European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 23, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 28 the stars and stripes Friday october 23,1987 Gao criticizes Security storage of some army missiles in Germany by William j.  stiff writers the general accounting office has criticized the army s method or securing and accounting for some 9f in sophisticated anti aircraft and anti tank missiles in Europe. In a Lour or installations in Germany she Cao round poorly trained guards missiles stored in unsecured Octaf Sheds and poorly maintained alarm systems. The defense department in an offi Cial response concurred with Many Orthe Gao s findings but said that improvements already have begun. The Gao in its report released wednesday identified serious Security breaches in the Protection of stingers Tow missiles dragon missiles and other munitions. A spokesman for the Gao s Frankfurt office which conducted the investigation Between september 1986 and March of this year said the eight Sites visited were selected from v corps and Vii corp units in Germany he listed the units As the 3rd in 36thinf, in Kirch corns the 1st in 33rd Armor in Gellhausen and 3rd in 61st air defense arty in Buedingen All with the 3rd army div. Also in the report were the 3rd in sin inf. In Mainz and1st in 59lh air defense arty in Wack Esheim both of the 8th in div and the 3rd inf div s 3rd in 67th air defense any in Kil Zingen and 2nd in. 30th inf in Schweinfurt. Cao investigators also visited the 1ststt, 1st Cav. 1st army div near Nuernberg he said. The spokesman would not specify the tour unite found using unsecured Sheds to store the stingers saying the information was classified. However he said a number of the units were rated poor and not Only by us but by the Provost marshal s physical Security people As  army Security and Usa eur officials in Europe thursday declined to comment on the allegations in the report until hey had been Given a Chance to review it. The Gao said thai in addition to poor Security precautions army inventory management problems have masked the degree of inventory inaccuracies that  the Gao did not find the army had lost any missiles. But it noted the  missile come needed 11 months to locate 24 stingers in Europe after starting the search in september 1986. The missiles which the army wanted Touse for test firing were identified by individual serial numbers. Sen. John Glenn a Ohio a member of the armed services committee who joined sen. Pele Wilson r-calif., at a press conference wednesday noted that of the 24 stingers three had been transferred to a classified program. A very logical follow on question is who indeed even what nationality is now in Possession of those three mis Siles Glenn said. We Don i have any tracking to ensure that they re even still in Friendly  army spokesman maj. Philip Soucy defended the service s accounting sys tem stressing that no missiles actually were lost. He said it was no Accident thai none were lost and he credited policies and procedures. Soucy said the army took so Long to locate the 24 stingers because it stores the missiles by lot numbers instead of serial numbers. Thai does not mean that we have lost control of our missiles Soucy  does t mean that we Don t have  among the Gao findings at the  in Germany stinger missiles stored in Light weight corrugated Metal Sheds Wilh i reword stinger Stencil de on the Side. Anti tank rockets glared in similar Sheds with doors that had to be propped shut because of broken locks. Dragon and Tow missiles stored in tractor trailers and on open Concre Estorage pads in Plain View of persons outside the storage perimeter. Anti tank rockets and hand Gre Nades stored in Small rusting Light weight Metal Sheds. Army regulations require that Sensi Tive munitions such As the missiles be placed in Earth covered bunkers with steel doors and intrusion detection de vices. Most of the units visited by the Gao would not comment on the report thurs Day. A top no at one of the Sites How Ever said the stinger assigned to his unit Are stored in a former nato bunk or that is not just some shed put up  As far As i know we have never had any difficulty of accountability of the weapons said command sgt. Maj. Benny Haimovitz of the 3rd in 67th Ai defense arty in Kil Zingen. In our Case it s not even a routine circumstance to take the missiles out. We Only take them out when we need to do our com Bat uploads and stuff like  and at the 3rd in sch inf in Mainz a Soldier said in three years of working with stinger missiles he had never seen them improperly stored or guarded. They re definitely Well guarded. The Entrance to the storage area is very limited and restricted he said. The Soldier expressed Surprise at the charges levelled Al the stinger battalion in the Gao report. That s grounds for dismissal for someone he said. Panel from Page 1 first lady says she s Happy to be Home very open Canfield said. Essentially what we be got is a Case of the air Force trying to adapt to some societal changes new roles for spouses he said. We will be addressing air Force wide the kind of issues that were raised in the Grissom Case the other members of Burshnick s panel which i scheduled to Issue its final report in december Are Eric Thorson Deputy assistant Secretary of the air Force for personnel Florence Madden assistant air Force general counsel John a. Kline director of Aca Demic affairs air University Sandra j. Paige family support Center director at Hickham afe Hawaii Christine Merritt family support Center director at Raf Alconbury. England and chief master sgt Gil Bert f. Atkinson chief of airman assignments from Scott fab 111. In Europe the panel will meet a Cross Section of military officers and spouses senior cos and mid level women officers captains through lieutenant Colo Nels during their visits. There will be special sessions for specific groups and open sessions for spouses who believe they have some thing to offer the panel and want to be heard. Each base the panel visits also will have special phone num Bers and drop boxes for those spouses who wish to remain Anonymous or Are unable to attend the open sessions. Nato from papa 1 Viet Union to eliminate intermediate Range nuclear missile from Europe. If consummated such a pact will hand As a historic first by eliminating an entire dash of nuclear weapons he said. But in looking toward a world without such missile be disc Uisch in unusual detail his vision of what would be required in the future to deter War. We must recognize that As heartening Ai our prospective inf agreement is it will not in any Way reduce nato burdens Weinberger said citing toe imbalance that exist Between nato and Warsaw pact conventional forces. In part because of that conventional unbalance nuclear weaponry is still a necessity to demonstrate to the soviets the danger of aggression he continued. Washington