The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 7

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1977 THE INDIANA POLIS STAR PAGE 7. Arms Continued From Page 1 forces effectively in the Far East. Middle East and the oil-producing Persian Gulf. Information on readinesss problems, like all information in this AP investigative report, comes from official sources, i.e.. Pentagon officials and senior commanders in the field.

No restrictions were placed on the use of the information, though many sources preferred not to have theiir names used. The AP investigation in the United States. Europe and the Far East highlighted these significant weaknesses. arfiong others: THE ARMY has only 7.000 of the nearly 15.000 tanks planners believe it must have to defeat Soviet armor and replace anticipated heavy battle losses. The Russians outnumber Allied armies by about 3-1 in tanks in the crucial Central European sector.

The Army's War Reserve stocks of tanks, antitank missiles, self-propelled artillery, armored troop carriers and ammunition are low, particularly in Europe. In some types of weapons, the War Reserve depots in Europe are bare. Tank units cry for sophisticated night sights so they can hit Soviet tanks in the dark. THE AIR FORCE is short about half the advanced air-to-air missiles it needs to duel Soviet fighter planes for control of the skies. It would need double its present long-range air-transport plane capacity to rush vital weapons and other equipment from the United States to the war zone, especially in the critical early stages of war.

The Army National Guard and Reserve have few units rated ready for deployment. A senior Army general in Germany only said "the Guard and Reserve do not figute very large in our plans" for fighting the opening phase of European war The Air Force. Marines and Navy are generally regarded as being in better shape. THE RESERVE manpower pool is drying up. It has dropped from 1.6 million five years ago to 429,000.

Because the draft is dead, this Individual Ready Reserve would be the main source of replacements for battle casualties in the first weeks and months of a war. Shortages of spare parts have grounded warplanes, and delayed overhauls have severely cut the operating effectiveness of warships. The Air Force and Navy cannibalize parts stripping one aircraft, to help another keep flying. Air Force officials say the cannibaliza-tion rate has doubled in the past three years, although they say they hope to start improving the situation in 1978... POOR RELIABILITY of some new aircraft, ships and other complex weapons have caused major problems.

During one recent period, for example, fewer than 50 per cent of the Atlantic Fleet's F14 fighter planes were ready to fly U.S. military professionals complain that the size of the armed forces has shrunk to a far greater degree than their responsibilities in protecting America's global interests. The U.S. military services have about 2.1 million men and women in uniform 1.5 million fewer than the Vietnam War peak and the smallest number since before the Korean War in 1950. THE 468-SHIP U.S.

Navy is very nearly the smallest since before the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The fleet was reduced by retiring hundreds of serves get fairly good readiness marks from senior Pentagon officials. Naval Reserve air units are highly regarded, but Defense officials are none too enthusiastic about the surface elements. -Production bottlenecks slowed the output of tanks for years, to as few as 30 a month. Output gradually has been raised and finally has reached 120 tanks monthly.

Sharply rising fuel costs cut the amount of flying hours in the Air Force and Navy Inflation and cost overruns slashed the amounts of equipment, spare parts and maintenance work that could be purchased with the money Congress appropriated. FOR ABOUT seven years, the Navy and Air Force, blaming tight budgets, have bought fewer airplanes than they felt they should have. But the military leaders have drawn return fire for preferring more complex, more expensive warplanes in place of simpler aircraft that could be bought in larger numbers. For example, the new administration's Pentagon analysts have rapped the Navy for spending too large a share of its budget on the costly F14 fighter. As a result, the analysts said, the Navy in recent years was able to order only about one-third of all types of new planes it requires.

They warned of an "excessive and eventual decline" in force levels of lighter and attack planes. DEFENSE Secretary Harold Brown has said that upkeep of equipment already in the force "was skimped very badly in the past five or six years" in favor of spending on glamorous new weapons. In terms of immediately flyable aircraft, the Tactical Air Command said its lorce usually stands at about 50 per cent ready because of a spare parts shortage, because many planes are undergoing routine maintenance and other upkeep, and because part of the command always is in training. But TAC said readiness for deployment could be raised to the required 70 per cent in less than a day by hurry-up measures, if necessary SHORTAGES in April grounded 45 per cent of the Navy's F4 aircraft and 53 5 per cent of its F14s. and Navy olticials say it will not be until 1983 that the backlog on maintenance can be reduced to a "manageable level I Tuesday: Europe.

I self-propelled artillery, which division commanders say is vital to match the longer ranges of Ihe Soviet field guns. THE DEFENSE Department is making an effort to correct that problem. As part of that effort, it plans to send more artillery tubes to Western Europe, where the Soviet Union's army is said by NATO intelligence to enjoy a 2-1 gun advantage over the Allied armies. The Army has started building up its potent TOW-Cobra missile-firing helicopter fleet and by the end of October plans to have 210 of those machines in Europe An additional 126 TOW-Cobras are scheduled for Europe by 1980. The Marine Corps, traditionally oriented toward the Pacific, is receiving more tanks and antitank weapons to enhance its ability to fight the Russians in Europe.

THE CARTER administration has added $400 million to next fiscal year's budget to speed overall readiness improvement, including more steel and concrete shelters for aircraft and ammunition stocks in Europe. Army sources blame the shortages on three main causes: ill increased estimates of the amount of ammunition and weapons that would be used up in a "high intensity" war: i2i withdrawal of equipment to replace Israel's losses during and after the 1973 Mideast war and (3i diversion of gear to build three new Army divisions authorized several years ago. THE SHORT-WAR planning also diminishes the importance of the Army National Guard and Reserves because of their persistent lack of readiness, caused, say senior Army generals, by their declining strength and generally lower quality than the Regulars. "We have not been able to recruit enough people to offset the losses of draft-motivated volunteers who enlisted six years earlier, and who have reached the end of their obligation," the Pentagon has reported to Congress, saying the Army National Guard stood at 366.000 men and women, some 24.000 below the authorized level, and the Army Reserve was at 187.000. compared to a desired strength of 260.000.

