Tough on Cap

Scrubbing an inspection trip

Four days after chastising the military for buying expensive spare parts, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger was scheduled to fly to California in a well-appointed VC-9C. Purpose: a two-hour visit to the Oakland Naval Supply Center. But there was another reason to head west: a two-day stop at the annual gathering of the exclusive Bohemian Club near San Francisco.

Set to travel with Weinberger were Under Secretary of Defense Richard DeLauer and Navy Secretary John Lehman. The projected cost of the nine-hour, round-trip flight: $21,807, not including the expense of keeping the jet on stand-by while the officials were at Bohemian Grove.

A Pentagon spokesman said that the VC-9C, parrying sophisticated communications equipment, was necessary because "the Secretary of Defense is in the national military command authority chain. As such he must be instantly contactable at all times." Half an hour before takeoff last Friday, the flight, which had attracted national press attention, was scrubbed. Pentagon officials said the press of business kept Weinberger grounded. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.