European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 6, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 6 b the stars and stripes wednesday november 6,1991 lawmakers balk at move for deep cuts in reserves Washington a lawmakers have approved the by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau apr Pentagon s plan for reducing Active duty forces Over the next two years but they want to keep far More Reserve troops than defense Secretary Dick Cheney had wished congressional aides said tuesday. The Pentagon a plan was to Cut both Active and Reserve forces by about 20 percent Over the next few years reducing the Active component to 1.6 million personnel and the Reserve and National guard component to 906,000. That plan envisioned a reduction in the Active Force of 106,000 in fiscal 1992 and another 92,000 in fiscal 1993, and roughly Matching cuts in Reserve end strength of about 105,000 in fiscal 1992 and another 80,000 in fiscal 1993. The defense authorization Bill for fiscal 1992 and 1993 that was approved oct. 31 by House and Senate conferees follows the Pentagon a wishes for the Active Force to the letter. But it would allow Reserve cuts of Only about 37,000 in fiscal 1992 and about 28,000 in fiscal 1993, which would leave a total of 120,000 More reserves on duty at the end of fiscal 1993 than the Pentagon says it wants or needs. Defense department officials say the legislative moves will Hurt in the Long run by creating an imbalance Between Active duty units and the Reserve forces that would support them in wartime. In recent speeches and television appearances Cheney has repeatedly warned lawmakers about the consequences of maintaining High Reserve manpower Levels while drawing Down the Active Force. If lawmakers continue on that course the Pentagon would have to spend some $20 billion Over the next five years on a Reserve Structure Quot that no longer has a Mission because the Active duty units that they re supposed to go to War with Are no longer going to be in the Force a Cheney said at a recent hearing. Other officials including Gen. Colin l. Powell chairman of the joint chiefs of staff have pointed out that Reserve forces grew by about 30 percent in the 1980s while the Active Force remained steady. Powell has said those forces should be trimmed Back to what they were at the Start of the buildup initiated by president Reagan. Lawmakers maintain that the Pentagon has not offered sufficient rationale for the Reserve cuts it wants to make. In the report accompanying its version of the defense authorization Bill the Senate armed services committee complained that the Pentagon blueprint is based on a Quot share the pain philosophy More than an analysis based on requirements. The House armed services committees version of the Bill also expressed disappointment with analysis of the total Force mix to Date calling a december 1990 Pentagon report Quot unresponsive and Quot of marginal Utility for lawmakers to use in setting a future course for the reserves. Pentagon officials say Home turf pressure not to Cut the National guard and reserves is having an effect on lawmakers. Quot there a a lot of backstage political pressure a said one official who asked not to be identified. Congressional aides done to deny that. Quot when congressmen go Home they have to Tell their constituents Why their unit is being Cut and Why their armory is being shut Down a said a House armed services committee staffer. But the staffer said Congress would not be averse to taking such actions if lawmakers could justify them. Quot that Force mix study last december was an unmitigated failure a he said of the Pentagon a report. With that in mind lawmakers approved a provision in the defense authorization Bill that Calls for Independent analysts outside the defense department to do a study of the Active Reserve Force Structure and mix. Pentagon s Force Structure plan Well balanced Dod official says by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a contrary to congressional complaints the Pentagon has put much a intellectual Rigort into devising a new Force Structure plan that balances cuts in Active duty and Reserve personnel a top defense department official said monday. Stephen Duncan assistant Secretary of defense for Reserve affairs said he is not really sure what lawmakers mean when they say the Pentagon has failed to adequately justify its planned cuts in Reserve strength. A a in be spent a lot of time talking to individual members of Congress to understand More clearly what they need what information they Lack a Duncan said in an interview. Quot when they say there a a Lack of analytical justification in a not sure exactly what they re talking about a he said. Quot a lot of intellectual rigor has gone into our recommendations about which forces we should Cut and the danger of allowing Active duty cuts to proceed while holding Back proportional cuts in the Reserve components is that those Reserve units most of which Are in support roles May end up with no Active duty units to support he said. A you can to freeze Reserve forces inevitably As you draw Down Active forces if you re trying to build a Force Structure in a balanced fashion Quot he said. The current debate Over the Structure of the armed forces is probably a healthy thing in a democracy Duncan said. A we have a serious National debate going on right now about what kind of forces we need a he said. A and 1 suspect that in the not too Distant future