European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 24, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Air scares pages 14, 15 the Sims and stripes authorized unofficial publication for the . Armed forces vol. 47, no. 128 wednesday August 24, 1988 25t daily and sunday d 8693 a general says he held opening for Quayle in state guard unit Washington a a retired major general in the Indiana National guard said tuesday he told sub ordinates to hold open a space for Dan Quayle after a longtime Friend called the general to recommend Quayle As a Good Man for the guard. Retired maj. Gen. Alfred Ahner who in 1969 was military support plans officer for the state of Indiana and later headed the state guard said he was contacted that Spring by Wendell Phillippi an old Friend and the managing editor of a newspaper owned by Quayle s family. Related Story Page 3. Wendell Phillippi had called and said he had a Good Man and said he thought he d make a Good guardsman Ahner said in a Telephone interview from Indiana. That s when i went Over to personnel. I asked if they had any spaces for a Good Man. They said they had a couple spaces. I said hold one of them there s a Good Guy coming  asked about a report in tuesday s editions of the Cleveland Plain dealer that said the Indiana guard was at virtually full strength when Quayle was accepted Ahner said he did not know what numbers the Story which quoted from the guard s 1969 annual report referred to. Ahner said he had been assured by two guard personnel people that there were spaces. He said some units were filled but others had openings. You could recruit to fill vacancies. We could t take him if there weren t any openings Ahner said. He said Quayle was accepted into the guard s head quarters unit which was pretty  the unit looked for recruits with intelligence and leadership potential. He also said it was not unusual for guard officials to take such recommendations because former guard officials such As Phillippi who had been the guard s commander would have an Eye for who might make a Good guardsman. Ahner said Quayle received no preferential treatment during his service. Quayle in a hastily arranged speech monday to the veterans of foreign wars convention in Chicago said he had not used his family s influence to get into the guard during the Vietnam War. Influence was not even necessary if i had chosen to use it which i never would have he said. The Rea son is because my Indiana National guard unit had openings before i applied they had openings when i applied and they had openings after i applied. So there was absolutely no influence  the Plain dealer however said tuesday that the annual report shows the guard had imposed severe restrictions on recruitment 49 Days before Quayle s enlistment on May 19, 1969.the newspaper said the report said that due to some Over strength recruiting has been authorized on a limited basis since 1  in addition the newspaper said in a copyright Story that by june the state guard had 52 More members than were authorized by Law. The newspaper said the report had been signed by see Quayle on Back Page gop vice presidential hopeful Dan Quayle chuckles As he Speaks at the vow banquet monday in Chicago. B-1b flaws could Cost $8 billion to fix by the Washington Post Washington air Force proposals for correcting flaws in the troubled b-1b bomber and improving its ability to penetrate future soviet defences could Cost As much As $8 billion according to a new congressional report. The proposals for countering soviet threats ranging from improving its communications systems to improving its ability to confuse soviet radars were revealed in detail for the first time in the congressional budget office study. The report also stressed that despite air Force improvements to existing b-1b sys tems the $28 billion penetrating bomber program is still years from meeting require ments to counter current soviet threats. We have to decide first if it s Worth it to fix the by s problems said rep. Les Aspin d-wis., chairman of the House armed services committee and a vocal critic of the bomber. He requested the study. And then we have to decide what if anything to do about the expected air Force requests for enhancements. To get More billions for the by the air Force is going to have to make a very Strong Case indeed he said. An air Force spokesman said that the $8 billion in proposed bomber improvements for combating future soviet threats is a shopping list of suggestions and that the air Force is Uncertain How Many of the improvements it will request. The air Force has programmed about $500 million for enhancements to the bomber to meet future threats. That does not include Money that will be needed to fix the critical electronic countermeasures system which is supposed to protect the Craft on bombing missions into the soviet Union under existing soviet defences. Congress said this year that the air Force will receive no More Money for improvements to meet future threats until it fixes the plane s i abilities to Deal with existing soviet defences. The air Force said it does not know when it can Complete those improvements. It has conceded after recent tests that the bomber May never be Able to Complete its full Mission As originally planned. The co said the Effort to repair the architecturally flawed countermeasures system will be closely tied with new pro Grams for meeting soviet threats. We it to i .