Where I Stand --Mike O'Callaghan: Good times lull Americans into shorting military

"THE SERVICES are beginning to crack at the seams, just as they were after the pell-mell drawdown following the Vietnam War -- leading to the 'hollow forces' of the 1970s. More worrisome yet, all the careless dialogue on the Hill about 'how to spend the surplus' -- in both political parties -- is thus far totally devoid of any mention of defense (or of the deferred modernization of aging defense systems, or of action to stem the wholesale, and growing, departure from the services of many of the hard-core, high-tech skills -- such as pilots and maintainers).

"I don't envy the next president, whatever party he/she comes from, because these chickens simply have to come home to roost. ... And, the problem is magnified by the fact that the bill to correct all of this is going to come due at the same time in each of the services."

This note arrived last week from a man I respect for his military knowledge and personal experience. It's a shame that this message isn't being absorbed by the Pentagon and Congress. Oh, the military men and women in the Pentagon know the story, but are muzzled by the civilians we elect to office. When they do speak out and ask that useless military bases be closed so the money saved can be spent on modern equipment and weapons, they are ignored. Recently the Senate went so far as passing a measure limiting the power of the executive to close more bases. Personal pork had won again.

Why aren't the American people becoming visibly upset over this dangerous trend? Any student of recent history or the millions still alive after 60 or 70 years should be able to remember the high death toll of American military services because of our lack of preparation for World War II and Korea. These two situations, followed by a war in Vietnam that we fought with our military hands tied behind us, should have taught us something.

We really looked good in the Persian Gulf because of the inept enemy we faced. Even more important was the several months we had to build up our ground forces and shape up the reserves and guard units. Even after almost five months of Desert Shield, large numbers of reserve units weren't fit for ground combat. It was a band of regular lightly armed paratroopers and Marines that faced the Iraqi enemy on the ground the first several weeks.

There is a strong belief that a thriving economy and the good times Americans are experiencing encourage us to push military concerns to the back burner and even off the stove. Because there is no longer a draft and we have volunteer military forces, the average American doesn't feel any need to worry about the condition of our forces. If junior doesn't have to spend a couple of years in a weakened army, the message doesn't come home to the average voter.

I remember the volunteer Army training in the Wisconsin woods at Camp McCoy prior to the World War II draft. They were using signs and sticks to represent the weapons they didn't have for training purposes. It wasn't until the draft started that mothers and fathers looked at every young man wearing a uniform as one of their own.

Even prior to the Gulf War, because the USSR had collapsed, the drawdown of our forces began. Since the end of that brief conflict the operational tempo of our military units, especially our pilots and air crews, has increased. Despite this, the equipment and manpower drawdown continued to where recently somebody asked the following question. Can you name the country with the following military forces?

* 709,000 regular service soldiers;

* 293,000 reserve troops;

* 21 Air Force and Navy air wings, with more than 2,000 combat aircraft;

* 1,232 strategic bombers;

* 13 strategic ballistic missile submarines with 3,114 nuclear warheads on 232 missiles;

* 500 ICMBs with 1,950 warheads;

* Four aircraft carriers, and

* 121 surface combat ships and submarines, plus all the support bases, shipyards and logistical assets required to sustain such a naval force.

These forces no longer exist. They are the U.S. military forces that Congress and the White House have made disappear during the past six years.

So who worries? Junior has a good job on the Strip and his brother is graduating from college. The problem is that things are so good, there are no longer enough volunteers to fill the fewer slots now available for military recruits. Put this together with highly skilled people, like pilots, leaving their overloaded missions and returning to civilian life and we have an additional problem or two.

I'd say it's time for mom and pop America to become concerned.

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