E-News, Oct. 29, 1997
January 2nd, 2009 From
>X-Sender: tcrobi@pophost.fw.hac.com
>Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 14:44:17 -0500
>To: aircraft@idsi.net, mahan@microwrks.com
>From: Tom Robison
>Subject: E-News, Oct. 29, 1997
>Precendence: bulk
>Sender: mahan-owner@microworks.net
>Reply-To: mahan@microworks.net
>
>Following is from an in-house newsletter… not sure of actual sources.
>
>=============
>
> > NAVY ACCELERATES F-14 RETIREMENT — The U.S. Navy has decided to
> > shave three years off the projected service life of its F-14 strike
> > fighters, retiring the last of the planes in 2007.
> > ————
> > GEN. JUMPER REPLACES RYAN AT USAFE — Lt. Gen. John Jumper has been
> > named to replace Gen. Michael Ryan, the new Chief of Staff of the
> > U.S. Air Force, as chief of U.S. Air Forces Europe and NATO’s Air
> > Forces Central Europe, the Pentagon announced. Jumper had been
> > deputy chief of staff for air and space operations. That post will
> > go to Lt. Gen. Patrick K. Gamble, who is the commander of Alaskan
> > Command. Gamble will be replaced by Lt. Gen. David McCloud, now
> > director of the Joint Staff’s force structure, resources and
> > assessment division. Lt. Gen. Frank Campbell, commander of the
> > Twelfth Air Force, will replace McCloud, and Maj. Gen. Lansford E.
> > Trapp, the AF’s director for legislative liaison, will take over
> > command of the Twelfth Air Force. (Aerospace Daily)
> > ————
> > HOUSE PASSES $268B DEFENSE BILL —
> > WASHINGTON — The House Tuesday voted 286-123 to approve a $268
> > billion defense authorization bill despite a White House veto threat
> > and a possible Senate filibuster.
> >
> > The Senate had planned to take up the bill Tuesday, but the prospect
> > of a filibuster caused Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., to put off
> > the measure until today.
> >
> > The Clinton administration and a handful of senators object to a
> > compromise provision that would continue to protect the military bases
> > that employ thousands of workers doing billions of dollars in
> > maintenance and repair jobs on virtually everything the military uses.
> >
> > Lawmakers said they had made major concessions toward the
> > administration’s position — allowing private contractors to compete
> > for more of the maintenance work than is allowed under current law –
> > and most of them want the bill to include a provision upholding the
> > 1995 closure of Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio and McClellan Air
> > Force Base in Sacramento.
> >
> > As passed by the House, the defense bill rejects the “privitization in
> > place” of Kelly and McClellan that Clinton proposed and says that
> > nonessential defense maintenance work must be opened up to competition
> > from public and private bidders.
> >
> > The senators from Texas and California were promising to use every
> > legislative tactic at their disposal to thwart Senate consideration of
> > the bill.
> >
> > In all, the $268.2 billion bill represents an increase of $2.6 billion
> > over Clinton’s request for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, and an
> > increase of just over $4 billion compared with last year’s defense
> > spending level.
> >
> > Rep. Floyd Spence, R-S.C., chairman of the House National Security
> > Committee, said the bill represented the best compromise lawmakers
> > could come up with.
> >
> > “The Cold War is over and most people think the threat of war has been
> > removed,” Spence said. “But I’m here to tell you that it’s not a
> > matter of if there’s going to be a war, but where and when.”
> >
> > Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House National Security
> > weapons procurement subcommittee, conceded that the debate was not
> > merely liberal vs. conservative. Hunter said the pressure to balance
> > the budget, a top Republican priority, had forced defense advocates to
> > accept lower levels of Pentagon spending.
> >
> > “We are at what I would call the bottom of a dangerous downswing,”
> > Hunter said. “I think we have been too constrained by the budget. I
> > think we’re going to pay for that in future conflicts.”
> > ————
>
>
>Tom Robison, tcrobi@most.fw.hac.com
>Airborne Communications Systems
>Hughes Defense Communications,
>1010 Production Rd.
>Fort Wayne, IN 46808
>
>Any opinions expressed herein are mine alone, and do not reflect
>the views or opinions of Hughes Defense Communications, Hughes
>Aircraft Corp., Hughes Electronics Corp., General Motors Corp.,
>Raytheon Corp., God, or my wife.