18 billion also significantly above last year s figure irs spokesman Larry Batdorf said thursday. Refunds have been averaging $733 this year up from $691 at this time in 1985. Processing of returns continues to improve from last year s Levels when computer problems slowed processing and delayed millions of refunds. Through March 7, the latest figures available 20.97 million re turns had been processed up 40 percent from the 14.9 million that had made their Way through the system at this time a year ago Batdorf said. Americans Are still slow to file their re turns. Through last week 39.6 million re turns had been received Down almost 2 percent from the 40.37 million received at this time last year. But the number received last week 5.9 million was up More than 10 percent from the same week of 1985, Batdorf said. The 10 service centers where returns Are processed report no significant prob lems he said. Last year is behind us and we have every reason to expect a highly successful filing  weather damage a photo Scott Marquis and his wife Shelly winds drove a Board through the wind examine the wreckage of their car in shield. The couple also lost their apart Union township Ohio after High ment to wind damage