THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 6, 1996 TAG: 9610060061
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 54 lines
Braving cutting winds at the Norfolk Naval Base, the secretaries of the U.S. Army, Air Force and Navy concluded a two-day visit focused on the services' joint training and war-fighting skills.
John H. Dalton, secretary of the Navy; Togo D. West Jr., secretary of the Army; and Sheila D. Widnall, secretary of the Air Force, toured the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy and the command ship Mount Whitney to see how the three services are coordinating their command and control systems to improve their military edge.
It was an opportunity to spotlight a program called C4-I, or ``command, control, communications and intelligence.'' And it fits right into the military's overall strategy.
``The emphasis is jointness throughout the Department of Defense,'' West said. ``We have common problems, common concerns. The more we can talk to one another, the more we can share our concerns and solutions. By being together, we help to symbolize that even more for the people in our respective departments.''
The weekend visit marked the secretaries' third such coordinating meeting in 18 months, and the first hosted by the Navy. The previous two meetings were at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., and Langley Air Force Base in Hampton.
More sophisticated information systems have enabled the services to improve their ability to call up common pictures of the battlefield and have saved taxpayer money, said Widnall.
``We've come light years in a very short period of time in terms of our capability to communicate together and share information,'' Dalton said.
The Navy and the Air Force, for example, are working together on the next generation of aircraft, the joint strike fighter, Dalton said.
If designed separately for the Navy, the Air Force and the Marine Corps, the design cost would exceed $33 million. By working together and combining 80 percent of the avionics technology, the cost will be closer to $16 million, Dalton said.
All three secretaries arrived on the John F. Kennedy on Friday, while the carrier was in the Atlantic Ocean. They watched launches and night flight operations of FA-18 Hornets and F-14 Tomcats.
Saturday was spent aboard the Mount Whitney, which is homeported in Norfolk. The secretaries' spouses accompanied them on their trip. They departed for Washington, D.C., Saturday afternoon. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot
From left, Secretary of the Air Force Sheila E. Widnall, Secretary
of the Army Togo D. West Jr., and Secretary of the Navy John H.
Dalton walk together after a tour of the command ship Mount Whitney
at the Norfolk Naval Base on Saturday. by CNB