European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine defense Secretary Dick Cheney Here on a visit to . Troops in Germany in october 1989 says this is a the worst possible time to contemplate changes in defense  Kos l  ill .-.vi. I world without a threat armed forces face budget a seek new role by Michael r. Gordon with Erik Eckholm new York times beyond disputes Over dollars and weapons the Battle of the military budget reflects a debate Over the shape of the american military in a transformed world. The Bush administration has a without apology a taken a cautious approach to the end of the cold War and what was termed Quot the soviet  he has proposed Only a modest decline in the . Military budget. In plans developed so far the armed forces would be scaled Back significantly but without changing their Basic Structure or missions. This is Quot the worst possible time to contemplate changes in defense strategy Quot defense Secretary Dick Cheney said earlier this year. Quot what we need to do is to Analyse what is right with that strategy and make adjustments Quot Cheney said. But in interviews a variety of experts including three former defense secretaries former top officers and private experts on the military called for major even Radical shifts in America s military posture that would permit deeper cuts in the budget. Nato announced last week a three year training and exercise schedule that significantly cuts the size and number of military exercises in Europe. Officials have also decided that they Are prepared to begin to lower the readiness and availability of forces for Battle Many leading experts say the Pentagon has been timid in reshaping american military forces for a new role in a changing world. They have put Forth More far reaching ideas such As withdrawing virtually All combat ground forces from Europe relying far More on Reserve units spending much less on new Long Range nuclear weapons and perhaps reallocating missions among the services. These and other measures would permit the annual military budget now around $300 billion to be reduced by 25 percent Over five years yielding a far greater annual Quot peace dividend Quot than would the annual decline of roughly 10 percent proposed by the administration for the same period. A the threats Are Likely to be very different in he future Quot said Harold Brown defense Secretary in the Carter administration who favors a 25 percent budget Cut Quot that requires a More fundamental restructuring of the forces and missions Quot he said. Even conservatives have castigated the Pentagon As engaging in old thinking. Fred c. Ikle Ronald Reagan a under Secretary of defense for policy has written that Cheney s Pentagon is dominated by an Quot obsolete mind  Quot despite the prudently chosen cuts that defense Secretary Cheney proposed to Congress for the 1991 budget about half our defense Effort is essentially still devoted to fighting a massive conventional War in Europe Quot Ikle wrote in the National interest a conservative journal. Quot Stalin has been buried twice in Moscow but his ghost lives on in the  As the extent of the change in the soviet Union sinks in the debate Over the military budget is building into a full fledged political War cutting across party lines and ideologies. And it often pits service against service in an escalating contest for Ever scarcer military dollars. Behind the heated oratory is a deeper debate about the Structure of the nation s military forces the Pentagon leadership defending a traditional approach to military planning sees itself As taking the prudent course. Quot in Europe we want to show the soviet Union the same picture they have seen All along a a group of nations that Are willing to make a real investment in their Security a Gen. Colin l. Powell chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said in an interview Quot and a real investment is combat forces not quartermaster clerks Quot responding to the Call by critics for Moie Radical restructuring he said Quot it s not at All Clear to me that a balanced downsizing is not the right answer. I be seen no particular soviet capability disappear i be seen no part of the world where we have an interest go off the  but where the Pentagon leadership sees prudence others see an unimaginative failure to grasp a rare Opportunity to create a now military Structure. Quot the defense department calculations still focus on the soviet Union reducing As the changes in the Warsaw pact allow Quot said rep. Les Aspin a wicca Pentagon analyst during the 1960s who now Heads the House armed services committee Quot we need to do some really fundamental new thinking about where does it All go beyond this and what the threat is out there to which we gear our  much of the debate involves differing calculations of the risk to National Security posed by cutbacks in the armed forces. How Likely is it the soviet military threat to Europe would or could be rebuilt How Likely is it the United Stales will want to continued on Page 14 sunday May 27, 1990 the stars and stripes a Page 13