Evening star., 1943-01-10
Army and Navy to Be
Strong in Proven Strength
By OUen L. Scott.

| most powerful armies all at one and the
same time.
Nations in the past have created
either great armies or great navies. The
Germans thought that they had created
at the same time both the worlds most
powerful army and the worlds most
powerful air force. The British created
a great navy and an army of modest
strength, plus a small but strong air
| force. The japanese created big navy
but have not shown much in the way
of an army or air force.
1t is remaining for the United States
to demonstrate real strength.
This strength cannot be brought fully
to bear in 1943 because of transport diff
ficulties. Those difficulties are in process
of being overcome as the United States,
in addition to it's other accomplishments,
creates the worlds greatest merchant
marine.
First of all there are the Army Air
| Forces. Two years ago the Army pos
| sessed few planes and fewer pilots. There
| was only a skeleton airplane industry,
ulCdoulCo Wy tilC llCCOo Va wa gAiAlC. CG
today the Army has more than 100000
men in its air forces. 1t will have more
| than 1900, 900 by the end of 1943. Its
planes and pilots have been tested in
| combat against both Germans and Jap
anese with results that are highly fa-
vorable to the Americans.
This country's aircraft industry now
| is turning out more than 5000 planes
| each month, most of them combat planes.
1t will average during 1943 production
of not far from 10000 planes month.
Actually, the output of American air.
! craft this year may be nearly double
| that of all the rest of the world COM
bined Big American bombers have
proved themselves to be without rivals.
American fighter planes are standing up
with the best.
Now turn to the Army itself. That
Army was an amateur force two years
ago. 1t had few weapons. 1t had little
training, and its forces were small.
Today the American Army, exclusive of
air forces, numbers about 4500,000 men
and 1t will number 5.50O,oOO by the year
end More than 100000 of those men
are overseas.
This new American Army is Superbly
trained and superbly equipped. 1t is the
best-fed and best-clothed Army in the
world. It's small arms are the most mod
ern and pack the greatest fire power of
any in the world. Its mechanical equip
ment has proved out against the best of
the enemy. Its artillery is the most
modern and packs the greatest wallop.
No army is as highly motorized or mech
anized as the American. This Army, too,
is largely led by men from the ranks who
have proved themselves to be natural
leaders Only the Russian and German
armies have more men.
The handicap confronting the Amer
lean Army is the absence of battlefield
upon which to show its real prowess.
Transport problems are immense and
not subject to any quick solution.
When it comes to the Navy the record
is equally impressive.
One year ago the Navy had all of its
battleships in the Pacific out of action.
1t had suffered defeat, one of the most
disastrous ever suffered by any navy.
Yet today the American Navy is in a
class by itself The Navy suffers by hav-
ing its forces divided. Even so, in every
recent open combat it has defeated the
japanese navy. 1t has beaten that navy
in the air and on the surface of the sea.
The American Navy is stronger than
any other navy in battleships and
cruisers and destroyers. 1t soon will be
stronger than any in aircraft carriers.
It's air force is larger and better trained
than any other 1t is beginning to create
land based air force of its own for use
| in the Pacific area. The Navy, including
marines and Coast Guard, now has a
! personnel of nearly 500 900 men, and by
| the year end will have more than 2,000,-
| 900.
| Along with the Navy goes the mer-
chant marine. Any Navy to be strong
must have access to great numbers of
merchant ships of all types The Amer
| lean Navy, in relation to the British and
japanese Navies, has been handicapped
in the past by the small size of the
American merchant marine. All of that
now is in process of being remedied.
This Nations shipyards in 1943 are to
turn out nearly 100000 tons of mer-
| chant ships. The entire British mer-
| chant marine-the largest in the world
was no larger at the start of the war
| than the merchant marine this country
| will nrOCllce in One wear
In the face of these facts, 1t is easy
to understand why American military
men are so confident of the wars out
| come. 1t also is easy to understand
why the Germans and Japanese are
| shifting from an offensive to defensive
strategy in the hope that by going on
the defensive they can at least save
some of their conquests and can have
somewhat broader base from which
to plan for the next war. Their one
remaining hope is that the United
States will tire of the war before a full
decision Is reached
| Likewise, the facts show why it Is
that American civilians are to be forced
to tighten their belts. This Nations
industry is proving itself able to con-
sumo fantastic amounts of materials,
turning those materials into weapons
at rate that surpasses that Of all the
rest of the worlds industry combined.
This leaves relatively little in the way
of metals and metal products for civil
ians. 1t is going to leave less of other
products as well.