European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 3, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes crisis monday december 3,1990 troop cuts by the lbs Angeles times Washington the massive persian Gulf military buildup will make it All but impossible for the Pentagon to carry out the first round of personnel cuts mandated by Congress As part of a five year plan to shrink the armed forces by 25 percent defense officials said saturday. Secretary of defense Dick Cheney is ready to inform Congress that the staffing requirements of operation desert shield probably will Force a delay in this years personnel reductions sources said. He is expected to seek authorization to defer the cuts until later years. The persian Gulf deployment is placing the heaviest demands on the . Army which had been expected to Cut 40,000 uniformed personnel by the end of 1991, or half of the Overall 80,000 reduction approved by Congress for the fiscal year that began oct. 1. The probable need to delay the 1991 round of reductions a and the savings they would have produced a is the first Concrete evidence that operation desert shield will soak up much of the initial a peace dividend generated by warming East West relations. Advisers have told Cheney that the Gulf deployment which is expected to reach 430.000 troops by mid january will require the Pentagon to restructure its five year personnel reduction plan and persuade lawmakers to ease their demands for this years reductions. Defense officials said it became Clear in late november that the Pentagon would be unable to meet the personnel reductions mandated by Congress As part of an Effort to reduce defense spending in response to a declining soviet threat. At that time Cheney approved an army proposal to halt departures of soldiers whose terms of duty had expired and officers who had elected to retire. His action will prevent the reduction of As Many As 3,500 soldiers each month. The army recently concluded that even under the most a Drable circumstances it could reduce its forces by no More than 20.000 this year. In a protracted War or a prolonged stalemate the service has told Cheney that it would be unable to trim its Rolls at All. T a a Sharp draw Down in strength in the last last half or Quarter of the year would destroy army readiness a one Pentagon source said. Cheney had planned to Cut the army a personnel roster to 580,000 in 1996 from the current level of 750,000. The cuts would be part of an Overall plan to eliminate a Quarter of America s 2.1 million Active duty armed forces personnel Over five years. Quot the services Are very Antsy about their ability to meet their end strength reductions a said a senior defense official. He noted soon i that Cheney May ask Congress very to give the services some leeway in  me services some leeway making the reductions this year. Army officials said that almost three fourths of the services Active duty manpower is deployed abroad in Europe As Well As the Middle East causing More turmoil in the ranks than at any time since the army shifted to voluntary recruitment in 1973.the Marine corps with two thirds of its troops slated for deployment in the persian Gulf by late january and almost 80 percent assigned somewhere overseas also has instituted a program to Stop the loss of some personnel. But officials said that even with the added strains the marines expect to be Able to meet their first year personnel re. Auction goal of 3,000 by sept. 30,1991 the end of the fiscal year. Under Cheney a plan the marines would shrink to 175. Joo a 1996 from about 200,000 now. Navy officials have argued that they will be hard pressed to maintain six Carrier Battle groups totalling hundreds of . Warships while simultaneously retiring ships and sailors As directed by Congress the personnel reductions Are part of Overall defense spending cuts proposed by Cheney that would trim Pentagon outlays by 10 percent Over the next five years those plans were devised before iraqis aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait and the resulting . Military buildup. The current . Deployment of about 240,000 troops is costing the government the equivalent of $17 billion a year and the amount is expected to almost double when the recently announced buildup is completed in january. #. Time drags so year will get Quick fix Washington up a because clocks made by humans Are Quot More constant than Earth a own rotation 1990 will have one extra a leap second to adjust for the difference officials said sunday. A it really boils Down to the fact that the rotating Earth itself is not Sullivan chief _ the National Institute of standards and technology Boulder Colo. V. The world sets its watches by atomic clocks which operate by measuring a a a a a Are accurate to c Standard second fined by the vibrations of an atom of the Metal cerium. Earth a rotation by comparison is off a by a few lots of a second per year a Sullivan said. Because time Raea sure by Earth s rotation is not As regular As atomic clocks the clocks slowly get out of sync with Earth. A the vibrations of an atom Are More regular than the rotations of Tufe Earth a Sullivan said. Although a second Here or there May not sound very important everything from the timing of traffic lights to the precise navigation necessary for sea and air travel depends on very exact time coordination Sullivan said. Leap seconds have been added at intervals of from six months to two years. The last leap second was added in december 1989, this years will be the 16th since 1972. Panel finds Bias an unidentified demonstrator is arrested saturday by police in Chicopee mass., at the Gate of Westover arb hundreds of demonstrators held a rally outside the base s main Gate to protest the . Middle East policy. Dozens of protesters were arrested following protesting Gulf policy the rally after sitting in the Street to Block the Gate. Meanwhile in Boston on saturday a crowd estimated from 4000 to 10,000 rallied against the Gulf buildup signs such As a blood and Oil done to mix and a How Many deaths to the gallon a Washington a tougher rules and More diligent oversight Are needed to halt Bias in awarding Federal computer contracts a House committee said in a report that accuses the Navy of favouritism toward ism corp. T the report by the government operations committee which was to be released monday details a a tangled web of Agency and contractor abuse improprieties and illegalities,�?T1 said Hep. John Conyers a Mich the panels chairman a a it san old Story that when the Rule of Law Breaks Down it is the Strong who Benefit Quot Conyers said. T the report follows a yearlong committee investigation of Navy computer procurement. The Pentagon and the general accounting office the investigative Arm of Congress had launched separate probes after six ism competitors complained in 1988 they had been men out of the Navy a multimillion Dollar computer Market the committee said its investigation had been broadened to include other agencies including the National institutes of health the National aeronautics and space administration and the trea Suty department All have Large Complex computer systems and Are major computer equipment buyers. The report says ism a appears for the most part not to be responsible for the Barre Navy acquisition system but merely its willing  Navy spokesman it. James Wood would not comment beyond saying that the Navy had cooperated with the com Mittee during the investigation. _ ism spokesman Mark Holcomb said in company endorsed a proposed review of policies on relations Between the government and private sector computer companies. A but he said it would be unfair if conch a review implied that ism s stealing with the Navy had been improper 1. °j4ve been an almost total breakdown in the standards of conduct under which government procurement officials Are expected to operate a the report said a the Standard or dealing with potential contractors at arms length has too often been  / j0 �1cahill, a former naval officer testified during one rearing that his cd manding officer while attending a free ism promotional training seminar Tele phoned Cahill and ordered him to change our procurement strategy to go after Quot a new ism technology the report said Cahill said he refused and awarded the contract to another company the report described the officers participation in the ism program As a clearly improper a at least 128 Navy. Officials a were trained by ism in san Jose Between 1985 and 1987.,. Navy undersecretary a Daniel How ��.,��� a sept. 7 letter to Conyers said ism s training of Cahill s Superior was not an illegal gratuity because ism did not win the contract it sought. But How Ard acknowledged there was an a appear Ance of