Evening star., 1946-11-14
Truman Calls In
Service Chiefs
For Budget Talk
Ground Forces in U. S.
Cut SO, 900 in Wake oi
Civiliun Job Slash

FTeSluenI truman summoned
Army and Navy officials to a
budgetary conference today. The
session was called less than "a
hours after the services were
ordered to release 93,400 civilian
employees by January ! and the
Army started cutting $4,000 men
from its ground forces in the
continental United States.
Scheduled to confer with Mr.. Tru-
man at $3.50 pm. were Admiral VIII
liam D. Leahy, the Presidents chief
of staff; Gen. Eisenhower, Army
Chief of Staff; Admiral Nimitz, Chief
of Naval Operations, and Maj. Gen.
George j. Richards, War Department
budget officer.
White House Press Secretary
Charles G. Ross told reporters the
session will deal with ''budgetary
matters pertaining to the Army and
Navy"
Asked If the conference had been
called for any special purpose, Mr..
Ross said no, that these things are
held all the time"
The conference was scheduled
against the background of a state
ment by MIR. Truman two weeks ago
that no further cuts in Army and
Navy spending were under considera-
ton at that time.
Budgets Already Trimmed.
The President noted then that In
August he had directed the War
Department to trim its budget to
$4,000, 900 900 from $4,000, 900 900. At
the same time he fixed a Navy spend
ing limit of $5,150,000,000 necessi-
tating cut of $650.000 900 from the
previous ceiling.
A total of Army Ground Forces
IS, units, including the wartime I'd
Armored and Sd Infantry Divisions,
will be stripped to skeleton size as
the Army starts its cuts to stay
within its reduced budget.
The War Department cut in civil
ian personnel is 73,20O and the Navy
10000. Officials of the departments
indicated that not more than 1000
employees of both in Washington will
be affected by the order. Sharp per-
sonnel slashes already made by War
and Navy win make further drastic
cuts by January unnecessary, it was
said. =
Sd Division Hardest Hit.
The dimissal of $4,000 officers and
enlisted men will be equivalent to
about two and olse-half infantry
divisions, Gen. Jacob L. Devers,
ground forces commander, estimated
In announcing the reduction.
Thirty-f1ve units of company size
will be stripped entirely of person
mel although not inactivated. Nine
teen other units will be reduced to
one officer and one enlisted man per
battalion.
The I'd Armored ana the Sd In
fantry Divisions, which fought in
the European and Mediterranean
theaters, will feel the economy ak
heavily. Ground forces officers
estimated that one-nalf to one.
third of the I'd Arnored Di-I
visions strength would be affected
by the order. The Sd Infantry Di-
vision will be even more affected,
1t was predicted.
Both War and Navy have been
anticipating the personnel cuts and
have drastically cut their payrolls.
Actually the War Department al
ready has dismissed about $1,000 of
the $4,000 employees that the Budget
Bureau ordered them to fire by jan
uary /. This leaves about 10000
workers to be dismissed by Janu-
airy l and the majority of these
will be in the field.
The Navy Department reports
that as far as its Washington Offices
are concerned they are at "rock
bottom" Navy officials said they
doubted If more than a handful"
of employees here will be affected
by the order.