New Weapons Could Allow Military to Cut Personnel Cost, Tower Says

WASHINGTON — John Tower, President-elect George Bush’s choice for defense secretary, said Sunday he will try to reduce Pentagon spending by obtaining weapons that can be operated with fewer personnel than current arms require.

“Hopefully, by going to less manpower-intensive systems, we can make some economies,” Tower said on the CBS-TV program “Face the Nation.”

“The big cost is not the B-2, the B-1 (strategic bombers), the aircraft carriers, the big cost is not in hardware. The big cost is personnel,” he said, adding that “50% of the budget goes for people. . . . So you can’t make all the savings you need simply by cutting big-ticket items.”

Tower, as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, supported massive increases in military spending under President Reagan in the early 1980s. As secretary of defense, he will have to find ways to cut the budget he once sought to increase.

Defends Earlier Buildup

“Yes, I was part of the buildup,” Tower said. “I thought we were right at the time.”

Tower, who has been reluctant to be interviewed pending his nomination and Senate confirmation hearings, emphasized that he would look for money-saving measures that would not weaken the nation’s ability to deter a Soviet attack.

“What we have to do is devise a strategy to achieve national objectives, which I think is early on the agenda of the Bush Administration,” he said. “We will have to look at the role and missions of all of our forces and see where they fit into that strategy. Where they don’t fit neatly into it, they will get low priority and will get cut.”