Detroit evening times., 1945-10-09
PAUL
N1ALLON
Behind
The News

The News
WASHINGTON. Oct. s-A
" minor ado has appeared
fragmentarily in the papers
about a report of the special
committee for re-organizing ma
tional defense which was COM
pleted last April, and has been
lost under the massive table of
the Joint chiefs Of staff since
that time.
/ found il. 1t was in the street
gutter around the corner from
my office when | went home
last night, and while the night
was dark, somehow my eye did
not miss il. II seemed to be
phosphorescent.
/ hurried back to the office 10
study this document so mys-
terious that the heavy minds
of the war department had been
sitting upon il for seven months
with a secrecy beyond or
dinary secrecy.
I FOUND out what had hap
L paned This committee plan
of defense which is to keep the
peace of the world-if peace
treaties can be made-had re-
quested urgent action in report
ing 10 the President their con-
clusions for complete reorgani-.
zation of the entire defense
Setup.
I am told the report had the
approval of the fighting generals
and even fighting a d IN r a S.
Eisenhower, Macarthur, Halsey,
NimitZ.
Furthermore, il says itself a
great majority of field army Off
GERS and half of the navy Off
GERS at the fighting fronts
agreed on the basic recommen-
dations.
This, then is what the fighting.
leaders want. and what they
want is single defense depart
ment taking in the army, navy
and air forces under single
headed control. 1t would be
called the department of the
armed forces.
T,IfE whole tone stressed the
Il necessity for team work,
closer cooperation, economy in
supplies and efficiency by coher-
ent group action and true in
tegration. 1t conceded duplica-
tion and some lack of mutual
understanding as well as jeal-
ousieS in past C m it o n
between the services.
1t wanteda a single cabinet Off
Ger. This would mean at least
one Of the existing navy and
army cabinet men would have
to go.
Yet such a consideration
hardly explained the filing of
the report under a table in the
war department because I know
war secretary Patterson is for it.
OF course il would also mean
combining the war and navy
committees in Congress and
some congressman would lose a
good job also.
A little inquiry disclosed the
most powerfully placed. but not
necessarily most numerous OPP
position came from heads of the
House and Senate war and navy
committees. CThey control APP
propriationS.)
A little further checking indi-
Gated Adm. King, the navy
director, also is against the idea.
THE report sets down what
Il looks like a new Streamlined
organization with a good chance
for efficiency if the men who
operate il can keep il more on
its toes than they were at Pearl
Harbor.
Top man would be the Presi-
dent, commander in chief as
now.
Next in line would be the
cabinet secretary of the armed
forces, then the commander of
the armed forces Ga sort OF chief
of staff like Gen. MarshalD.
and finally the commanders of
army, navy and air on an equal
footing 10 operate the divisions
under them.
Thus the air force made up
mostly of the younger general
officers who know most thor
oughly the revolutionary science
of modern warfare would attain
equal ranking with the army
and navy, at long last, in one
single armed force.
Down below this top re-
alignment. the Navy and War
Departments would operate
about as at present with du-
plicating bureaus combined and
some other minor changes.
WELL who can find fault
w with this7 What objection
could there be7
The minority report Of the
single retired admiral actually
agrees the plan IS better than