Readersforum.

• Position: Letter to the Editor

Where Have the Workers Gone?

I read your article "Defense Secretary Says Industrial Base Decline is 'A Serious Problem.'" (President's Perspective, May 2001, p.4), and I could not agree more. I have had many opportunities to talk to various members of the military at MacDill Air Force Base assigned to the Unified Commands and other organizations.

One of the concerns I have, which very few people recognize today, is the gross lack of skilled workers. One does nor have to look any further than in our schools, both public and private, to see that there are very few vocational courses offered. Contractors I have talked with all agree that finding carpenters, electricians, welders and other craftsmen is very difficult today. It appears that few teenagers care about learning a trade. I have discussed this with Ken Goss, the National Defense Issues director for the Air Force Association. We agree that opening a factory today presents a challenge. A message I sent to former President Clinton last year concerning this subject was forwarded to the Education Department which, in turn, sent me a package agreeing that this situation has deteriorated over the last 20-30 years. There are two generations of people today who have shunned working for a living. It will take a miracle to return our schools to those days when it was not a sin to learn a trade instead of trying to go to college. My generation has worked hard, but we are the minority today.

Ronald N. Hoelzer Colonel, USAF -Ret.

TAMPA, FLA.

I am responding to the piece, "Defense Secretary Says Industrial Base Decline is 'A Serious Problem"' (May 2001, p.4). Your basic tenet appears to be the long term solution, e.g. predictability, uninterrupted growth, patent protection, immunity from criminal prosecution, etc., that lies entirely in the hands of the government or others, but you neglect to mention that the responsibility for preserving defense industries rests on the actions or inactions of the industries themselves. For example, diversification, e.g. thinking of themselves as not just weapons suppliers, but equipment suppliers, could provide a cache to alleviate the rises and falls in demand for weapons. Any other industry would consider this and related options.

John Casana

ANNANDALE, VA,

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