Weinberger Fears Military Cut Without Pension Vote

Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger said today that he will have to start mustering people out of the service soon unless Congress makes up its mind on a new military pension system.

“The services would have to reduce military personnel by over 330,000 active and 176,000 reserve spaces,” unless Congress acts by May 1, Weinberger said in his budget request.

There now are about 2.1 million active-duty military personnel and roughly 1.1 million reservists. The fiscal 1987 budget request presented today by Weinberger calls for increases in both levels.

The problem spotlighted by the defense secretary stems from a congressional decision last fall to slash $2.9 billion from the Pentagon’s fiscal 1986 military retirement fund. Instead of the $18.2 billion requested, Congress agreed to provide $15.3 billion and ordered the Defense Department to submit proposals on how the benefits to be offered future enlistees could be trimmed to accomplish the savings.

Although Weinberger has opposed the cutback, he submitted two different options for trimming benefits to Congress in early December. To date, however, Congress has yet to decide which option to embrace.

Weinberger noted that the Pentagon has been told that it can continue paying benefits at the $18.2-billion annual rate until May 1.

If Congress fails to either lift that deadline or enact a new formula by then, the Defense Department will have no choice but to begin dismissing active-duty and reserve personnel to free money for the retirement system, he said.