Inman Seems to Be All That Aspin Wasn’t

President Clinton’s apparent choice of retired Adm. Bobby Ray Inman to replace Les Aspin as secretary of defense reflects a desire for three factors that Aspin, for all his strategic knowledge and Washington experience, never quite acquired, former defense officials said Wednesday.

One is credibility with the uniformed services. The second is a high-level management skill to carry out deep budget cuts in a huge organization without crippling its ability to function. And the third is iron discipline--to avoid public gaffes that might embarrass the President.

Les Aspin, to the surprise and disappointment of his admirers, fell short on all three. Bob Inman, defense experts said, is unlikely to make many of Aspin’s mistakes.

Indeed, the careers of the two men are a study in contrasts. Aspin began as a “defense intellectual” but made his mark as an elected official, representing a district in Wisconsin and rising to serve as chairman of the House Armed Forces Committee.

Inman, on the other hand, is a product of the military--a 30-year Navy officer who trained in military intelligence, rose through the ranks and served as director of the National Security Agency, the giant bureaucracy that runs the intelligence community’s electronic eavesdropping effort, during the Jimmy Carter Administration.

The Texas-born Inman, 62, was deputy director of Central Intelligence under Ronald Reagan’s controversial CIA chief, William J. Casey. He was a favorite of Congress; Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) pushed him as a possible director of Central Intelligence instead of Casey. But Reagan gave Casey the top job, and in 1982, Inman--troubled by Casey’s penchant for freewheeling covert military operations--retired.

After leaving government, Inman spent four years as president of the Austin, Tex.-based Microelectronics Computer and Technology Corp., a government-backed project designed to keep the nation on top of computer technology.

In 1986, he became chairman, president and chief executive of Westmark Systems Inc., a Texas holding company involved in national defense.

Inman did not return telephone calls Wednesday evening regarding his possible appointment.

Officials said Clinton’s choice--which could be announced today--reflected a desire for a strong executive. What Clinton needs, one senior adviser said, is someone who is already “good about making decisions.”

Inman was seen as fitting that bill, he said.

“Bobby Inman had some rabbis within the Administration who were pushing him,” the Clinton adviser said.

The new secretary of defense will face a difficult task.

“It’s a tough job,” said former Asst. Secretary of Defense Lawrence J. Korb. “The job description is to tell the Pentagon that it has to get along with less money, get along with different kinds of people and learn to fight in tough situations like Somalia.”

“Clinton needs somebody with both managerial and political skills; somebody who’s in sympathy with what he wants to do, on issues like gays in the military and tight budgets; and he needs somebody credible with the military,” Korb said.

The budget battle is already under way. One of Aspin’s last major actions was his warning to Clinton last month that the Pentagon’s budget over the next five years is $50 billion short of what it needs to carry out its missions. Aspin bluntly told the President that the Administration’s current budget would endanger the military’s ability to fight two regional wars in quick succession, a key aim of current strategy.

Whether that $50 billion is cut or not, the new defense secretary must guide the nation’s massive defense Establishment into new missions under new spending limits--a daunting mission for any manager.

And he must win the confidence and support of the uniformed military services to complete the task.

“One of the first things Aspin had to do was tell the officers they weren’t going to get a pay raise,” noted Korb. “That kind of got him off on the wrong foot.”

Before Inman’s apparent selection became known, many in Washington suggested that the job might go to CIA chief R. James Woolsey or to Aspin’s second-in-command at the Pentagon, William J. Perry.

Several members of Congress suggested that retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until September, would be a good choice. But the law prohibits military officers from serving as defense secretary until they have been retired for at least 10 years, a regulation intended to preserve civilian control of the military.

Inman retired from the Navy with the rank of admiral in 1982--so he has already met the law’s requirement.