Trying to Shoot Straight

By Susan Tifft. Reported by Bruce van Voorst/Washington

The Pentagon works to burnish its election-year image

As the defense budget has grown, so has the flurry of press reports critical of military procurement policies. New horror stories of $180 flashlights and $7,600 coffeemakers appear almost daily. Partly in self-defense, the Pentagon has launched an election-season blitz to publicize its efforts to keep costs under control.

The media campaign surfaced last week when the citizens' lobby Common Cause released a memo it had obtained, written by a Pentagon public relations officer, Kathleen Troia. The memo calls for high-profile speeches by Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, a vigorous "letter-to-the-editor" campaign, and the enlistment of local base commanders around the country to win "public understanding and support" for the Administration's management of military programs. The media barrage, which was approved by Weinberger, spans a period beginning two days after Labor Day and ending Nov. 3, three days before the election. Common Cause President Fred Wertheimer asked Congress to investigate whether the Pentagon was improperly using public funds for partisan purposes. Countered Michael Burch, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs: "I don't think it is political at all. What we're doing is responding to our critics, be they Republican or Democrat."

In fact, there is evidence that the military has made some good-faith efforts to solve the procurement problem. Navy Secretary John Lehman announced last week that he was seeking a second supplier for the superthrust F404 engine, which powers the F-18 fighter-bomber. Weinberger also showed a willingness to crack down. He told Congress that he would not ask for more money in fiscal 1985 to buy the Army's problem-plagued Sergeant York antiaircraft gun pending further tests, and indicated that the weapon might be terminated altogether. The Army had planned to buy 618 of the guns by 1987 (estimated cost: $4.5 billion). Before a Senate subcommittee, Lieut. General Louis Wagner Jr. admitted that the gun's guidance system worked so poorly in tests that it could not get a bead on a whirring helicopter even when the chopper was standing still.

The Army is also being challenged about the survivability of its Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, a cannon-equipped personnel carrier. A Pentagon memo made public past week, written by a colonel well acquainted with the vehicle, criticized the Army's failure to submit the Bradley to realistic tests. The $1.5 million vehicle is clad with aluminum armor that some critics claim would vaporize when hit by high-explosive antitank projectiles, creating a deadly fireball inside the fuel-and ammunition-laden tank. The manufacturer claims the tank's armor "does not burn when hit." So far, the Army has refused to load a Bradley with fuel and ammunition and fire a real rocket at it. According to an Aug. 24 memo written by James Wade Jr., a Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, virtually no U.S. equipment is tested under live firing conditions because the costs would be too high.

-- By Susan Tifft.

Reported by Bruce van Voorst/Washington

With reporting by Bruce van Voorst/Washington