Word: pentagonal
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger must now decide whether to go ahead with plans to spend $4.2 billion for 618 of the weapons. According to one Pentagon source, a classified Army study bolsters the critics' case against the Sergeant York, concluding that the high-tech guidance system performs no better than the systems it was designed to replace. Weinberger said the latest test was "the most realistic operational testing that we ever put a weapon system through," but he is waiting to see further reports before he makes up his mind. "For the good of the taxpayer and the soldier...
...headed had been the target of an investigation for securities violations. No criminal charges resulted from the investigation. Early on, the SFC earned a reputation for inefficiency and waste. Says Iowa Congressman James Leach, a Republican: "These are the only guys in the world who make the Pentagon look streamlined...
...years since Viet Nam, critics in and out of uniform have repeatedly charged that too many officers have become cautious bureaucrats, adept at Pentagon politics perhaps, but interested more in advancing their careers than in preparing for the brutal exigencies of combat. In an era of unconventional warfare and low-level guerrilla struggles, military reformers sometimes fear that a rigid military-academy mind-set is geared to yesterday's wars of attrition. They question whether West Point is turning out the kind of officers that the nation needs...
...York stockbroker: "The difference between the regular Army and West Point is light-years." In the Army, West Pointers are sometimes regarded as aloof and cliquish, called ring knockers for ostentatiously flashing their class rings. Non-West Pointers complain about the so-called West Point Protective Association in the Pentagon that favors and promotes academy grads...
High-tech fighting machines are by no means the only Pentagon purchases that suffer defects. The latest snafu concerns new combat helmets. Introduced in 1983 to replace the "steel pots" in use since 1941, the helmets are made of Kevlar, a man-made fiber that is lighter, yet stronger than many metals. But after buying three-quarters of a million at $85.20 apiece, the Department of Defense discovered that three manufacturers had delivered defective versions made with scrap material. Army officials say that even though the second-rate helmets offer more protection than the old steel models, "We ordered...