Word: brasses
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...everything: hard-pounding loudspeakers woof and tweet to the strains of Tito Puente, Hansel y Raul and Willie Colon. The songs are mostly rhythmically irresistible salsa songs that combine the heady call-and- response of African music with the electronic surge of rock 'n' roll and the glitzy brass of a Big Band. The dancers move to the beat like a snake to the charmer's call: the hotter the tune, the cooler the step as the men expertly guide the women through the twists and curves of the mambo, the cha- cha-cha, the merengue and the rumba...
Akhromeyev's pilgrimage was set up by Admiral William Crowe, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The two leaders got along so well during a meeting at the Pentagon last December that Crowe figured a longer visit would improve relations. Military brass insist that the Soviet marshal will not get a peek at any vital secrets during his trip, but he will get to glimpse such vital institutions as a rodeo and a western-style barbecue when his tour reaches Crowe's home state of Oklahoma...
...Pentagon, one fear is that Ill Wind could force officials to invalidate scores of weapons contracts and throw them open for new bids. That could lead to chaos in procurement and delay production of some weapons systems for years. But the brass may have no choice: if investigators prove that a contract was obtained illegally, a court may rule that contract invalid. For example, Grumman Corp. lost the advanced tactical aircraft contract to the combine of McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics. If allegations in Ill Wind search warrants are proved correct, Grumman could sue to have a new competition...
...army of Washington-based consultants perform an indispensable chore when they are honest. Sometimes dubbed "rent-a-general" agencies, the firms hire former Pentagon brass and braid, then charge as much as $1,000 a day for their advice. Many of the consultants worked in procurement and retain close contacts with their former colleagues. They know both the procedural intricacies of how contracts are processed and the technical needs of the services. "You almost have to be an insider to understand it," says Spratt. Without these middlemen, the military's complex procurement system might not work...
Carlucci met the deadline and forced the Pentagon brass to come up with real cuts rather than paper ones. The Navy at first tried what cynics call the "Washington Monument strategy." That refers to the National Park Service practice of countering every budget cut with a proposal to reduce visiting hours at the nation's monuments -- knowing full well that Congress would never allow it. The Navy's version was to propose delaying a 4.3% military pay raise and killing both a Trident nuclear missile-firing submarine and two Los Angeles-class attack submarines, all congressional favorites. Carlucci coldly ordered...