European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 16, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes sunday March 16,1986 army s Purchase of new copters delayed Washington up the Pentagon has delayed the $2.1 billion Purchase of 474 observation helicopters because the army failed to conduct realistic tests of the aircraft defense department documents show. Deputy defense Secretary William Taft in said in a recent letter he would decide whether to allow Purchase of advanced combat scout helicopters each costing $4.5 million upon the army s completion of More valid testing. Taft notified army Secretary John Marsh of his Deci Sion in october after the Pentagon inspector general s office found the army did not conduct tests that would provide a measure of How Well the scout helicopter can perform its combat  the helicopter program is the third billion Dollar weapons system to face Sharp criticism recently for inadequate testing. The inspector general s audit obtained by United press International said the army withheld information from 16 indicted in Kentucky corruption Case Lexington by. A a former state police commissioner a former gubernatorial candidate a District judge and a county sheriff were among 16 people indicted by a Federal grand jury in a wide ranging corruption probe authorities said Friday. Twelve of the 16 appeared Friday before . Magistrate James Cook and pleaded innocent to the charges. The indictments covered an array of charges including conspiracy extortion Public corruption obstruction of Justice insurance fraud Federal narcotics violations and interstate transportation of stolen prop erty officials said. Joel a. Carlson special agent in charge of the Fri in Kentucky state police com missioner Morgan Elkins and . Attorney Louis Defalaise held a news conference Friday to announce 12 arrests stemming from the probe which began in 1983. Marion Campbell who served As Ken Tucky state police commissioner from february 1981 to september 1982 and most recently was the top criminal investigator for Eastern Kentucky was suspended from the state police department pending an internal investigation Elkins said. Campbell released on a $10,000 person Al recognizance Bond pleaded innocent and had no comment after his arraignment. He could face maximum penalties of 95 years in prison and As much As $165,000 in fines. He is charged with extortion for allegedly supplying Protection to a Virginia state police undercover agent participating in the probe the indictment said. Others arrested wednesday include Somerset attorney Lester h. Burns jr., 55, a for Mer Republican candidate for Kentucky governor former Morgan county judge executive Gene Allen 52, of West Liberty Morgan county sheriff Roger Benton 39, of West Liberty and District judge James Henry Noble 42, of Winchester. The indictments also listed Gerald Griggs 37, a former Kentucky state trooper who was identified As a hit Man who had previously killed seven people. The defense department about an equipment defect in the advanced combat scout helicopters and offered flawed Cost estimates that did not consider Likely Cost inflation. . Sculley assistant army Secretary for research development and acquisition acknowledged the shortcomings of the testing. He said however the Model tested clearly has far More improved flight characteristics and target acquisition capabilities than its alternative. The proposed $2.7 billion oh-58d program would modify 578 already existing oh-58a combat scout Heli copters to improve their ability to locate targets. The changes include a More powerful engine and sensors mounted above the helicopter Rotor. Sculley also acknowledged the auditors finding that information about a defect in equipment used to detect the helicopter s electronic problems was erroneously deleted from a report to the defense department. The Root of the army s testing lapses the inspector general s office found was that pilots and air Crew were inadequately trained to assess the vehicle s effectiveness. They also conducted too few tests investigators said. Army spokesman it. Col. Craig Macnab said the pilots and air Crew doing the testing did t know How to use the vehicle  but there was nothing wrong with the equipment he said. Earlier last week the general accounting office re ported that the army avoided use of deadly soviet weapons in its tests of the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle and aimed weapons to avoid vulnerable spots on the troop Carrier. Also the Pentagon s top weapons test official and rep. Denny Smith r-ore., said air Force tests of the advanced medium Range air to air missile were too few in number for them to support a decision to produce the weapons. The scout helicopter is the third army helicopter to run into serious problems recently. The service decided wednesday to ground its uh-60 Blackhawk and ah-64 Apache fleets temporarily because of safety concerns. Frt to of.  a up we or a a ukr a a Aiu n. A