we will develop a National but As the military downsides that debate must include a focus on the Issue of balanced manpower reductions Duncan said. A we Are not just blindly saying we should Cut a a a percent of the Active Force and a a a percent of the Reserve Force a he said. A a we be clearly defined our ideas for our future military strategy and Force Structure. If anyone has a better idea i say lets on a More specific Issue lawmakers expressed disappointment with the Pentagon a Quot insensitivity to the sacrifices of reservists and its failure to Speed the return of reservists to civilian life once the War was Over. The fiscal 1992 defense authorization Bill says the Pentagon Quot needs to develop a policy for future contingencies that improves the demobilization process and shifts mopping up missions from Reserve units to Active Duncan called that charge unfair although he acknowledged that there Are some things the defense department can do better in de mobilizing reservists. He said the services should be Able to give reservists a specific Date around which they can plan to come Home As Well As better explanations of the operational requirements that Are keeping them in the theater. A but having said that i will also say you can to have a total Force for some things and not for others Quot he said. Quot reservists should realize that if we Call them up they will be there As Long As a need exists. Operational necessities in the persian Gulf did not end when the bullets it took the defense department More than five months to put its forces in place in the Middle East which meant it would take even longer to get them out since much of the equipment had to be fixed and cleaned before it could be loaded on ships to return Home. Quot if the people who have the skills to do those kinds of things Are reservists and in Many cases they Are since they re in the combat support and combat service support Arenas then those Are the people we will be using for those jobs a Duncan said. Reservists generally understand that he said. A there were some that were unhappy and id be the first to say that we can improve the Way we get information to them a he said. A but assuming there is an operational need we have to leave people who Are trained to do the Job in place until its researcher Dies after being hit by Rock from wire reports Charlottesville a. A a National institutes of health researcher hit in the head by a Rock thrown from a passing car died monday. Gerald Aurbach 64, of Potomac md., was chief of the metabolic disease Branch of the Nih. He was hit saturday and died from brain injuries at the University of Virginia a medical Center Hospital spokesman Tom Doran said. Police said Aurbach was struck after getting out of his car which he had just parked in downtown strike averted Concord Calif. A a strike by thousands of Northern California supermarket butchers was narrowly averted Early tuesday when negotiators reached a tentative contract agreement officials said. A strike had been scheduled to begin at 6 a.m., but the contract was extended until saturday to allow five unions representing about 7,000 butchers to vote on the pact said Stephen Hill spokesman for the food employers Council the employers bargaining group. Terms of the agreement were being withheld pending Union ratification Hill said. A strike would have affected Chain stores throughout much of Northern . Protesters warned Cranston . A a judge monday warned abortion protesters arrested at a clinic that they could face contempt charges if they lied about their identities. Nearly 100 arrests were made saturday outside the women a medical Center after protesters rushed a police line to Block entrances at the abortion clinic. Some of the protesters chained themselves to Entrance railings. The first two of 14 women brought before judge Gilbert Indeglia gave him names and address in Massachusetts but said they remember their social Security numbers which could be used to confirm their identities. Indeglia released them on $100 bail but said they could face contempt charges if they leaves prison Chattanooga Tenn. A a former prominent Tennessee figure convicted of Bank fraud in 1985 returned to is Home state monday to serve the final six months of his prison sentence at a Halfway House. Jake Butcher 55, twice ran for governor and organized the 1982 worlds fair in Knoxville. He once ran a $1.5 billion financial Empire in Tennessee and Kentucky. Butcher pleaded guilty to Bank fraud in 1985, two years after the failure of his United american Bank triggered the collapse of 22 Banks controlled by the Butcher family. He was accused of embezzling $20 million in Bank deposits and received a 20-year sentence. Until monday he was in a Federal prison in at Lanta. If paroled As scheduled he will have served six years and eight months. Butcher will live in the Halfway House run by the salvation for the . Bureau of prisons until his parole which is scheduled for april 30.congressman to run Washington a Republican rep. Sid Morrison said monday that he would run for governor of Washington in 1992 to replace retiring democratic gov. Booth Gardner. The six term congressman said his statewide name recognition has increased in recent years and added Survey tells me it will be Tough but i can do Morrison 58, said he has formally filed As a candidate with the state Public disclosure commission and would make a formal announcement of his candidacy later this year in the state
