Evening star., 1946-01-11
Troops Mood Loid
To Lack of Policy
Writer Says Problem Has Arisen
Through Failure to Plan
By David Laurence


By David Laurence
Failure Of President Truman and
Congress to provide a military policy
for the transition period between war
and peace has brought on rebellious
mood among the troops overseas.
1t was as simple a proposition as could
be imagined that, unless replacements
were provided for the occupying armies,
the troops, irrespective Of point scores,
could not come home. Although this
was foreseen, the War Department has
devoted itself these last few months to
a number of extraneous controversies
like the merger and the military train
ing bills and has not pressed for
solution of the immediate problem of
finding troops to take care Of the neces-
sites of the hour.
Also, there has been no overall plan
ming as to how long the troops would
be needed and for what missions.
Not Enough Recruits.
The biggest need, of course, Is for
volunteers. Unfortunately, the War
Department has bungled its task and
hence not enough volunteers are being
recruited. The draft system, moreover,
isn't functioning as it should because of
the possibility that Congress may at
any time end the draft.
The War Department is such big
institution that it's various units are
not well integrated. 1t needs a merger
all its own. Thus, Secretary of War
Robert Patterson didn't know that
points are not being given in the Army
for service since last September. M.
Patterson has too big a department to
administer without more assistance.
Better coordination between the mill
tary services within the department is
imperative.
Mr.. Patterson is an excellent Judge.
He really ought to be sitting at the
Nuremberg trialS-a task for which he
is pre-eminently fitted-and then JUS
tice Robert Jackson could be brought
back to the Supreme Court, where his
vote and his judgment are acutely
needed, as almost everybody in judicial
circles in Washington now comedies.
Marines Could Do Job.
The man who ought to be Secretary
of War is some one who can give his
whole time to the formulation of a
sound military policy-some one who is
familiar with the legislative viewpoint.
1t would be ten-strike if Mr.. Truman
selected some outstanding member of
the House or the Senate for the secre-
taryship of War. Gen. Eisenhower is
new at his job and cannot be expected
to absorb the legislative situation and
bear the burden of military policy max
ing at once.
Probably the fastest way to get the
problem of an occupying army solved
would be to allow the Marine Corps
to be recruited at once up to 100000.
Here is an institution with an esprit
d'corps all its own-and one that has
traditionally done the occupying job
overseas for the United States. The
professional soldiers who enlist volun-
tarily, as do the Marines, would not
be writing petitions today or getting
homesick, as do the Reserves who have
been on combat assignments.
The entire task in the Pacific area
could be done by the Marines and using
them probably would be the speediest
way to organize and relieve the troops
now in the Philippines and in Japan.
Besides, the Marines work well within
the Navy organization, and the Pacific
area is primarily naval responsibility.
Confidence Impaired.
AS for Europe, the volunteers now
being recruited by the Army could be
trained primarily for that area. An
occupying force of 100000 could be
organized out of these volunteers in a
few months. Whether this plan or
some supplement to or revision OF it
were adopted, the important thing
would be the announcement that the
War Department really had a plan.
Instead of this, the troops overseas are
being left to founder and to worry about
the vague and indefinite statements
which speak abstractly of the Nations
needs overseas.
The men who have been doing the
fighting rightly feel that the ones who
didn't get overseas and were of fight
ing age should volunteer for the occu-
pying jobs. There are plenty of young
men who could be recruited by the
Army, but the present handling of the
whole matter could conceivably hurt
recruiting and impair confidence in the
Army. What is needed is fresh lead
ership in the War Department.
The new subcommittee headed by
the able Senator from Colorado, Sena-
tor Edwin johnson, Democrat, will help
lmmeasurably toward the formulation
OF military policy, and the Senate Mill
: tary Affairs Committee chairman, Sena-
tor Elbert Thomas of Utah, is to be
commended for acting so promptly in
appointing the committee to consider
the protests of the fighting men who
are marooned overseas.