Economy! Halt!

The five-sided Pentagon had developed a one-track mind. With keen accord, Army, Navy and Air Force last week were figuring out ways and means to keep the services within the spending ceilings set by Defense Secretary Charles Erwin Wilson. Items:

P: The Army, which had hoped to shave off 50,000 men without touching the 17 divisions currently authorized, grimly admitted that it could not. As a result, the 2nd Infantry Division, which in three wars fought conspicuously at Chateau-Thierry, Saint-Lo and Heartbreak Ridge, will be deactivated, replaced on garrison duty in Alaska by one of the Army's smaller, streamlined new battle groups. P: The Army announced that 18 antiaircraft artillery battalions will be closed out, 15,000 civilian employees dropped, 16 depots, arsenals or other service facilities shut down. Among the casualties: Murphy Army Hospital in Waltham, Mass., which the Army has been trying to close (against congressional pressure) for eight years because it has five staffers for every patient, compared to the accepted two-to-one.

P: The Navy, after ordering slowdowns a fortnight ago in production of its F8U-1. Crusader, A4D-2 Skyhawk and F3H-2 Demon, last week announced another. Delivery schedules on the F4D-1 Skyray fighter manufactured by Douglas Aircraft will also be lengthened. P: The Air Force canceled a $100 million flight-research project with Republic Aviation on Republic's XF-103 jet interceptor. Selecting its weapons, the Air Force announced a new contract with North American Aviation for a new air-to-surface missile similar to the 6-47's Rascal.

From Virginia's Langley Air Force Base came evidence that the downhold has reached to smaller items. Ruled Deputy Base Commander Harold P. Sparks: street lights will stay off at night, air conditioners must be shut down, motor vehicles left unwashed, pencils and paper clips ordered only by emergency requisition. Moreover, announced Colonel Sparks, patrons at the base commissary were requested to return paper shopping bags for reuse.

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