American Notes Military

First came the Air Force's $7,600 coffeepot. Then its $640 toilet-seat cover. And now the Navy's $620 ashtray. The latest embarrassing revelation of outrageous prices for military accessories brought Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger out smoking hot last week. Three officers held responsible for the purchase of seven grotesquely priced ashtrays, including an admiral with 33 years of service, were relieved of their duties, Weinberger announced. The officers, all at the Miramar Naval Air Station near San Diego, did not pay "the slightest attention to the basic idea that the price bore no relationship whatever to the value of the item," Weinberger said.

Although the Navy called Weinberger's removal of officers before an investigation extraordinary, the Defense Secretary said this kind of reprimand would become "standard" for such excesses. A spokesman for Grumman Aerospace Corp., the defense contractor that made the ashtrays for the E-2C surveillance aircraft it also manufactures, explained the sky-high price tag: "We are not ashtray manufacturers." Grumman has offered the Navy a refund that will lower the price to $50 an ashtray, but Weinberger has better ideas for dealing with the inflated cost. He proposed, only half-jokingly, to substitute "old mayonnaise jars for ashtrays. We are not going to pay $50 or $10 or anything else to dispose of ashes."