NATION IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : General Defends Stealth Report Delay

The chief of the Tactical Air Command intensified training for Stealth fighter-bomber crews after learning that they had missed their targets in Panama, but did not pass the information on to the Pentagon, a spokesman said. Col. Ron Sconyers, a spokesman for Gen. Robert D. Russ, commented after the New York Times reported a classified Air Force report concluded Russ did not tell his superiors of the failures. Sconyers said Russ did not find out the aircraft had missed their targets until 10 to 15 days after the operation. He said the general did not think it was up to him to report the matter because he was “basically just a supplier of aircraft; he is not part of the operational chain of command.”