European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 7, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes James j. Kilpatrick sex Navy secretory Lehman worthy of respect during his his six years As Secretary of the Navy John Lehman modelled his life after the fellow who was famed for his even temper he stayed mad. He was mad about the Navy he was mad at the Pentagon bureaucracy. His motto was full Speed ahead and the torpedoes be damned. It made for a tempestuous time. Lehman fought for the big carriers he fought for his beloved battleships he tangled with the other services and he wrestled with the gods of Capitol Hill. He made Waves big Bow Waves and he loved every minute of his cruise. Lehman used to invite me to lunch at his office. His purpose was not to pick my brain but to Wash it. For an hour or so he would drown me in facts and figures. Once he summoned aides to display a 14-foot Chart of the bureaucratic flow he meant to Correct. He had measured the Laws rules and regulations governing procurement they occupied 1,512 feet of shelf  our last luncheon in the Spring of 1987 i asked what he meant to do on retirement. He grinned the Lehman Grin the kind of Anticipatory Grin that one sees on a bulldog about to eat dinner. I m going to write Book he said. He did write a Book. This month brings Publica Tion from Scribner of command of the  command have lunch with John Lehman. A Small part of the Book the Kinder gentler part is purely autobiographical. For the rest it is Lehman on the stump. He convincingly defends the refitting of battleships Mary Mcgrory he makes an excellent Case for High tech warships especially carriers that Are big enough to defend Ameri can interests anywhere. He tells us More about weapons systems than Many readers May truly want to know and his exposition of the intellectual foundations of maritime strategy gets to be heavy going Buthis concluding chapter alone is must Reading for every one who shares a concern for National defense. It is a sad chapter in its Way. Lehman s Waves flattened out on the bureaucratic Beach. He accomplished a great Deal As Secretary he revitalized the office an got things done but Many of his reforms never left port. Simply put he Antes the major problem atthe Pentagon is that we Are not getting what we need the right forces at the lowest Cost. Too frequently Weare not getting the right forces at All. And sometimes we Are getting the wrong forces at the highest  the department of defense is much too  i the department were appraised by a Book value it would equal the top 30 companies on the Fortune 500list combined. And yet the Pentagon is organized like a 7-eleven store with All decision making drawn up Toa centralized  this is crazy in Lehman s View but he fears the lunacy will continue. He sees old familiar patterns returning As Industry seeks Cost plus and sole source contracts congressional Voic Escall for still More centralization under a procurement Czar and the services succumb once again to the lust to fiddle change and Gold plate  Lehman s ideas make sense. He would Central ize defense policy he would decentralize Day to Day operations. Policies should be fixed by the president in consultation with the Secretary of state the Secretary of defense and the three service secretaries. Execution of these policies should then be left largely to the join chiefs of staff and to combatant commanders. The current Absurdity of persian Gulf naval operation being run by a thousand person bureaucracy in Tampa Speaks for  Lehman believes passionately in the constitutional principle of civilian control Over the military. Toward this end he would restore the system by which the service secretaries rather than the joint chiefs of staff select outstanding officers for promotion to Flag rank. He ridicules the excessive emphasis that displaced upon desk duty for senior officers. He would reduce the number of men on Active duty and place greater Reliance upon reserves. Fifteen years ago the defense department worked with Only four committees in Congress. Today the department is bogged Down with More than 60 commit tees and subcommittees. This anarchy says leh Man must be  what we have in command of the seas is a Youn voice Lehman is 46 speaking with the authority of experience. If Lehman now and then seems a Little cocksure if his Gung to enthusiasm occasionally Over flows his Book is nonetheless an important Book. His is a voice to be heard with respect. C Universal press Syndicate a candid communist and an artful dodger the striking contrast in the performance of the world s two most important unilateralist is that one admits error and the other does t. Mikhail Gorbachev went before the United nation Sand confessed that the soviet Union had done wrong and is repenting its ways. The following night Ronald Reagan held one of his infrequent press conferences and could not think of a single thing he would have done differently in his eight years in office. Had he changed no the soviets have. Was he responsible for the deficit no. Democratic congresses Are. Gorbachev on the other hand could hardly think of anything that the soviet Union ought to take credit for unless it is finally coming to and adopting Peres troika and glasnost which will simply Shine More Light on its faults. Gorbachev had to hurry Home the Day after his  to Deal with the consequences of the earthquake that razed two cities in Armenia. In another Era the Leader of the soviet Union would have ignored a catastrophe and jailed anyone who wrote or talked about  Gorbachev made sure attention would be paid by dashing to the site and asking for help. It was dramatic evidence that All is changed. The world responded Withan outpouring of sympathy and help. Everything he implied in his . Speech about the deficiencies of the system was being appallingly illustrated Lack of planning inexcusably Flimsy building construction in an earthquake prone area in sufficient equipment to Cope with the damage. Gorba Chev has perhaps known in an abstract Way the hatred of the republics for the Central government. He experienced it firsthand in the rubble. Distraught survivor screamed their rage at Moscow for the Lack of adequate Rescue attempts. He promised to find out Why new buildings collapsed while older buildings withstood the tremors. Self criticism is not Reagan s Way. In Large Matte Sand in Small he is careful first Ana always to defend himself. For example he was asked about the dangerously deteriorating state of numerous nuclear weapon plants. Reagan said said that the plants would not be reopened until the danger had been eliminated but added now i Don t think that we can be blamed forthe deterioration that certainly began Long before we were  and what about nuclear waste we be made More Progress than i think we regimen credit for on  sometimes Reagan not Only won t take the blame he won t even accept the responsibility for what goes on in his administration. Take the question of barring Yasser Arafat from speaking at . Header quarters in new York. After Secretary of state George Shultz began to take heat from the whole world for the High handed Folly of the decision Reagan casually chimed in to say that he agrees with the decision completely overlooking the fact that he should have made such a major decision himself in the first place. It was a reference to the greatest fiasco of his administration the iranian arms sales that gave Reagan a last Chance to demonstrate his gift for rear ranging facts like cushions to make himself More comfortable with them. Here is his recreation of the episode that briefly gothic in dutch with his adoring Public we Are not negotiating with them on the so called Iran Contra affair at All. We were heeding a plea from some individuals at that time All of you were kind of heralding the Day in the Media. And these people were among those who were planning ahead to have a  has always tried to put the gloss of statesmanship on the scandal but the transformation of the sharpies promoting the arms Deal into a Little band of iranian patriots attempting an. Orderly transition ranks As one of his More fanciful initiatives. No one argued with his fiction. The Public thinks that Rea Gan s carelessness is rather charming. It was his last press conference. He has never care for the exercise. The 3-by-5 card is no Crutch and peo ple unaccountably interested in Dull facts could always ambush him. He gave a total of 47 in his two terms. He preferred the hoarse exchanges Over the Roar of the helicopter engines. The press looked rude and he looked harried. It was not his relations with the press that made him so madly popular. It was the big set pieces at funeral Sand celebrations where every move was plotted and every word scripted that won their hearts those and his offstage courage in Battles with an Assassin s Bullet and cancer. Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev have both thrown away the manuals for leadership. Thus we have a candid communist and an artful dodger at the Headon the Earth s leading democracy. It s a switch but the unilateralist Are getting away with it and undeniably advancing world peace. C Universal press Syndicate