Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • 56

25-A OilUubii(Tribune Wed, April 24( 1968 1 Miracle Gun Engulfed in Seven Years of Red Tape tit HHP 1 i -T By DONALD M. ROTHBERG Spy "'M State's Annual Fire Prcveitf offc Drive Underway SUNOL The California Division of Forestry has launched its annual fire pre- vention program throughout the areas under its jurisdit- tion in the Liverrnore more Valley. Forest rangers will inspecE buildings and burning barrel to insure they are in complin ance with clearance laws amfy conform to good fire safety practice. The inspection teams wffl work out of the Division's far est fire station in SunoL si was an excellent weapon, bi he didn't want to alloca Research Projects Agency of the office of me secretary of defense field tested the M16, then known as the AR1S. "The Vietnamese unit commanders and U.S.

advisers who participated in the evaluation consider the A15 rifle to be a more desirable weapon for use in Vietnam than the Ml rifle, Browning Automatic Rifle, Thompson submachine-gun and Ml carbine," the test report said. Among reasons cited as favoring the lightweight M16 was its suitability for the average Vietnamese soldier, who stands 5 feet tall and weighs 90 pounds. The test report impressed Gen. Paul D. Harkins, U.S.

commander in Vietnam. On Oct 19, 1962, Harkins asked for a substantial number of M16s to equip selected Vietnamese units. The Army supported Harkins, but Adm. H. D.

Felt, commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific, opposed the request According to a report given the Ichord subcommittee, Felt acknowledged that the MIS tee reports, plus interviews on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon, turned up several factors which worked to slow down production of the M16, even as American involvement in Vietnam increased from a small military assistance command to more than half a million men. Cost consciousness. At several points it was decided not to commit funds or enough money to this weapon. The expectation, still awaiting fulfillment, that a revolutionary new shoulder weapon known as SPIW Special Purpose Individual Weapon was "just around the corner." Failure to develop additional manufacturing sources for the M16, made only by Colt Industries, as well as failure to acquire years ago the manufacturing rights for the rifle.

A rash of incidents of jamming in combat many of which were traced to inadequate training in cleaning and maintenance of the M16. In August 1961, the Advance investigated the M16 put it: "The manner in which the Army rifle program has been managed is unbelievable." On May 15, 1967, two Army logistics experts told the House subcommittee that requests for the M16 to arm South Vietnamese had been met Yet 10 months later, Sen. Charles H. Percy, returned from Vietnam and quoted Gen. William C.

Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces, as saying his repeated requests for M16 rifles for the Vietnamese had not been filled. It wasn't until April 19, 1968, that contracts were announced, to sharply increase production so the guns could be supplied to South Vietnam. Why did it take so long? The House subcommittee headed by Rep. Richard H.

Ichord, said, "The division of responsibility makes it almost impossible to pinpoint responsibility when mistakes are made." Hie Senate preparedness subcommittee also looked into the Army's rifle program. A study of both subcommit money from his military a- WASHINGTON (AP) -The decision (or an all out push to supply South Vietnamese troops with the modern M16 rifle came nearly seven years after a Defense Department study called it the best "all around shoulder weapon in Vietnam." During those seven years, American commanders in Vietnam repeatedly asked for more lightweight, rapid firing M16s. But those requests, dating back as far as Oct. 19, 1962, went unfilled or, at best, partially filled. Meanwhile, the North Vietnamese, despite American bombing raids, supplied their troops and the Viet Cong with the Soviet designed AK47 as-sult rifle.

With the AK47 Communist troops can easily out-fire South Vietnamese soldiers, armed with World War II vintage Ml rifles and carbines. The history of the M16 is replete with malfunctions, some ballistic, but most bureaucratic. As a special House Armed Services subcommittee that JLjJJ sistance command ouagei purchase it. Felt was upheld by the Joint. Chiefs of Staff and'Bbs quently by Secretary of.

Defense Robert S. McNamara. Money was a factor again fefj 1963 when the Army decided to buy 85,000 M16s to equip Special Forces, airborne and assault units. It was decided that rifles would fill the? Army's needs until SPIW was ready. "We didn't want to spend' Continued Page 27A, Col.

4 LANTERNS FOR DR. KING These children at the Jack London branch of the Oakland Public Library are making paper lanterns to hang in the building as a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King. The Idea stemmed from a quotation In one of King's sermons: 'Faith will be a lamp shining unto our weary feet and a light unto our meandering The lamps are hanging In the library, at 3134 San Pablo with a picture of the slain civil fights leader and a copy of the quotation. The children are, from left, Renee Browne, Sharon Boyd, Gregory Hewitt and Quincy Jett.

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