(THE AIR National Guard and the Air Force Reserve are considered in first-class shape and the Marine Corps Re since the draft ended more than four years ago. However, the AP found that military professionals from four-star rank down to sergeants and chief petty officers generally praised the quality and performance of today's breed of enlisted men and women. Many said they were surprised they expected the worst after the draft ended. WITH WESTERN Europe the focus of about 75 to 80 per cent of its mission, the Army has set in motion a $4.7 billion program to strengthen its "war-fighting" resources there over the next several years. A special Army study of readiness in Europe concluded last year that "our force structure and plans must be capable of winning the short war if we don't win that, the structure for the long war becomes academic." A new defense directive, issued after months of study, reinforces what has been the major focus U.S.

military policy to defend Western Europe as close to the Iron Curtain as possible, without yielding any more German soil than is necessary. IN ITS ANNUAL report to Congress, the Defense Department said that, for the first time, Russian ground and air power "may coincide with the long-standing Soviet doctrine of rapid offensive thrusts reminiscent of German blitzkrieg tactics in World War II." That report stressed that a conventional Allied defense in Europe "must be based on the assumption that an attack with little or no warning by in-place Warsaw Pact forces is possible, that the attacking force could amount to half a million or more men. and that a forward allied defense is essential." THE RESERVE stocks in Europe are very important because the shortage of long-range airlift capacity makes it questionable whether enough fresh equipment and ammunition could reach Europe in time to influence the battle in the first 30 days. And a top Army logistics expert in Europe said, "We wouldn't have enough in war reserve stocks to fight for the first 30 days of a war." The AP learned 4hat the European war reserves stocks contain only about 25 per cent of the tanks required, about one-third of the ammunition, no armored personnel carriers, and no long-barreled. Israel- Continued From Page 1 and its three Arab enemies but has been suspended since its first, brief meeting in late 1973.

MR. CARTER presented his formula to Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan last Monday, as well as to Arab officials also in the United States for the U.N. General Assembly meeting. Israeli Cabinet Secretary Arye Naor read to reporters Sunday what he said was the verbatim U.S. proposal, although the wording of the Hebrew version was changed slightly to avoid language distasteful to Begin's nationalist Likud government.

An unofficial translation read: 'The ceremonial opening of Geneva will be with a unified delegation of the Arab states attending the Geneva older ships for economy reasons. But there are pluses as well as minuses in the readiness state of the armed forces. Gen. Frederick Kroesen, chief of the Army Forces Command which supervises readiness, said most of the 11 Regular divisions in the United States are classed as ready to deploy. The only exceptions, he said, are three new divisions gradually being put together.

THREE DIVISIONS with equipment stockpiled for them in Europe can start moving overseas in 72 hours, Kroesen said. The Air Force's Tactical Air Command, which is responsible for preparing U.S. -based fighters for deployment, seems set to get off the mark quickly in a crisis. TAC officers at their Langley Air Force Base, headquarters claim they can just about double the nearly 600 U.S. fighters now based in Europe in 96 hours and have them in combat almost immediately.

The all-volunteer military concept has been under criticism from Capitol Hill 2 In the unified delegation will be Arabs from the land of Israel (Palestinians! who are not known as members of the organization known as the PLO. The Arabs of the land of Israel will not be at the opening as a separate body but will all be part of the Jordanian delegation. 3 "No negotiations, whatsoever will be conducted with the unified delegation. 4- "After the opening, the unified delegation will be divided into delegations of the different countries in order to negotiate the subjects concerning each of the countries." The proposal is vague on who would be acceptable as a Palestinian delegate, since membership in the PLO an umbrella organization of Palestinian bodies is not formal. Israeli officials said PLO sympathizers would be acceptable and that Israel would not check their credentials.

But they ruled out any Arab identified as a PLO leader. Jordan's King Hussein presumably would have the final word on who attends. NAOR SAID Israel's agreement was conditional on there being no change in the N. Security Council resolution that serves as the basis for the Geneva talks. That resolution calls for the right of all states in the region to live within secure borders.

PLO chief Yasir Arafat has said his organization would accept the resolution, thereby recognizing Israel's right to exist, if it were modified to call for an independent Palestinian state. Coed shop Block's downtown today 9:30 to branches 10 to 9 NEED EXTRA MONEY? -3 1 Continued From Page 1 going to areas of southern Indiana -until Ann is found." A MEETING will be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the high school gymnasium for persons interested in locating Miss Harmeier to "plot our future strategy," the Rev. Miss Taul said. Several churches in Cambridge City took up special collections Sunday morning to help defray expenses in the search.

At Cambridge City Presbyterian Church, $155 was given by the 75 persons attending services Sunday. A special collection also was taken up at New Castle First Presbyterian Church, where the Rev Miss Taul is assistant pastor. Mrs. Harmeier is "upset, but she is holding up well," the Rev. Miss Taul said IN A RELATED matter.

Detective Donald J. Oberlies of the Indianapolis Police Department's juvenile branch said Sunday there was no further information connecting the disappearance of Miss Harmeier with that of Ronald Turner, 22. 5129 LeMans Drive. Turner, an Indiana-Purdue University, Indianapolis, student, was seen last when he was driven to his apartment before midnight Sept. 12.

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