European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 20, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday March 20, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 5 Apache breakdowns cited in memo commander would pick 60s copter in War by the Las Angeles times a new attack helicopter intended to usher the army into High technology aviation has broken Down so often that one commander has told his superiors he would rather Fly a 1960s Vintage chopper if we went to War tomorrow in a recent army gunnery exercise every one of 12 of the new High technology helicopters the ah-64 Apache became incapacitated within three Days according to a scathing internal army memorandum written last month and released sunday. After the gunnery exercise an aviation brigade com Mander wrote the 82nd airborne div and the rest of the army deserve to have an advanced helicopter that works. But systems reliability is killing  the failures appear to be part of a larger pattern of reliability deficiencies with the Apache prompting rep. John d. Dingell d-mich., to Call for a general accounting office investigation. The helicopters costing $ 13.4 million each Are produced by the Mcdonnell Douglas helicopter co. In Mesa Ariz. The army has received 450 ah-64s and ultimately plans to buy a total of 975. The problems of the ah-64 Call into further ques Tion a whole family of High performance equipment purchased during the $1 trillion defense buildup of the Reagan administration. The air Force bib bomber the Navy Aegis radar system and the Phalanx gun among other exotic systems All have had major reliability problems after entering service. Even though we say we value reliability we Seldom choose reliability Over performance when we develop weapons systems said Thomas l. Mcnaugher an expert in weapons procurement at the Brookings institution. It is time we Stop Rushing these projects to stay ahead of the russians. We run the risk of getting very High performance and very unreliable weapons. We Are getting into Levels of sophistication that Are very costly to maintain Mcnaugher said. While such concerns Are often raised in academic circles it is Seldom that the soldiers who actually us and depend on the weapons arc heard from. Dingell s staff uncovered the memorandum and a cover letter written by col. R. Dennis Kerr commander of the 82nd aviation brigade at fort Bragg . "1 have been a fan of the ah-64 for Over a year but the aircraft has let me Down Kerr wrote on feb. 7 to maj. Gen. Richard Earl Stephenson commander of the . Army aviation systems come in St. Louis. Step Hanson s office was responsible for buying the helicopter. If we went to War tomorrow i d have to recommend taking All of our ahls before we out Load one ah-64. We need helicopters to work for at least the first 72 hours. The Apache has a Long Way to go to make it to the Battlefield. Please  the a i mentioned by Kerr refers to Bell helicopters 1960s-Vintage cobra which has since been up dated. The ah-64 was supposed to provide marked improvement in performance Over the cobra carrying More lethal weapons and providing better flying characteristics. The army has invested billions of dollars in a Fleet of thousands of helicopters of various types and has nearly As Many aircraft As the air Force. The strategy of relying on helicopters has Long been criticized especially after the aborted Iran hostage Rescue Mission in april 1980, when three of the eight helicopters involved failed and a fourth was involved in an Accident. The army has lost five apaches in flight and two More that burned on the ground since the helicopter entered service in Early 1984, according to army re cords. The entire Fleet of ah-64s has been grounded at least three times. Army officials said Kerr s problems with his ah-64s arc not representative of the experience of other army units. The Apache is a Fine air plane said col. Curtis Herrick the ah-64 program manager in St. Louis. We arc finding that it has More capability than the designers  they do not All go to hell during an exercise Herrick asserted. They tend to do Well during exer  nonetheless Herrick acknowledged that the Apache has had problems with its Rotor Blades bearings and compressors. The compressors have been the cause of seven incidents in which ah-64 cockpits have filled with smoke. But it was not life threatening Herrick said. He said solutions to All the problems have been found. Mcdonnell Douglas helicopters president William p. Brown said our company s no. 1 priority is work ing to assure that the army receives aggressive company support to resolve All Apache Field difficulties whenever and wherever they  company spokesman Rob Mack added there Are problems with any new weapon and you Don t find out about some of the problems until you Field the system. The feedback to the company starts with a form that each new army flight Crew returns to us to describe the condition of the aircraft that arrives at the base. We have heard both Good and bad but we have heard a lot  army officials at the Pentagon appeared reluctant to dismiss the Kerr memorandum. I Don t mean to minimize it said it. Col. Richard Bridges an army spokesman. With new weapons systems there arc  in fact the air Force has discovered that its $28 billion Fleet of new bib nuclear a embers for exam ple would be unable to attack All of its intended targets in the soviet Union because of deficiencies with its radar jamming system. The Aegis electronic defense system aboard the new est class of Navy cruisers and destroyers has a number of reliability problems and shortcomings which have prompted congressional critics such As rep. Denny Smith r-orc., to Call for further testing. Dingell who chairs the House