European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 13, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday january 13, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Robert Burn Many lessons were Learned from Gulf War for the for the shrinking american military perhaps the most enduring lesson of the Allied Victory against Iraq is the Multi dimensional value of air Power. It showed the worthiness of sophisticated air planes such As the f-117a stealth fighter bomber the Apache attack helicopter and the f-15 strike Eagle fighter As Well As the a smart a bombs and missiles they carried and the advanced electronic warfare systems that foiled iraqi air defences. And it illustrated the importance of investing in thorough and realistic training not Only for combat pilots but also for the Crews that keep them in the air. Ironically in Victory questions were raised about the need for some of the defense departments prize futuristic weapons including the b-2 stealth bomber which at an estimated $850 million a copy is the most expensive air plane Ever built. Once the first . Warplanes streaked into Iraq in the Early hours of Jan. 17. The Gate was opened for an almost unchallenged air Campaign that broke the Back of iraqis vaunted million Man army. The non Stop air assault was so decisive a leaving thousands of iraqi soldiers eager to surrender even before the Allied ground offensive began on feb. 24 a that air Force chief of staff Gen. Merrill Mcpeak could boast later it was the a first time in history that a Field army has been Defeated by air  but the winning combination will never be the same. Cheers from Gulf Victory parades had hardly faded before the defense department turned its attention Back to the painful task of re trenching a cutting tens of thousands of servicemen and women Mot Balling warships retiring army divisions and streamlining the air Force to adjust to the demise of the c old War. Now with the disappearance of a soviet military threat the . Military almost certainly faces even deeper cuts than it foresaw just a few months ago. The Challenge for . Military leaders is to reduce and reshape the armed forces without losing the advantages that made Victory in the Gulf so overwhelming. The next . War should it come May not offer the same possibilities for american air superiority. But the results in the Gulf showed that . Air Force and Navy air Power applied in a carefully planned round the clock Campaign can be a decisive Force against even the most heavily armed defenders. A never in the history of warfare has air Power played such a determining role in winning a  James f. Dunnigan and Austin Bay wrote in a rom shield to storm a comprehensive account of the weapons and strategies used in the Gulf. The Success of strikes against targets deep inside Iraq by laser guided bombs enabled the defense department to depict the War As a relatively a clean Quot conflict with Little physical damage to iraqi civilian areas and relatively few . Casualties. Some private analysts think this Public impression a that the air War Cost relatively Little in american lives and Only Hurt the iraqi military a is misguided. William ark1n, director of military research at Greenpeace International said the Allied air Campaign was so efficient a knocking out for example. 80 percent of Iraq s electric Power in four Days a that it indirectly led to the deaths of at least 70,000 iraqi civilians in the months after the War ended. The Gulf War was no less fatal than others. A people just died in a different Way a said Arkin who travelled throughout Iraq for a month studying bomb dam age Tri civilian areas and witnessing human deprivation he said was caused by the bombing. The War offered other important Les sons to the . Military. Among them a the competence of women to Fly combat missions. Women have been barred by . Law from flying warplanes but last fall Congress recognizing the contribution of women pilots in the Gulf War. Lifted the restriction for women in the air Force Navy and Marine corps. A the difficulty of defending against ballistic missiles. The army says the Patriot anti missile system knocked Down most of the iraqi scud missiles fired at saudi Arabia and Israel but it acknowledges that the Patriot encountered Many problems in its first use in combat and will need Many improvements. A the importance of the National guard and Reserve to provide a wide Range of support for combat forces. The military also Learned that guard and Reserve ground 1 Ombal troops need More preparation time than had been previously believed. C the associated press Barry Schwei changing world demands new . Strategy word is leaking out that president Bush will Tell Congress at the end of the month that the United states can get by with fewer stealth bombers attack submarines and other expensive weapons that have become superfluous with the demise of the soviet Union. Some might argue that the Pentagon never really needed a budget of More than $300 billion a year to keep America and its allies secure. No matter. That debate is irrelevant now. What Bush and Congress will be arguing about in the months ahead is whether the administration is scaling Down fast enough and has a new strategy to replace the one that for More than 40 years was based on fear of Moscow. The debate will be conducted before an american electorate and european governments whose own military policies will be guided by the outcome. Two years ago new York gov. Mario Cuomo predicted Bush would time the unveiling of his peace dividend to his run for a second term. Indeed Bush and Bis political advisers have taken note of the polls that suggest the president is absorbed in foreign affairs at the expense of Domestic problems. The answer May be to use savings from abandoned bomber submarine and missile programs to address health transportation and other social needs. At the same time Bush defense Secretary Dick Cheney and the joint chiefs of staff face the Challenge of adapting the Pentagon to a new world that lacks the simplicity of East West tensions. All . Presidents since world War ii saw the world through the prism of the cold War. Stupendous Pentagon budgets were compiled on the theory that the soviets might jump the West if the United states was not armed to the Teeth. That threat real or imaginary is gone. And while a to and some other relics of the cold War Are still in operation propelled As much by inertia As conscious decision making Bush Cheney and the chiefs will have to make some Tough decisions on which weapons to keep and for what purpose. Rep. Les Aspin d-wis., the chairman of the House armed services committee has summarized the situation in a memo and has invited his House colleagues to join him in some hard thinking in Advance of the defense budget debate. A the Warsaw pact threat has collapsed a Aspin said. A a we be fought a War with Iraq. And now the soviet Union has disintegrated. The foundation of our National Security and defense policies for More than 40 years has shifted dramatically. We must now begin at the beginning to understand How to respond to this new  Aspin suggested three goals identifying threats of the new Era defining appropriate nuclear forces and what the United states needs them for deciding which conventional forces Are needed and for what purpose. Even to ask these questions is to suggest that the massive american War machine is due for an overhaul and a Down sizing. As the soviet unions Power ebbed Bush responded by proposing to withdraw thousands of tactical nuclear weapons and to Cut . Troops in Europe by 25 percent or to 150, my by 1995. The president intends to follow through with negotiations to Cut Long Range nuclear weapons below the total established in the still in ratified strategic arms reduction treaty. The problem at this Point is sorting. Or Inton to Nego out which officials in the former soviet Tate with. These moves by Bush Are Only the beginning however. The world is at a turning Point and the president and Congress have to be thinking in much larger terms. C thu associated press the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page rep Raswant Moss of tha authors and Sra in no Way to a consider so As representing tha views of the stars and stripes or tha United states government