Evening star., 1942-11-16
Admiral King Denies
Lack Of Unity in
Pacific Command
Area ActuoIIy Hos
Five Theoters, Not Two,
Naval Chief Declares
By the Associated Press,

NoVoI NnIef declares
By the Associated Press.
ST. LOUIS, Nov. 16.-Admiral
Ernest J. King, commander in chief
OF the fleet, was quoted as saying
there was complete unity Of COM
mand at the top In the several
theaters in which American forces
are operating, in copyrighted story
appearing In yesterdays st. Louis
Post Dispatch.
A series of written questions was
submitted to Admiral King by Ray
mond P. Brandt, the papers chief
Washington correspondent, and the
answers were given in q half-hour
session with the Navy chief.
Admiral King replied with a sim
pie "Yes" to the first question re-
garding unity of command.
Another question: was: "Why was
the Pacific area divided into two
theaters and who divided it?"
Five Areas In Pacific.
After asserting that the word
"theater" was improperly used and
that In naval terms the world was
divided into three theaters of which
the Pacific is one, Admiral King
was quoted as saying that the Pa
cine actually was divided into five
areas. not two.
AS for the Southwest Pacific, he
said he and Gen. Marshall, Army
chief OF staff, drew the first line.
roughly the 165th longitude, to
separate Army and Navy commands
and later the line was moved west
ward a few degrees when initial
strategy was carried out success
fully.
The offensive in the Solomons
was an amphibious operation, sea.
air and land, and therefore naval.
but decisions on the time and other
plans were made by the joint chiefs
OF staff" he said. Purely as a
matter Of convenience, Gen, Mar
shall issued the directives to Gen.
Macarthur and I the directives to
Admiral Nimitz."
Explains Ghormley Shift.
The replacement of Vice Admiral
Ghormley by Vice Admiral Halsey
IN direct command of the Solomons
operation and the loss of four Allied
cruisers off Savo Island In August
were merely coincidents," Admiral
King said, adding that Admiral
Ghormely was exhausted from over
work and in i'll health.
To the question, 'how are de-
cisions reached by the joint chiefs
Of staff?" Admiral King replied:
There is always a complete ex-
change of views of the four members.
Admiral Leahy, as the personal
representative of the President, pre-
sides. When decision is reached,
1t Is decision of the group, and
there has never been a show of
hands or the semblance of voting.
I cannot emphasize too strongly that
this is not board, a committee or a
commission. The subordinate plan
ners are not regarded as Army or
Navy planners; they are called Joint
planners
Joint Staff Conferences.
He said Russia was not represented
on the combined chiefs of stats be-
cause the Soviet Union is not at war
with Japan.
"At various times" he related,
"the combined chiefs of staff hear
representatives of single countries,
such as China, the Netherlands,
Australia. At other times we hear
several representatives as a group.
The American and British Joint
staffs, as we'll as their individual
officers, also confer with these allies"
Asked what he thought of pro-
posals to unite the War and Navy
Departments into a single depart
ment, Admiral King replied: I'VE
are approaching this; we're both
moving into the Pentagon Building.
On the Navy news policy, Ad-
miral King declared all the news
that could be given out was being
released and asserted that at least
one official announcemnt, issued
over his protest, gave information
to the Japanese. He cited the mid
October announcement of the Savo
Island losses of August as an ex-
ample.
Our own intelligence reports prove
conclusively," he said that the Japs
received valuable information from
the announcement. Before that
time, they were fishing for this in
formation by claiming all sorts of
sinkings."
Bad News Not Withheld.
At another point, King was quoted:
BAD news has never been with
held from the American people
just because it is bad. In one case
we announced bad news prema-
turely because we were told that If
we insisted on withholding it until
after the election, it would be
charged later that we had had
political reasons for not announc-
ing it,"
Admiral King did not elaborate
on what announcement this was.
He was asked if it would be DOS
sible for the Navy communique to
give more information.
Il, too, am a citizen and a tax
payer" he replied, "but I am un-
willing to hamper the men engaged
IN battle just to satisfy my curiosity.
The public should know that we
release the information as soon as
we are convinced that it will not
aid the enemy. Premature releases
endanger the lives Of our fighters"
LAUNDRY Marks