European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday september 11, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 9soviet general visits . Pacific command Elmendorf fab Alaska up the top ranking soviet military general in the Pacific Region began a we Klong tour of the . Pacific come on monday by climbing into an f-15 Jet fighter based in to Alaska to guard against soviet incursions. Gen. Aleksander v. Kovtunov 58, who commands All soviet forces in Eastern Russia and the Pacific was to visit military installations in Alaska California and Hawaii As part of the ongoing .-soviet military to military contacts program. This was the programs first Exchange involving the two Pacific commands said adm. Charles r. Larson commander of the . Pacific come at Pearl Harbor. He travelled from Hawaii to Greet Kovtunov after the soviet general a flight across the Bering sea. A the goal is to increase our understanding Over our roles and where we fit into the National Security of both countries a said Larson who Heads the largest unified . Military command directing army Navy Marine and air Force operations in the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions. Kovtunova a soviet command is comparable to his own Larson said. A once the coup failed there was never a signal that he Wasny to coming a said Larson who extended the invitation last december. The soviet military supported the new direction in the country a politics Larson said of his Brief political discussions with Kovtunov kept a Short distance from the Small group of reporters. The 2-year-old military Exchange program entered a new phase with this visit Larson said noting that the program was considered a a Radical when it was initiated by the former head of the joint chiefs of staff adm. William Crowe and top soviet military leaders. A but now in a convinced its very positive a Larson said. After Kovtunov climbed out of the cockpit of the f-15 Eagle a like the ones that for years have intercepted soviet military aircraft training around the Periphery of Alaska a he had his picture taken with his american counterpart under the Wing of the Jet fighter loaded with Dummy training missiles an air Force spokeswoman said. Kovtunov and his delegation inspected several Jet fighters and a reconnaissance plane in a hangar at Elmendorf just North of Anchorage. Maj. Gen. Samuel e. Ebbesen commander of the army a 6th inf div Light in Alaska showed off a tracked vehicle and boasted to Kovtunov that it worked As Well in Arctic snows As it did in desert Sands. While in Alaska the soviets were to inspect airborne warning and control system planes known As a acs developed for in flight radar tracking and used in Alaska to Monitor soviet aircraft targeted for interception. They were also used to scan the skies while flying above the Middle East during the Gulf War. Air Force intercepts of soviet planes around Alaska once an almost routine event have dropped markedly since the .-soviet thaw the opening of the Border Between Alaska and the soviet far East and the beginning of commercial flights. Air Force capt. Monica Aloisio said so far this year that f-15 jets have conducted 12 intercept missions involving 16 soviet planes off Alaska. Two of those intercepts involved four soviet Bear bombers which used to train regularly Over the Waters Between Alaska and soviet territory. From Elmendorf Kovtunov travels to Eilson fab 26 Miles Southeast of Fairbanks and to the Yukon training zone to see army exercises in an area with terrain similar to Siberia. Front Alaska Kovtunov goes to Southern California to visit Marine and Navy installations and then to Pearl Harbor Navy  Brad Davis Dies of aids complications los Angeles apr Brad Davis who played an american imprisoned in Turkey for hashish smuggling in the harrowing movie Midnight express has died of complications from aids. He was 41. The actor who died sunday at his Home also starred in 1985 in the new York stage production of the Normal heart a drama about the aids epidemic. He played the Lover of a Man dying of the disease. Davis contracted aids from his use of drugs when he was younger said his wife Susan Bluestein a casting director. A the had a couple of experiences of sharing Needles with people who later died of aids a she said. A the was Young and wild and Success came fast. He  handle  Davis was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe award for the 1978 film Midnight express in which he played Billy Hayes a drug smuggler who escaped from a turkish prison. Davis said it was his favorite movie. Davis a people still come up and look at me with the same passion As if it was still yesterday a he said in 1985. A i got letters for years after Midnight express from Young Guys telling me who they were and what they wanted to do with their  Larry Kramer author of the Normal heart said Davis a brought fury and overwhelming love to the role of Ned. He was also one of the first straight actors with the guts to play Gay  in the Oscar Winner chariots of fire in 1981, Davis portrayed american runner Jackson Scholz. Other films included Duerelle Rosalie goes shopping a Small Circle of friends heart and cold steel. He played the title role in Robert Kennedy and his times a lbs miniseries. Other to credits included Walt Whitman Sybil roots the Caine Mutiny court martial and the plot to kill Hitler. Davis was born in Tallahassee Fla. He studied at the american Academy of dramatic arts and the american place theater in new York. The actor Learned in 1985 that he was infected with the aids virus his wife said. But she said a we All kept this a secret because he was afraid that if it were known he had aids he would never be Able to work As an  says Dod to a $28 million computer system Washington a the Pentagon has decided to abandon a sophisticated computer system it spent $28 million to develop rep. Tony p. Hall said monday. Hall a Ohio a longtime critic of the Way the government has handled military computer operations contended that development had been ordered halted on a system that could save the Pentagon $3.4 billion. The Pentagon would not confirm that such a decision had been made though spokesman Glenn flood said a that is being discussed and looks like it will  flood said of the system a it is leaning toward being revamped but that Sall i can  the Pentagon would not discuss Halls Contention that the project May be merged with a partly Duplica Tive army computer project. Hall said assistant Secretary of defense Colin Mcmillan ordered a sept. 30 curtailment for the joint uniform service technical information system an $800 million project that would have been managed from Wright Patterson fab in Halls District. A to make such a sudden unsupported  nothing Short of an act of bureaucratic vandalism to dismantle a system ready to go with great Promise a Hall said. The system would be used to optically store the equivalent of 65 million pages of army Navy and air Force technical manuals Halls office said. Hall contends the competing army system  be Able to do everything the Justis system was designed to do and providing funds for the army system Only a will just Cost us More Down the  the Pentagon and Hall have for some time been at Odds Over computer operations. Hall told a House subcommittee earlier this year that the program was a headed for a multimillion Dollar  a general accounting office report said the Pentagon had not done enough analysis a to help the services determine which system developments to continue and which to  just monkeying around visiting cadets from the soviet training ship pallada Are entertained monday in Vallejo calif., by fun Loving Jolyn a 7-year-old female orangutan. Holding her at the Marine world Africa Park is Trainer Kirk love land. Seventy six naval cadets from the soviet Union toured the Park on the last Day of their visit to the Bay area before continuing on a training cruise that will take them around the world