Evening star., 1946-12-17
Army and Navy Agree
On Unified Command |
For Overseas Theaters
BY the Associated Press

pJ wv NssoStdiSu Tfcsh
The Army and Navy agreed
today on unified command for
armed forces abroad, but left
unsettled the wrangle over mer-
ger at home.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff, with
the bitter experience of Pearl Har-
bors dual command in mind, eli
NAKED long series Of negotiations
by announcing plan under which
overseas forces will be under the
operational command of one officer
Army, Navy or Air as the situa-
ton dictates. The plan was ap-
proved by President Truman.
The establishments of seven over
seas commands among other things
Whitfield away some Of the domain
of Gen. Douglas Macarthur and
put under Navy command areas of
the Pacific he had controlled. It
also re-established some prewar
commands and created new
Northeast Command, it's details as
yet undisclosed. 3a8A
Concurrently with the announce
ment of the single command plan
for overseas organizations came a
congressional committee recon-
mendation in another field of COM
bined operation.
Permanent Intelligence Status.
The House Military Affairs Com
mittee proposed that permanent
legal status be given to the National
Intelligence Authority established
ny President Truman last January.
That agency was created to weave
together the intelligence operations
of various Government agencies In
cluding the Army's G-2 section, the
Navy's ONCE of Naval Intelligence
and units of the State Department
which include vestiges of the war;
time Office of Strategic Services.
Members of the authority, the
committee said, should be the Sec
retaries of State, War and Navy or
deputies chosen by them for intelli-
gence activities. The three Secre-
taries, along with a member ap-
pointed by the President, were
named in the authority as created a
year ago.
AS a permanent setup, the COM
mittee said the agency should get
It's money directly from Congress
and should have complete control
of its personnel rather than receive
its employees from the three depart
ments.
interpretations Differ.
The Joint Chiefs of staff plan was
variously interpreted by those inter-
ested in the service unif1cation
argument.
Mai. Gen. William H. Arnold.
deputy chief of staff for operations
and planning in the Army, replied
to reporters questions with a state
ment that this is the closest ap-
Proclamation you could get without
having unification" of the two de-
partments.
The Army has urged such mer-
ger; the Navy has opposed it. !
In Navy quarters, the Joint Chiefs
of Staff agreement was not viewed
as promoting the Army's case.
Those in a position to know the
trend of Navy thought said that as
a matter of fact the new arrange
ment was largely the result of Navy
effort. They noted that the Navy
from the outset of the merger
squabble had emphasized the desira-
bility of a unified, single command
for operating forces outside the
country even while contending that
such war-proven procedure was not
necessary at home. The Navy argu-I
ment on this score is that ample
facilities exist for coordination be-
tween the two departments in this
country.
Operational Command.
The joint Army-Navy announce
ment last night said each COM
mander will be responsible for uni
fled planning for defense and, in
case of emergency, for the conduct OF
operations. 1t was not cellar how
this unified operational command
would function in overall planning
involving other phases OF defense
and campaigning.
In answer to questions, Gen. Ar
mold said it was purely an opera
tional command, the responsibility
for such things as administration
and supplies being retained by the
commanders OF the lndl-
vidual forces in the area.
The unified command system in
the field was used universally dur
ing the war, but survived We and
VI days in only few areas. These
include the zones under control OF
Gen. Macarthur in the Pacific and
Gen. Joseph T. McNarney, chief OF
occupation forces in Europe.
Under the new system the seven
commands will be:
Far East, Gen. Macarthur; Euro
pean, Gen. McNarney; Pacific, Ad-
miral John H. Towers; Alaskan,
Maj. Gen. H. A. Craig; Northeast,
commander to be named; Atlantic
Fleet, Admiral Marc A. Mitscher;
Caribbean, 1t. Gen. Willis D. Crit
tenberger.
Negotiations for the new system
already had started when the Sen
ate-House committee which inves-
tigated the Pearl Harbor attack is
sued it's report, pointing to the con-
fusion in intelligence and defense
planning there which arose from
the fact that the Army and Navy
chiefs were each responsible for
only their own fields and neither
had supreme authority. These fac
tors had been brought out pre-
however, by other investi-
cations.
Under the new setup. the Strategic
Air Command, comprised OF stra-
tegic air forces not otherwise as
signed, also will be responsible toI