THE LEDGER-STAR 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, January 26, 1995             TAG: 9501260580
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY SUSANNE M. SCHAFER, ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                         LENGTH: Short :   37 lines

AMENDMENT WOULD FORCE ``VERY MAJOR'' DEFENSE CUTS

If a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution is approved, the Pentagon will face ``very major'' budget cuts and have an even smaller force than it does now, Defense Secretary William Perry says.

And, he said, such cuts would gut the military's war-fighting strategy, which requires it have enough forces to fight two major conflicts in quick succession.

``If you imagine a balanced budget amendment would be accompanied by a resistance to increasing taxes and by resistance to cutting programs like Social Security, then you're led inevitably to an arithmetic which says there has to be very major cut in the defense budget,'' Perry said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Should further cutbacks be required, Perry said he would prefer to trim the number of Army divisions, Navy ships or Air Force planes rather than reducing funds to keep the military trained and combat-ready.

``I would rather have a highly ready small force than a large force that is poorly equipped or poorly trained,'' he said.

``I'm a hawk, but I'm a cheap hawk,'' House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., told reporters Wednesday. ``I want us to thoroughly review defense just as we thoroughly review everything else.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Balancing the budget would gut the military's war-fighting strategy,

Defense Secretary William Perry says.

by CNB