$5.5 Billion in New Defense Cuts Sought

Defense Secretary Les Aspin has asked the armed services to slash $5.5 billion more from next year’s military budget to avoid a “potential disaster” for the Pentagon, defense officials said Wednesday.

Without such cuts, the savings will have to come from funds that now pay for day-to-day training and support costs for the services, said the officials, who requested anonymity.

Aspin has set a June 15 deadline for finding preliminary cuts.

Aspin and Gen. Colin L. Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have warned that overly deep cuts in training and support funds could hamper the Pentagon’s ability to maintain top-of-the line forces or launch military operations around the world.

“I fully recognize the scope of the damage that reductions of this size could do to the capability and readiness of our forces,” Aspin said in a June 3 memo. “I will be doing everything in my power to keep this potential disaster from happening.”

The call for more cuts is causing concern within the services as they grapple with President Clinton’s post-Cold War proposal to reduce defense spending by more than $120 billion over five years.

Clinton had asked Congress for authority to spend $263 billion on defense in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, about $10 billion less than last year. His plan calls for $277 billion in outlays--that is, real defense spending as opposed to budget authority.

Aspin’s requested cut would reduce the real dollars spent on defense in fiscal 1994 to $272 billion.