Evening star., 1942-03-03
Organizing for Action

The drastic. reorganization Of the
Army ordered yesterday by President
Roosevelt gives force and meaning
to General George c. Marshall's
declaration to Congress that "the
time has now come when we must
proceed with the business of carrying
the war to the enemy" The stream
lining process which already has
resulted in conversion of square divi-
sions into triangular, fast-moving,
hard-hitting units is to be carried
to the top of the Army setup.
Under the new combat organiza-
ton, to become effective next Mon
day, America will cut its Army
pattern to conform generally with
the outlines Of the concededly eff
cient Nazi military machine. Avia-
ton comes into its own as branch
co-equal with the ground forces.
Commanding the quasi-independent
air forces will be Lieutenant General
Henry H. Arnold, now deputy chief
Of staff for air. All other combat
elements Of the Army are to be con-
solidated into unified ground force,
under command Of Lieutenant Gen.
eral Lesley J. McNair, now chief Of
staff Of general headquarters. The
entire supply system as now consti-
tuted, including procurement, food,
housing, transportation, administra-
ton and personnel, is to be made
into a central service of supply,
under Major General Brehon B.
Somervell, now assistant chief of
staff.
One immediate effect Of the reor-
ganization will be the virtual abolish
ment Of the positions of chief Of
infantry, chief Of artillery and the
like. The major responsibilities Of
all these branch commands auto
matically are to be divided among
the supreme commanders of the air
and ground forces and Of the service
of supply. And 1t is expected that
with the passing of these positions,
much Of the bureaucratic conflict,
confusion and competition for
favored treatment which have evoked
criticism in the past will have been
eliminated, also.
Another encouraging aspect of the
shake-up is the fact that the general
cfoff mill bonopoa a cv,o ollor nloeo1,,
knit unit, with aviation due to be
accorded equal representation with
the ground forces. The staff will be
stripped down to what Secretary
Stimson described as a small, alert,
compact, air-ground general staff.
composed of but a fraction of the
present members" It is but logical
that the air forces should have at
least flfty-fifty representation on the
staff, for aviation man power is
fast approaching the total present
strength of all the land troops and
by the end Of next year is scheduled
to reach 100000 men-which is
some 100000 more men than the
ground forces now have. Both main
branches of the new Army will be
under supervision of the Chief of
Staff, who, in turn. is responsible to
the President as Commander in Chief.
1t was indicated that further
changes of the high command organ
ization may be made-and, signifi-
cantly, authority is provided for the
formation and training Of task
forces to perform special assignments
overseas. 1t is these task forces,
necessarily small at first but eventu-
ally growing into formidable Of
fensive organizations, which Admiral
King, fleet commander, undoubtedly
had in mind when he spoke yesterday
of developing an offensive which
slowly but surely will gain scope and
power"