DATE: Thursday, September 25, 1997          TAG: 9709250344

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   76 lines

NORFOLK NATIVE TAKES COMMAND

Whether aircraft carriers, ground troops and air forces continue regular overseas deployments is a subject on the table as defense dollars dwindle, said the newly confirmed commander of U.S. Atlantic Command and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic.

``Nothing is sacred,'' Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr. said Wednesday, following a hurried change-of-command ceremony with retiring Marine Corps Gen. John J. ``Jack'' Sheehan.

Gehman, 55, was confirmed for the job by the Senate late Tuesday, clearing the way for the Norfolk native to leave Washington - where he has served as vice chief of naval operations - and assume his hometown's highest military post.

A six-minute ceremony in front of his combined NATO and Atlantic Command staffs was about all he had time for Wednesday: His new duties call for him to be at NATO's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, today.

Gehman's NATO job places him at the head of one of two military commands in the 16-nation alliance, overseeing its activities in the Atlantic, the Americas and westernmost Europe.

While wearing his other hat, as chief of the Atlantic Command, he will have responsibility for a large portion of the military forces within the United States and be required to provide those forces to other theater commanders around the world.

Sheehan was honored a week ago in an unusual ``departure ceremony,'' rather than a traditional command change ceremony, because of delays in the Senate confirmation. Gehman could not attend.

But he vowed Wednesday to continue Sheehan's tradition of questioning the military establishment's assumptions about how tomorrow's forces will be used. The Marine Corps general targeted, among other things, the Navy's tradition of continuously deploying aircraft carrier battle groups to the Mediterranean Sea, suggesting the time had come to limit such cruises to an as-needed basis.

``We are going to have to continue to question how we use the taxpayers' money all the time,'' said Gehman, who was Sheehan's deputy here from October 1994 until he became VCNO a year ago.

``I would not focus on any one particular use,'' he said. ``But the questions Gen. Sheehan raised . . . are questions the leadership will have to deal with. I will continue to raise those kinds of questions.''

Gehman declined to focus on the merits of sending battle groups to the Med, saying that all deployments, whether air, ground or sea, should be questioned.

He did, however, vow to continue working toward another of Sheehan's goals: safeguarding the readiness of the force, despite declining money.

``Most officers of my generation were junior office in the mid-70s,'' he said. ``We all lived through what we called `hollow forces.' We all lived through the times of tremendous shortages of petty officers in the Navy, of tremendous shortages of readiness material in the Army and Air Force.

``And all of us have sworn we aren't going to do that again. Whereas we may get smaller, . . . we are not going to allow the forces to become unready. We aren't going to allow the burden to be shifted on our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.''

In his NATO role, Gehman said he, like the alliance, faces challenges.

``The lack of a discernible, agreed-to enemy should not be taken as a problem,'' he said. ``It is a wonderful challenge.

``Should NATO expand? What is our role of peacekeeping around the world? Should we continue to (participate in) Bosnia?

``Those are all challenges. We don't have problems. The issue is how to step up to them. The world will remain a plate of uncertainty, instability, and those challenges are pretty constant.''

A World War II war baby born in Norfolk in 1942, Gehman has lived here much of his life, first as the son of a Navy man. He attended Norfolk Catholic High School until one of his father's transfers took him to Washington. He later entered the Navy ROTC program at Pennsylvania State University.

He returned periodically during his career, commanding the guided-missile destroyer Dahlgren in Norfolk. He also served here as a one-star, three-star and now four-star admiral. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

JIM WALKER

Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr., formerly vice CNO, is welcomed Wednesday

as Norfolk's top naval officer.

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