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                  STATEMENTS BY MARINES ABOUT THE HARRIER



                         "The USMC Harrier program lacks -- Reliability and Maintenance." (1)

                         Gen. James L. Jones said in June 2000: "There are still some disturbing
                         trend lines in terms of the crash rate and the accident rate. Whether it's a
                         maintenance problem, a parts problem or a manufacturing problem, it needs to
                         be illuminated and identified, because this is unacceptable." (2)

                         Lt. Col. Bob Claypool, the tactical air section head and AV-8B coordinator
                         at Marine Corps Headquarters and a Harrier pilot since 1984 is quoted in the
                         Marine Corps Times (7-24-00): "Any time you have a systemic problem with your
                         motor or your airframe, you stop, and now you're behind," he said. "You're
                         not building flight time, you're not training people, you're not keeping
                         instructors current. There's a price to pay."

                         "One Harrier pilot who declined to be named said 'Flying so little, I feel I
                         am barely proficient enough to do an engine start." (2)

                        Maj. Clint Higginbotham (ret.) wrote a letter to the Marine Corps Times
                        (8-14-00): " Beginning in 1978 with the AV-8A and through 21 years of
                        service, I worked on every model and prototype of the Harrier. When I
                        retired, I was a working member of the HaRP. Lack of personnel and engine
                        problems are constants that were barely addressed by the HaRP. Any layman
                        can see by looking at the crash history that the engine is the No.1
                        problem. Additionally, the lack of personnel has not been adequately
                        addressed by the HaRP. The HaRP should address the real problems and stop
                        playing around with neat new toys."

                       "The types and quality of training tools (pubs, lessons, simulations,
                       syllabi, trained instructors) available to the maintainer are not on par
                       with the pilot training system. Lack of a formal career training progression
                       and lack of high quality training tools generates difficulty in building,
                       maintaining, and retaining the required skill levels in operational
                       squadrons." (1)

                       "It is sobering to see how many AV-8B ECPs that are still 'in-process' have
                       come from Class A mishaps. Equally disturbing is the number of times that an
                       identified material deficiency has caused additional mishaps before it was
                       eventually corrected." (1)

                       Sources:
                       (1) HaRP
                       (2) Marine Corps Times