Soviet Brass Smile on U.S. Weaponry

Breaking another Cold War barrier, the Americans opened the gates of two military installations in California on Wednesday to the Soviet Union’s top military official, a jovial man who chatted with Marines, joked with generals and admiringly watched the firepower paraded before him.

“We are on a good will tour,” Defense Minister Dimitri Yazov said, beaming. “We have come to show the American people that we have sincere and friendly feelings toward the Americans.”

High-ranking U.S. and Soviet officials heralded Yazov’s visit, the first to the West Coast by such a high-ranking Soviet, touting it as glasnost trickling down to each nation’s stronghold, the military forces.

Yazov viewed North Island Naval Air Station on San Diego Bay, where he shook hands with F-14 Tomcat jet fighter crewmen. The cordial and grandfatherly Yazov and his entourage then traveled to the Marine Corps base at Camp Pendleton, where a drama of simulated fighting unfolded on the shores of Red Beach.

As soon as Yazov had taken his seat on a bluff overlooking the dunes, rubber boats and amphibious assault craft zipped through the water, depositing men on shore. Marines stormed the beach, and planes roared overhead, dropping simulated bombs. The ground shook, officials covered their ears, and the Marines surged forward, each toting about 70 pounds of equipment.

A watchful Soviet Adm. Vladimir Z. Khuzhokov, a member of Yazov’s entourage, said, “It’s good. Your boys are just like our boys. Just the same boys.”

Dust swirled, engines roared and yellow smoke bombs clouded the simulated combat area. An announcer, first in English and then in Russian, told the assembled dignitaries about the attributes of each craft.

And as the announcer described the capabilities of the CH-46 Sea Knight transport helicopter, one Marine pilot watching the ceremonies groaned. “Oh, no, don’t tell the Russians about that,” he said.

“Here come the Russians. I’ve been trained to hate Russians,” said Rear Adm. John W. Adams. “It’s kind of odd. Now, I’m welcoming them. It’s an initiative that can do nothing but help the entire world. Ultimately, if it’s successful, it would cost me my job--I think that would be wonderful.”

Many of the Marines seemed pleased with the pat on the shoulder that Yazov gave as he walked down the line chatting with the men who had stormed the beach. Others showed off the Soviet enamel pin he placed in their hands.

“He said he hoped we are the best for our service, like his men are for his,” said Cpl. Robert Denully of Seattle.

Showing the equipment to the Soviet group violated no security restrictions. And officials and experts agreed that it was probably all hardware that the Soviet military already knew about.

“Certainly both sides know everything there is without visiting the sites,” said Leon Aron, an expert on Soviet affairs with the Heritage Foundation in Washington. “But this is public diplomacy. We’ll see more of these visits.”

Yazov, who joined the Soviet Army in 1941, was appointed defense minister in June, 1987. He replaced 75-year-old Marshal Sergei L. Sokolov, who was fired after a West German teen-ager flew a single-engine Cessna from Finland more than 400 miles over Soviet territory and landed in Moscow’s Red Square, next to the Kremlin.