Energy and com Merce committee and is a frequent critic of the Penta gon said in a letter demanding a Gao investigation it is unbelievable that we arc melding Overly sophisticated and outrageously expensive weapons systems for our fighting men which simply Don t  Mcnaugher the Brookings institution expert said the armed services historically have sought to improve reliability after weapons arc fielded by refitting deficient parts. But even doing that he added you have situations where the systems Aren t very reliable at All. It is one of the major failings of the procurement system that we arc not Able to balance performance against Reli Abili  despite rumours Lump sum pension option alive it the Washington Post Washington the Lump sum pension payment option taken by eight of every 10 retiring Federal workers is very much alive although Many employees arc hearing false reports that it will be eliminated before they retire. Most of Floc rumours come from outside the Washington metropolitan area but thanks to the Telephone they Are being fed Back to the City where they arc alarming Many workers. Some 300,000 to 400,000 arc currently eligible to gel a Lump sum Check when they retire. Here s an update on the Lump sum option starting with an explanation of what it is Federal retirees can elect to take a straight annuity or May take a reduce pension and get a Check equal to their lifetime contributions to the retirement program. The average Lump sum pay ment is $30,000 before taxes. Some High salaried workers with Long careers have received As much As $80,000. Workers retiring before oct. 1 will get their Lump sum in two instalments. The first payment of 60 percent of the total will come shortly after retirement and the remaining 40 percent plus inter est will come the next year. People retiring after oct. I will get a single Check for the full amount. President Bush s budget asked that the Lump sum option be ended. That is All that has happened. The Benefit can t be eliminated unless both the Senate and House hold hearings on it and vote to kill it. There will be no Surprise dead of night vote on this budget item. It will be months before Congress . May close anti mafia units new York a attorney Gener Al Dick Thornburgh has tentatively decided to dismantle the 24 regional organized crime strike forces established decades ago by the Federal government to Fig it the mafia the new York times says in its sunday  newspaper said Thornburgh is planning the action because he believes the Job can Best be done by local . Attorneys. Thornburgh told the times in an interview that the problem with strike forces is that they arc an Independent Field office of the department of Justice that competes with the .  Thornburgh was a . Attorney in Pittsburgh from 1969 to 1974 where he gained National attention by jailing Many Middle level members of the mafia. The proposal is supported by most of " the nation s 94 . Attorneys but i meeting resistance from about 130 strike Force attorneys the times said. The strike Force lawyers argue . Attorneys have limited resources for com bating organized crime and that they Lack personnel experienced in dealing with such activity the newspaper reported. The proposal which is under study by Edward . Dennis head of the Justice department s criminal division already has the tentative approval of Thorn Burgh the times said. It said Dennis strongly advocates Abo Lishing the strike forces. The local . Attorneys arc pressing for a system similar to one already in use in the Southern District of new York where strike Force attorneys were merged into the local office and no longer reported directly to Washington. Supporters of the new York system credit it for allowing former . Attorney Rudolph Giuliani to successfully prosecute several mafia cases. In the interview Thornburgh said he would prefer to replace the strike Force with a cadre of experienced prosecutors who could be dispatched to work with local . Attorneys when needed. The times said Thornburgh will make a final decision on the matter in a few weeks. The strike forces originated in the 1960s under then attorney general Rob Ert Kennedy and were intended to marshal the resources of the Fri other Federal agencies and local Law enforce ment agencies in ridding a Region of mafia influence. They operate out of Washington be cause most organized crime activity extends beyond state Borders. Thornburgh s proposal is not new. Former attorney general Edwin Meuse unsuccessfully tried to dismantle the strike forces. Takes any action if it docs at All on the option. But Many people especially those outside Washington Don t under stand the Complex budget process. The Lump sum in t going away unless the Senate and House eliminate it. If that happens there will be plenty of warning. Sands of time in the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. March 20,. 1949 speaking at rally in Paris French Premier Henri que Cuillo appealed to voters to support his Middle of the Road regime being threatened by the communists and sup porters of Gen. Charles do Gaulle. 30 years ago today. March 20, 1959 soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev told a Moscow news conference the soviet Union was willing to meet with the West to discuss Westerlin and a German peace treaty. 20 years ago today. ,. March 20, 1969 general motors corp. Announced it was recalling  Mil lion cars trucks and buses for correction of possible defects in their braking sys tems. 10 years ago today. March 20, 1979 american Femi nist Leader Kate Milieu arrived in Paris after what she described As a terrifying deportation struggle with the new regime in Iran while on a fact finding Mission there on the rights of women