"At some time soon, we won't be as ready, and we'll have to gear up training again," said a senior Pentagon general.

The announcement came after a day in which senior Pentagon and military officials had defended the importance of the vaccine for national security.

"The plan hasn't been developed as far as we'd like," a senior Pentagon official acknowledged today.

The senior Pentagon official agreed that "there's no indication of hostile intent."

One senior Pentagon official described the American role so far as "keeping a light hand on the tiller."

"We are planning on the basis of a radical change in the Soviet threat," the senior Pentagon official insisted.

The senior Pentagon official suggested that if they found themselves in danger, they would have to be either reinforced or withdrawn.

A senior Pentagon official acknowledged in an interview that the study "lent legitimacy to a 25 percent reduction level.

For example, a senior Pentagon official requested an unclassified report on "security awareness" with which to brief military contractors.

A senior Pentagon official suggested that a recent snowfall might have confused the pilots by hiding landmarks.