Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 5, 1994                   TAG: 9402050074
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

MILITARY BUDGET CUTS PROPOSED

Active-duty forces would take the biggest hit - 85,000, or a 5.2 percent cut, according to an outline of the president's defense budget plan, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. The proposal would cut 46,000 - 4.5 percent - from the "selected reserve" forces, those who drill regularly.

In addition, the Clinton plan proposes cutting 50,000 from the Department of Defense civilian work force, a 5.4 percent reduction.

New details of the $1.5 trillion spending plan for all government programs in the 1995 fiscal year emerged just three days before Clinton ships the proposal to Congress.

Administration officials said Clinton will propose killing 115 programs, for a savings of $3.25 billion. Terminated programs would include the Air Force's F-16 fighter, public library construction and a shark research center, they said.

They predicted lawmakers would accept the cuts - after a fight.

"There'll probably be a lot of blood on the floor by the time we finish," Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen said.

Cuts in Pentagon staff are part of a long-term administration plan. As of last fall, active-duty strength stood at 1.7 million. By the end of the next fiscal year in the fall of 1995, active forces will total 1.52 million, a cut of 179,400. The administration projects it eventually will drop to 1.4 million. Overall Defense Department employment over the two-year period would decline by 344,300.

But officials insist all the military cuts can be achieved by attrition or, in the case of some civilian employees, buyouts.

Cuts in uniformed personnel, if agreed to by Congress, would save $2.42 billion, according to the administration. Civilian cuts would save $1.59 billion.

These savings do not appear in the bottom line. Clinton's $264 billion defense spending proposal is slightly higher than this year's budget and $3 billion above what he predicted he would seek for the 1995 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

In addition to an aircraft carrier, Clinton is requesting $408 million for 60 Blackhawk Army helicopters, more than $2 billion for continued development of the F-22 Air Force fighter and $475 million for research and development of the Centurion attack submarine, according to congressional officials. Clinton also is promising a sharp increase in operations and maintenance, the budget that finances the military's readiness to respond to world hot spots.

But in real terms, the budget would mark the 10th consecutive decline in defense spending since the peak of the Reagan administration defense buildup in 1985. And the decline will continue at least through fiscal 1997.

Clinton will project next year's budget deficit at just above $170 billion - about $70 billion below the amount he expected a year ago.