Evening star., 1945-10-10

winged over Japan was dependent on
the efforts of IL officers and 73 men
in the immediate combat area
alone.
The number of men that were
involved in the delivery Of the
atomic bomb on Hiroshima was tre-
mendous. First we had to have the
base in the Marianas from which
the plane took off. This first re-
quired preliminary operations across
the vast Pacific, thousands of ships,
millions of tons of supply, the heroic
efforts OF hundreds of thousands of
men. Further, we needed the B-29s
and their fighter escort which gave
us control Of the air over Japan. This
was the result of thousands of hours
OF training and preparation in the
United States and the energies OF
hundreds of thousands of men.
The effective technology on the
military structure is identical to its
effect on the national economy.
Just as the automobile replaced the
horse and made work for millions
of Americans, the atomic explosives
will require the services of millions
of men if we are compelled to en-
ploy them in fighting our battles.
This war has made it clear that 4
the security Of the Nation, when
challenged by an armed enemy.
requires the services of virtually all
able-bodied male citizens within
the effective military age group.
In war the Nation cannot depend
on the numbers of men willing to
volunteer for active service; nor
can our security in peace.
The decision in this matter is so
grave in consequences that it de-
mandS complete frankness on nv
part. Therefore I must say that
many of the objections which have
been made to universal military
training appear to be influenced
by ulterior motives, or to ignore
completely the tragedies of the past
and present which we are seeking
to avoid for the future. They often
seem to give undue Importance to
restrictions on our freedom of life,
trivial in comparison with the
awful tragedies We are seeking to
avoid and the great blessings we
hope to secure for succeeding gen-
erations.
The timing of our decision on the
question of universal military
training Is urgent. The officials
of the State Department have been
strongly of the opinion that a de-
cision in this matter prior to the
final peace negotiations would
greatly strengthen the hand of the
United States in securing accept
ance of a genuine organization to
handle international differences.
The terms of the final peace
settlement will provide basis for
determining the strength of the
regular or permanent postwar mill
tary forces of the United States,
air, ground, and naval, but they
cannot, in my opinion, alter the ne
| ceSSlty for a system of universal
military training.
| The yardstick by which the sizs
of the permanent force must be
measured is maximum security with
minimum cost in men, materiel, and
maintenance. So far as they can
foresee world conditions a decade
from now, War Department PLAN
ners, who have taken every con-
ceivable factor into consideration,
believe that our position will be
sound If we set up machinery which
will permit the mobilization OF an
Army of 100000 men within a
period of one year following any in
ternational crisis resulting in a ma
tional emergency for the United
| States.
Strategic Force.
The Regular Army must be COM
prised largely of strategic force,
heavy in air power, partially de.
ployed in the Pacific and the Carib-
bean ready to protect the Nation
against sudden hostile thrust and
Immediately available for emergen-
cy action wherever required. 1t is
obvious that another war would
start with a lightning attack to
take us unaware. The pace of the
attack would be at supersonic speeds
/ of rocket weapons closely followed
| by striking force which would
seek to exploit the initial and crit
ical advantage. We must be s,lf-
| f1ciently prepared against such q
threat to hold the enemy at a dis
tance until We can rapidly mobilize
our strength. The Regular Army,
and the National Guard, must be
prepared to meet such crisis.
Another mission of the Regular
Army is to provide the security gar
risons for the outlying bases. We
quickly lost the Philippines, Guam,
and Wake Islands at the beginning
of this war and are still expending
lives and wealth in recovering them.
The third mission of the perma.
nent Army is to furnish the over-
head, the higher headquarters
which must keep the machine and
the plans up to date for whatever
national emergency we may face in
the future. This overhead includes
the War Department, the War Col
lege, the service schools, and the
headquarters of the military areas
into which continental United
States is subdivded to facilitate
decentralized command and co-or-
dination Of the peacetime military
machine.
The fourth and probably the most
important mission of the Regular
Army is to provide the knowledge,
the expert personnel, and the in
stallations for training the citizen
soldier upon whom. in my view, the
future peace of the world largely
) depends.
/ The National Guard.
OF the citizen Army. the National
j, Guard is in the first category Of
, Importance. It must be healthy and