The United States and its NATO allies are relaxing the high-alert status of some front-line troops in a major battlefield adjustment to the collapse of the Warsaw Pact.
The decision came as NATO is struggling to adapt to the widespread changes in Europe by emphasizing the alliance's political strengths, rather than highlighting its war-fighting capabilities.Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said Wednesday that with the unraveling of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact, "we can afford to change the current status of our forces."
Cheney, speaking with reporters after a two-day NATO session, said "some near-term reductions in readiness levels" will be begun July 1 among NATO forces.
"These are drastic changes," said Gen. Klaus Naumann, security adviser to Defense Minister Gerhard Stoltenberg of West Germany.
"Today's meeting signifies an important step toward a new security relationship in Europe," NATO Secretary-General Manfred Woerner said.
The changes can take place now that the allies appear to have up to "at least a few months" warning time of a full-scale Soviet attack, Cheney told reporters aboard his plane.
"It's clear that given the developments in Europe, we have more advance notice of a Soviet military attack on NATO than we have been able to plan for, for years," Cheney said.
The secretary added that the warning time could increase substantially if an arms accord limiting troops and non-nuclear weapons can be implemented and Soviet troops leave Eastern Europe.
Lengthened warning time of a Soviet attack has important implications for U.S. military planners, since most of America's defense budget is directed to fighting in NATO's defense.
Cheney had attended a NATO session in Brussels, Belgium, where the pact's defense ministers ordered a hard look at the alliance's military strategy now that democratic governments have replaced communist regimes in Eastern Europe.