by a Ion i rum general s apace Fleet of Safet. Police get no break during Spring break fort Lauderdale Fla. Up Tolmen ate an Early morning meal at an cans of Beer one mounted on each ear. Up the booming Spring break season is Only half Over but the number of arrests during this year s collegiate migration to the Shore already has exceeded the 1985 total authorities said Friday. Police patrolling the beachfront strip re corded More than 900 arrests from the Start of Spring break on feb. 21 through Midnight wednesday a rate of two arrests an hour capt. De White said thursday. Last year s swarm of vacationing col lege students in the resort town brought just 889 arrests for the full Spring break he said. We Haven t even gotten the major crunch of people yet said White who supervises the 70-officer Beach patrol Force. Before this year s break began authorities estimated 400,000 College Stu dents would cram the strip during the six week period that ends Early in april. White said that Between 200,000 and 250,000 students will begin to pour in this weekend most staying through the end of March. We re still dealing with Small num Bers of people White said. These next two weeks will be the  officers arrested about 250 people in 48 hours along the strip. Only the most flagrant offenders Are arrested because the courts cannot handle huge numbers police said. White said 25 percent of the people arrested so far have been registered col lege students. The rest Are locals who mix in with the tourist crowd. Many arrests Are for Garden variety Spring break misdemeanours such As Dis orderly conduct and disorderly intoxication. About 20 percent Are for violations of new open Container Laws that prohibit drinking alcohol on streets and in cars White said. But some offenders go one step fur ther. On feb. 27, a Lansing Mich Community College student helped unleash two police horses while the mounted patrolmen ate an l at an oceanfront restaurant. The officers caught up with the horses and the student a few blocks away. She was arrested her accomplice escaped. A few Days later a plainclothes officer arrested a new Jersey Man drinking Beer while walking Down a Street. He had two cans Ozone on each ear Flap of his yellow Spring break  tubes ran from the cans into his Mouth. And there was one exuberant Young Man jumping up and Down on a police car White said. Where did he land he went to jail White said. Up Phot students Sam Guerrier and Jody Hall enjoying their vacation. In fort Lauderdale Fla., during Spring break from College new film supports theory on shuttle Booster failure Washington a presidential investigators received considerable confirmation from new film studies shown in a private meeting Friday that safety seals on the challenger s right Booster rocket caused the shuttle to explode in flight a source close to the probe said. This source who asked not to be identified by name said for the first time the commission saw enhanced film analysis coordinated with a time line of the Accident. It provided considerable confirmation of our View on the place and timing of the fire that caused the explosion. The source added that the panel is still trying to deter mine what caused the failure of the seam that is designed to contain hot gases inside the solid fuel Booster rocket leading theories Are that cold weather reduced the effectiveness of rubber like of ring seals or that the seals were harmed by the Normal motion of the rocket or were defective on manufacture the source said. The commission met As the chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees Nasa said that Congress probably will approve a replacement for the lost shuttle challenger unless the space Agency is forced to accept across the Board cuts under the Gramm Rudman Law. In that Case there certainly would t be a replacement orbiter and Nasa will have to make do with the three shuttles left in the Fleet said sen. Slade Gorton r-wash., who chairs the Senate space subcommittee. The presidential commission has in hand a list of some 900 items on the shuttle designated criticality one meaning that their failure could cause loss of Crew and Craft. That list is to be made Public by Nasa on monday. The commission issued a statement meanwhile saying that it had agreed to appoint a group of four to six outside experts to Monitor testing of the Booster rocket that is designed to pinpoint the precise cause of the Accident. The panel also announced it would hold its next Public hearing on Friday March 21 after two weeks of information gathering around the country. In Germany meanwhile William Graham acting administrator of Nasa said experts Are considering ways to redesign the joints and steel cases of the solid rocket boost ers and we think the redesign can be done within one year of the Date of the challenger  Graham spoke to reporters at the european space Agency Mission control Center in Darmstadt where he had followed the Giotto spacecraft s encounter with Halley s Comet