European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 28, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday. March 26. 1987 the stars and stripes Aga 9 february s Active duty strength Down Washington Al l the Acler duly mrs Ngoh of the Rolion i military m Riv dipped in february com pared la the previous month hut remained Mil above Chr level reported a year ago 1 tic Pentagon Laid thursday. As or Fth. 211, the army. Navy Marine corps and air Force Hail 2,172,107 my and women in Active duty Down 7,294 compared 1o the Jan. 31 figure. The fallout was due entirely in a Derl inc in army person Sci. The combined total however remained Well above . To station Navy ships in Indian Ocean Washington Dpi the . Navy plans to permanently station an aircraft Carrier in he Indian Ocean As a continuing show of Force in the face of the tense situation in the Strait of Hor Muz . Officials said wednesday. In recent years carriers Hevr Only been moved into the Indian Ocean from the Pacific or the Mediterranean on an intermittent basis As the situation demanded. Last october the Navy said a Carrier could be stationed in the Indian Ocean no More than seven months out or the year because of poor morale resulting from Carrier sailors being away from Home so much. But from now on the Navy plans in definitely to maintain it full time Carrier presence in the Indian Ocean said the officials who commented on the grounds they remain unidentified. The policy change follows a . Warning last week to Iran not to interfere with shipping in the Strait and reports that Iran is readying a new offensive against Iraq in their 6vi-Ycar-old War. Adm. William Crowe chairman of the joint chiefs of staff has informed con Gress an aircraft Carrier will be on Perma nent patrol in the area the officials said. Crowe said the new commitment shows the need for a Force of 1s carriers. The Navy is requesting Money to begin work on two new nuclear carriers to maintain this Force in the 1990s. Currently the Carrier Kitty Hawk is patrolling the Indian Ocean in the North Ern arabian sea sector the officials said to Wilt remain in the Indian Ocean until May or june they said when it will be replaced by another Carrier. The Navy also will continue to keep a Carrier permanently on patrol in the Mediterranean sea the officials said. This has been the practice in recent years except for a crisis such As last year s bombing attack on Libya when three carriers moved into the Mediterranean the Kilty Hawk has been in the Indi an Ocean since january when the War Between Iran and Iraq began to heat up inc officials noted. The situation became More tense about two weeks ago when Iran  a chinese version of a soviet anti ship missile called the silkworm in the Strait of Hormuz. Officials said the tests of two silk Worms demons rated an iranian capability to fire the missile and threaten ship Ping in inc Strait. The missile has a Range of about so Miles. The Icar Gifu figure. The armed we Sci reported Active duty strength of 3. 1 f,0,40.1 on fell. 3s. 19x6, or la is not unusual for military strength la Wing up and Down on a monthly basis each year primarily because of differences in inc now of new recruits recent totals also have been affected by various Early out programs offered by the services to Deal with budget Cut s. According to the new assessment the army ended february with 775.838 men and women on Active duty blown by s,704 compared to the january total. That decline was offset by increases reported by the other services. The Navy reported in increase of 1.111 individuals bringing ils february total to sk4.1jfi. The Marine corps finished the month with 148.771 individuals up 265 compared to january while the air Force grew by 124 individuals to a total of 61.1,362 on Active duty. 21/2 years and 24,800 Miles later. Patrice franc Mhz a French Ultra Light motorized aircraft Pilot signals his Success shortly after he landed on the suburban Paris Saint Cloud nurse race track. I is Landing thursday came at the end Al a round the world Lour i Holt look 2 i years and covered 24,800 Miles through 34 different countries. Navy states disagree Over need to obtain environmental permits Washington a the Navy believes it is exempt from certain stale environmental permits in the construction of strategic Home ports Aroun j the country officials told a House subcommittee thursday. Rear adm. John haul Jones or. Com Mander of the naval facilities engr Cornel said the Navy has concluded it is not required to obtain a stale Shoreline Protection permit from Washington slate to build a Home port Al Everett. The Navy had raised similar arguments surrounding the Home port to be built at Salen Island n.y., but has since applied for the permits and delayed be ginning work there while awaiting Ihm. Andrea Riniker. Director of the Washington slate department of ecology testified it was her understanding the Shore line permit was required. But rear adm. Benjamin f. Mon Pya director of the Navy s Shore activities planning and programs division Dis agreed. He said the Navy signed a letter of agreement to apply for the permit but it can proceed without in. Rep. Dennis m. Hertel. A Mich. Accused the Navy of skirting the Law on permits in order to immediately free up Federal Money to begin work on the Home port projects. Interior department officials also criticized the Everett wash., Home port plan to dispose of contaminated material raised by dredging in an open water disposal site. They said such disposal techniques arc still experimental and recommended moving the material to an i land Sile. Also at inc hearing two lawyers involved in Home port lawsuits against the Navy charged a cover up of Legal and environmental problems surround ing the Staten Island Home port attorneys Leonard m. Marks and James m. Lane accused the Navy of Ille Gally claiming it was exempt from the state environmental permits of failing to disclose that ils plan to build housing on Salen Island would destroy Freshwater wetlands and of refusing to discuss the Impact of nuclear weapons that May be based Al the Home port. Rather than Deal openly and disclose the serious environmental impacts of its proposal the Navy has repeatedly concealed its plans from Public review and comment and attempted an end run around the requirements of Federal and state Law Marks said. Marks is representing the plaintiffs in a Federal lawsuit challenging the adequacy of the Navy s environmental Impact disclosures in the Slaton Island Home port. Jones and Tomoya declined to re Spond to All the accusations because of the litigation but Montoya said. We feel we Are in a lawful Mode. And we Are proceeding on that  soviet flights near Alaska prompt f-15 exercise Anchorage Alaska him the air Force responding to increased soviet air activity around Alaska Wal f-15 fighter jets on an intercept training Mission farther Nonh than any before officials have said. The number of soviet hiatus certainly was some consideration far the air farce but we wanted to de Termine How far we could project our forces an air Forte official said. With air Force u-52 bombers playing the role of the Suvil car a bombers that occasionally Fly along the Periphery of Alaska the f-l5s practice intercepting the aircraft Over the Fromi Arctic dec Art in the pm r Cise code named Cobbler free a last month in a single week f-15s intercepted Ven soviet aircraft flying near the East of Alaska. So fur this year. Singleton said in four actual intercept. L-15s have chased away 10 soviet military aircraft Hying near Alaska apparently conducting their own training missions. This is a dramatic  Singleton said noting Aluska Basel fighter jews intercepted 34 soviet Plain is last year and 30 in a. The soviets steered Clear of Cobbler fre Cyc and there were no actual intercepts during last week s train ing Mission said it Chei Curtis