THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 7, 1994 TAG: 9407070484
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, NEB. LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
A submariner schooled in the Navy's deep-sea stealth has moved into the slot once reserved for Air Force generals: commander of America's nuclear missile arsenal.
``You could say I'm out of water, but there's lots of other things to be concerned about,'' Adm. Henry Chiles said.
Before joining the missile command, Chiles served as commander of the Atlantic Fleet's submarine force in Norfolk, where he was in charge of about 60 submarines and 35,000 personnel.
Now, in the event of nuclear war, Chiles would be in charge of the Air Force's 550 intercontinental ballistic missiles, its 170 nuclear bombers and the Navy's 14 strategic missile submarines.
Reminded of the Pentagon joke that he's the one wartime commander a president never wants to hear from, the four-star admiral laughs out loud. ``I suppose that's probably true. I hope it never comes to that,'' he said.
Chiles is the first admiral ever to run the U.S. Strategic Command, successor to the Strategic Air Command. As the Cold War ended, the command - now dubbed StratCom - pared down and adapted.
``We perceive the use of these weapons very, very much as a case of the last resort - and I hope that never happens. But as long as there are thousands of them in the world . . . we must retain the ability to deal from a position of considerable strength,'' the admiral said.
The command continues to monitor thousands of nuclear weapons around the world; develop the nation's nuclear war plans and maintain an up-to-date computer and intelligence network.
``Our intelligence . . . surveys the world and looks for potential threats to America. There could be some surprises. There's lots of rogue groups these days and we . . . would not like to be surprised,'' Chiles said, noting the concern about North Korea's potential development of nuclear weaponry.
The day-to-day task of taking care of the submarines, bombers and other weaponry has been handed off to other commands, so StratCom has slimmed to fewer than 2,500 people. Its predecessor, by comparison, had managed 22 bases and employed more than 100,000 people.
But the command also is deeply involved in a major review of the Pentagon's strategic nuclear forces. Chiles called it a ``hard scrub'' that could result in changes in the mix and size of those forces.
Chiles took over from Air Force Gen. Lee Butler, who oversaw the command's transition, and the command slot will rotate between the two services.
The idea of melding management of Air Force and Navy nuclear weapons originated 30 years ago, but only recently was it brought to fruition after both services realized their rivalry should end.
``We needed to bring our forces together to more completely complement each other and not let service parochialism rule the day . . . to be able to fight a major confrontation together,'' Chiles said.
The 56-year-old admiral said his generation in the military - and particularly the submariners who spend months underwater on missions - ``did not have much exposure to the other services at all, did not understand their capabilities.''
More than 30 years in the Navy and posts such as commander of all NATO submarines in the Atlantic taught him more about other nations' forces than those of his nation, he acknowledged.
``I think it's essential that we marry up with the other services, to learn more. The generation that follows mine will be much better prepared for that,'' he said.
The changes at the command have brought about 300 Navy people to the plains of Nebraska, and its evolution has brought about some strange turns of events.
When it came time to put forward some ideas about how to structure and pay for the nation's strategic submarine force, Chiles sent an Air Force two-star general and an Air Force captain to plead their case at the Pentagon. ``They had done the analysis . . . they had done the work,'' he said.
But even though ``great strides'' have been made in improving cooperation among the services, Chiles said, ``I think we have a way to go. There is room for development of doctrine so that we understand each other better.''
And even a four-star admiral has to keep working, he said, admitting he still has to wrestle with the military's multiplicity of acronyms, not to mention the ins and outs of Air Force bombers and missiles.
``My belief is, you never stop learning, you can't. With today's technology, if you never carry that through, you're lost,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Chiles
by CNB