THE LEDGER-STAR
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 6, 1994 TAG: 9412060568
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
All branches of the armed services, including three Hampton Roads facilities or commands, are far more strained than the Clinton administration had acknowledged, according to a new Republican review of military readiness.
A report prepared for the incoming chairman of the House Armed Services Committee says that increased demands and a lack of funding under President Clinton have taxed troops and equipment at the Air Combat Command, based at Langley Air Force Base, the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, based in Norfolk, and at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, among others.
The report says the military has not eroded to the ``hollow'' levels of the 1970s. But, in language that hints at an upcoming battle between a Republican Congress and the Democratic White House over military priorities, the report says there is ample evidence that training and maintenance cutbacks have taken a significant toll.
At the Atlantic Fleet Headquarters in Norfolk, committee staffers found that Navy ships and crews were being overextended. Some 73 ships are needed to adequately perform fleet-wide operations as well as anti-drug duties and missions in Haiti and Cuba, but only 61 were available in September.
A fleet spokesman said the situation has improved somewhat since September, when a dozen additional ships were needed for operations in Haiti and Cuba. With those missions tapering off, the fleet is able to meet its requirements with 61 ships, the spokesman said.
KEYWORDS: MILITARY READINESS by CNB