European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 29, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Inside stripes d cruise missile fired in successful test Page 2 d cuban missile crisis focus of Moscow forum Page 8 d mexican Border ditch draws criticism Page 9 d Steffi Graf wins 5th straight slam title Page 21 the stars an stripes authorized unofficial publication for the . Armed forces Good morning vol. 47, no. 284 sunday january 29, 1989 25 daily and sunday d 8693 a Scholz urges nato to rethink views As soviets reduce Force by David Tarrant staff writer Munich West Germany confronted for the first time with an adversary Bent on reducing rather than increasing its military strength in Europe Nat must begin to rethink the basis for its Security needs West German defense minister Rupert Scholz said saturday. But the Atlantic Alliance must proceed cautiously since the soviet Union has not relinquished its status As a military superpower and is unlikely to do so Schwiz said. Scholz made his remarks at the Weh Kunde Confer ence a two Day defense symposium Given annually by German Magazine publisher Ewald von Kleist. Dis Cussion among the european and american leaders attending the conference has entered on How the soviet threat has changed and How the Western Alliance should react. One unscheduled highlight of the conference was a . Senator s accusation that Scholz and other Bonn government ministers knew for at least five years of West German participation in the manufacture of chemical and biological weapons in Libya and other countries. In his address Scholz called on nato to take pragmatic course in the near future but avoid viewing with Only cynicism the motives behind the soviet Mili tary initiatives. The countries of the Alliance he said see nato on Back Page Senate panel endorses Frade nominee hearings keep nominees Busy hearings on Capitol Hill kept presi Dent Bush s nominees occupied last week. Carla Hills left Bush s Choice for . Trade representative testified Friday before members of the Senate finance committee who recommended her nomination. Interior Secretary designate Manuel Lujan Cente who faced members of the Senate Energy and natural resources committee and housing and Urban development Secretary designate Jack Kemp who appeared before the Senate banking committee Are still awaiting the out come of their hearings. Washington a a Senate committee recommended Friday that at Torney Carla Hills be confirmed As .trade representative after she assured lawmakers that she would fight to open global markets with a crowbar if Nec  we have to have our agreements enforced Hills said before the Senate finance committee voted 18-0 to recommend her confirmation. And where our partners Are violating our agreements we must take  president Bush s nomination of the Washington attorney and former housing and Urban development Secretary no goes to the Senate. No Date on a vote has been set. Hills would succeed Clayton Yeut Teras the top . Trade negotiator. Bush has chosen Yeutter to be Secretary of agriculture. Hills sought to Dampen concern that she could become vulnerable to conflict of interest allegations because she anther attorney husband Roderick Hills have represented foreign Law clients. Let me address the question of potential conflicts of interest right away she said. There Are  she promised senators that she anther husband would divest themselves of any business interests that could present see Senate on Back Page army grounds chinooks for safety work by Norman Black a military writer Washington the army on Friday order edits Fleet of ch-47d Chinook helicopters temporarily grounded for the one time installation of safety equip ment that service officials say will help protect flight control tubes against fire. The grounding is the third for the Chinook in two months. The army said the safety of flight message or Dering the grounding stemmed from a continuing re View of accidents involving the twin Rotor chopper Over the past year. In two of those accidents a fire spread from the rear of the aircraft to the front along a hollow Tunnel that runs the length of the fuselage and carries aluminium control  the control tubes provide the linkage Between the flight controls in the cockpit and the helicopter s two Rotor Blades. The service is ordering its mechanics with the Hel of teams from contractor Boeing co., to install a i Berglass fire Protection sleeve around the control tubes. The goal is to make sure the control tubes re main intact Long enough in Case of fire for a Pilot Toland the chopper. Army spokesman it. Col. John Reitz in discussing Friday s action disclosed an earlier grounding order issued Jan. 10 that instructed mechanics to make sure special fire retardant paint had been applied to the control tubes. All but 21 of the army s 240 ch-47ds Are still grounded for inspections under that earlier order Reitz said. We re being cautious at this Point and we be decided to add this extra margin of safety he said. And we decided to do it now since the helicopters Are already  Reitz said the army expected the work to take "30 Days or  the army grounded its Chinook Fleet dec. 23 after receiving a special advisory from Boeing. The army ordered an inspection to determine whether All of the transmissions had been properly assembled during production. That grounding ended Jan. 3. Ten ch-47d s have been involved in accidents since 1985, and 16 soldiers were killed in 1988. Last feb. 25, 11 soldiers were killed in a Chinook crash near Chico Texas. And in the most recent Acci Dent five service members were killed dec 8 in a crashing Honduras. In both accidents the helicopter Crew had to Deal with an on Board fire apparently caused by differ ent problems. In both cases however the fire spread from the rear of the aircraft to the front along the control tube Tunnel Reitz said. While the evidence is not conclusive it appears both pilots May have lost control of their helicopters before hitting the ground he said