WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has disclosed that five of the U.S. Army's 12 combat divisions have suffered a significant decline in military preparedness, primarily as a result of cash-flow problems stemming from the deployment of U.S. troops to Rwanda, Haiti and Kuwait this past year.


In a letter to key lawmakers, Defense Secretary William Perry said the erosion was caused because the army was forced to cancel important maintenance operations and training exercises in order to offset the cost of the overseas operations.


The admission was considered likely to be an embarrassment for the Clinton administration, which has been denying allegations that military readiness was being impaired. Republicans, on the other hand, have been warning that preparedness was being hurt.


Defense Department officials said two of the divisions that have been affected were among the rapid deployment forces that are the first to go in any combat operation. But they said the gap involved shortages in equipment and personnel and was being quickly eliminated.


However, the damage incurred in the other three -- including one heavy armor and two infantry divisions, all in so-called "later-deploying heavy reinforcing" units that are among the third tier of army units that would be deployed in a war -- would require additional funding.


Perry said in his letter that the administration would seek supplemental appropriations to help bolster the army's operations and maintenance budget to offset the cost of the overseas deployments.


He did not say how much that would entail.


Only a few weeks ago, Deputy Defense Secretary John Deutch told Congress in testimony that U.S. troops were better prepared than they were before the 1991 Persian Gulf war, and that readiness was not a serious problem.


Defense Department officials insisted that Perry's letter, which was made public in an unusual, hastily called late-afternoon briefing, was drafted sometime Monday, after the secretary first learned about the apparent erosion in readiness in the three divisions.


Nevertheless, the briefing came hours after the release of a letter by Republican congressman Floyd Spence, in line to be the next chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, questioning Deutch's assertion that readiness still was very high.


Spence and other conservatives have been warning repeatedly that the administration had been cutting military spending too sharply to support the rising volume of peacekeeping operations, forcing the services to cut training and maintenance to meet their budgets.


In their briefing for reporters Tuesday, Pentagon officials said the problem came to light as a result of periodic readiness reports that the army requires, in which each unit must chart its personnel, equipment on hand, serviceability of that equipment and training.