Evening star., 1945-12-03
Services Take Debate
On Military Merger
TO Nation by Radio

Some of the Nations top fighting
men carried the Army Navy merger
controversy to the radio last night
Admiral Chester w Nimitz warned
;that development of naval power
SHOULD not be interrupted for the
sake of an administrative amalga-
nation in the name of undemon-
estrated economies"
i. On another program, Gen. Joseph
w. Stilwell, former commander of
the 10th Army on Okinawa, called
for "unification at the top" and said
national defense is one job" Gen
George c. Kenney, commander of
Far Eastern Air Forces, supported
unification, but Rear Admiral For
rest P. Sherman, commander of Car
. rier Division l, said separate admin
istrative departments meant greater
| efficiency. The three spoke on NBC.
Lewis Approves Merger.
Admiral Nimitz participated in a
broadcast over station WINK with
John L. Lewis. president of the
United Mine Workers, and the Rev
DR.. Maurice S. Sheehy, head of the
Department of Religious Education,
Catholic University.
Mr.. Lewis. although saying that
he had not fully studied the merger
suggestions, expressed belief 1T will
make for greater concentration of
military power than we have before
had in this country"
DR.. Sheehy, a Navy chaplain for
SO months, said:
While my service with the Navy
has terminated, I cannot but regard
as an evil thing any movement
which changes radically the con-
ditions Of life for half a million
men. If the Navy is absorbed
or loses its identity. the Government
is striking against them"
Stilwell Draws Parallel.
Gen. StilWell used what he called
the 'homely but very apt parallel
of the modern city fire department
to express his views.
The fire fighters are organized in
chemical companies, hose COM
panies, ladder companies, and in
some cities, fire boats are used" he
said. But when the alarm rings
they all rush together to the one
fire. And it's the fire chief who de-
cldes what piece or pieces of equip
nle0t will be used to put out the
blaze in the shortest possible time.
National defense is one job. We
have the tools to do that job. We
must keep them virile and in fight
ing trim by unification at the top"
Kenney Urges Unity.
Asserting the term merger" is a
misnomer for the unification plan,
Gen. Kenney declared:
If we do not have unity at the
top we re-establish the Pearl Har-
Dor state of mind
Admiral William F. Halsey had
been scheduled to take part in the
NBC broadcast but was unable to
appear.
After referring to the part naval
air and sea power played in the
defeat of Germany and Japan, Ad-
miral Nimitz said:
While our own people now bask
in the great achievement of hav-
ing suppressed the most dangerous
nations that have ever threatened
humanity, we are once again toying
with the notions that made us sc
Vulnerable prior to 1912. The COM
'"pfacency with which we cut down
our Navy after World War I to a
bare semblance of protective force
is once again the background oi
danger. = = ,~
A Must Not Lose Balance.
with the potentials of atomic
energy not yet fully known, we as
d Nation must move cautiously in
removing from the present unsettled
world any element of balance that
maintains the hardwon peace.
Let us be realistic in our ap-
praisal of predictions of nations
duelling with 5000-mile robot
bombs. 1t is only common, every
cay horse sense for us to retain the
Known, proved naval advantage we
so laboriously constructed until a
better substitute has been demon
.:trated to be technologically feas-
!ble. . =
The Navy intends to increase
the striking power of our fleet
through the use of new, offensive
weapons. Your Navy can be de-
veloped as a strategic force of ever
increasing hree-dimensional strik-
ing power and mobility. That de-
velopment should not be interrupted
FOR the sake of an administrative
amalgamation in the name of un-
demonstrated economies
Lewis Warns of Dictatorship.
Mr.. Lewis said he was reluctant
TO see the civilian influence and pol
icy direction over military forces re-
duced or weakened.
I'VE have seen what happens in
other countries when such is the
case" he said, and added:
While giving all possible help to
the armed services, we must insure
that in the future the threat of mill
tary dictatorship should not hover
over this land"
Admiral Sherman paid tribute to
the ground armies and said, I'VE are
all agreed that there must be unity
of operational command in peace
and in war" But, he added:
This does not make it necessary
or desirable to merge the War and
Navy Departments. Greater eff
cheney will result from keeping sep
arate administrative departments
We believe that single department
would. become a huge cumbersome
military bureaucracy in which waste
and ineficiency could more easily
occur than in smaller departments
compactly integrated."
If the Navy is absorbed by the
War Department as a minority
element" he added, ''the Navy may
be ready to fight if needed-or ii
may not be ready.
1--WE hear stories of great econo-
mics which the War Department
could achieve after a merger. II
these economies are to be achieved
by cutting down the Navy it cer-
tainly will not be ready"
Trips on Grip, Breaks Leg