DATE: Thursday, September 11, 1997          TAG: 9709110575

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   38 lines

SHELTON WINS COMMITTEE OK TO LEAD JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF

With no opposition, the Senate Armed Services Committee recommended Senate confirmation Wednesday of Gen. Henry H. Shelton as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The committee voted 11-0 to endorse the four-star Army general and current chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command.

The 55-year-old native of Speed, N.C., would be the first member of the elite Green Berets to rise to the nation's top military post. Shelton is a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam War.

The committee vote came a day after Shelton appeared before the panel and pledged his support for continued high combat readiness of front-line troops, for increasing weapons spending and for bringing U.S. troops home from Bosnia by next June.

Shelton did raise concerns among some members when he expressed uncertainty about the U.S. ``exit strategy'' from Bosnia. But he said he has not yet immersed himself in the details of the Bosnia mission and plans two visits to the Balkans in the coming months.

``From the jungles of Vietnam to senior levels of military command, General Shelton has consistently proven himself to be an able officer and a man of integrity,'' said Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

``I have every confidence that once he is confirmed by the Senate, the general will distinguish himself in his new duties and work hard to keep America's armed forces ready to deal with any threat anywhere.''

Lawmakers particularly praised Shelton's understanding of guerilla warfare and of special military operations, the type of challenges they say the U.S. military is increasingly likely to face in the post-Cold War era. ILLUSTRATION: Shelton

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