European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 9, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday january 9,1989 the stars and stripes Page 5 National guard joins anti drug fight role will ease pressure on air Force army Navy by Bernard e. Trainor Washington not select National guard forces including helicopter units and military police detachments will be used More this year in anti drug activities. Defense department officials Hope one result will be to ease Public pressure on the air Force army and Navy to fight drugs. The government is supplying $40 million to Start anti drug projects and has redefined the guard s mis Sion to make activity against drugs As important straining for combat. The Pentagon s National guard Bureau is soliciting project ideas from the states. It. Gen. Herbert r. Temple jr., chief of the National guard Bureau said the aim was to Stop the flow of narcotics into the country and eliminate marijuana farms. Guard officials and spokesmen for state guard organizations said they had asked the Pentagon to assist numerous programs like training guard members deploying military police personnel providing Community education and obtaining equipment like helicopters and radar to patrol Borders and entry Points. Som programs would expand activities and some Are new. National guard officials say most guard units will not be affected and will continue training for a War time role. But highly trained guard units the officials say Are Well suited to help the Federal and local authorities find and Stop drug traffic. Guard officers say guard helicopter units and other air units of the guard Are particularly suited for find ing drug traffickers and transporting Law enforcement officers to intercept drug runners. Military police and reconnaissance units these officer say can also help Stem the influx of illegal drugs. The guard also expects to lend specialized equipment like night vision goggles to local Law enforcement authorities. If the expanded guard role is successful this year the new Mission is Likely to grow for two reasons. First restrictions on the use of Federal forces i support of local governments do not apply to the guard so they Are free to Aid local anti drug efforts. Second the department of defense has resisted using its Active forces in an anti drug role. The armed forces fear that doing so would divert units from mis Sions More essential to National Security. If the military role in the drug War can be shifted to the guard pres sure on the services to get More involved in the War on drugs will be reduced. Referring to the joint chiefs of staff a senior Penta gon officer said the chiefs Are More than Happy to see the guard take on More of the anti drug role to get that Monkey off their  in the same legislation that earmarked the $40 million for this assistance role Congress expanded the formal Mission of the guard to include anti drug activities. Be fore that legislation Temple said the guard could assist states in combating drugs Only if it did not interfere with training for the guard s wartime Mission. Directly fight ing the drug traffic is now an added guard  but How will it All be be worked out this is sampling of major proposals from various states in California Steve Mensik a spokesman for Testate guard said its plan called for a helicopter Battal Ion near san Diego to help local officers patrol the 130-mile Border with  said the 24 helicopters would patrol from Sundown to sunup with special equipment to spot suspicious movements and the Crews would Call the local police to make arrests. Guard personnel would make no arrests. Texas has asked for $3.5 million primarily to help the National guard Check commercial truck coming into the United states Over the Rio Grande. Texas also plans to have guard helicopters search for marijuana farms. Florida plans to have its guard members help customs agents Check ships Corning into Miami Tampa and fort Lauderdale. Guard helicopters an planes Day and night will Check Landing strips suspected of use by drug runners. Maj. Gen. Lawrence p. Flynn adjutant general of new York s National guard said the state had asked for $ 180,000 in Federal assistance to train guardsmen to work with drug agents. It also plans to use National guard helicopters for offshore surveillance. The requests from the states Are being screened by the National guard Bureau which governs and finances the individual militias to make sure they Are Legal and permitted by guard policy. The requests Arcto be forwarded to it. Gen. Stephen g. Olmstead the Deputy Secretary of defense for drug policy and enforcement who will evaluate requests with the assist Ance of the Justice  will then be distributed by the National guard Bureau according to priorities set by Olmstead s  guard spokesman said the Southern Border states would probably get the highest priority. Delaware and Guam have indicated they do not Nee National guard assistance in fighting drugs. Iowa Mon Tana Tennessee South Carolina North Dakota Rhode Island and Alaska have not submitted  Edward i. Koch of new York has asked gov. Mario m. Cuomo to have guard members search in coming passengers and baggage at Kennedy International Airport but the idea died. Pentagon official said such requests would not be approved because guard members May not search or detain  Pentagon officials said however that the guard was prepared to help search commercial cargo. Pentagon officials emphasized that guard member scan Only assist Law enforcement agents and can t arrest drug suspects or handle any drugs. The guard will no tallow its training centers to be used to store contraband. Last summer police units of the National guard assisted the customs service for 20 Days in Florida Arizona and Texas by searching commercial cargo from  drugs were found. Officials said the smugglers quickly caught on and used other routes into the country or simply waited for the guard soldiers to go Home. An operation in september using a different tech Nique was considered More successful. Military police teams were moved to different Border entry Points every four to six hours making it difficult for drug dealers to determine which Border Crossings were Safe. Tower Given clean Bill after surgery on polyp Dallas up final Laboratory reports showed saturday that a polyp re moved from the Colon of defense Secre tary designate John Tower is benign confirming he is free of cancer following the removal of malignant cells last week. The former senator from Texas was i Good condition and Active in his hos Pital room saturday at Baylor University medical Center. Tower 63, underwent surgery thurs Day and doctors removed a i a Inch polyp and 12 inches of his right Colon surgeon or. . Dignan said during a news conference Friday. Doctors also re moved More tissue thursday from Tower s rectum and final test results mad Public saturday showed that tissue to be free of cancer. In a terse statement by Wilbur , assistant vice president of the medical Center the Hospital said the polyp is benign. Some area of dysplasia. Some initial change in cells but not malignant in Colon. Rectum polyp is benign. All Lymph nodes  the Hospital said Tower would remaining the Hospital about another week. He is Active in his room though he disallowed no visitors and receives no Tele phone Calls a Hospital spokesman  has been making Calls  a 1.5-by-1.7-centimeter rectal polyp discovered nov. 7 and removed dec. 27 contained a Little nest of malignant cells said Dignan. All of the Malig Nant cells from the rectal polyp have been  in the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. Jan. 9, 1949 two japanese sailors who had lived in a labyrinth of caves on iwo Jima for nearly four years surrendered to four . Air Force fliers claiming they had Only recently Learned of Japan s surrender by Reading fragments of . Newspapers. 30 years ago today. Jan. 9, 1959 the United states and Britian extended diplomatic recognition tothe new cuban government of provisional president Manuel Urrutia and were soon followed by most of the nations of Western Europe. 20 years ago today. Jan. 9, 1969 Prince Juan Carlos de Bourbon an apparent favorite of Gen. Francisco Franco placed his bid for the throne of Spain in a prominently displayed newspaper interview. 10 years ago today. Jan. 9, 1979 two explosions Tore through a French supertanker As it unloaded its 120,000-ton cargo of Oil at Ireland s biggest Oil terminal hurling dozens of Crew members to their deaths. The year s first a it s beginning to look a lot like Christmas a Little late perhaps. New York got its first snowstorm of the year Over the weekend getting just enough to turn Central Park into a picture postcard scene