Evening star., 1947-12-07

gerously low point which, unless
in the next few months, will place
this country in an extremely deli
cate position. An adequate appro-
priation means 20 per cent Of the
total sum proposed for Europe under
the Marshall plan.
Lo9istic Position Better
On the whole no one is overly
concerned right now about Soviet
might, despite its quantitative SUI
periority in ground and air forces.
It is a fact that the Soviet Army
outnumbers the American by about
6 to /, as far as active combat
divisions are concerned. Moreover
Russia is in a far better logistic
position than the United States.
The sensitive points - Greece,
France and Italy, Korea and China
Are within easy reach Of concen-
tration centers on Russia or Soviet
satellite territory. If another war
were to be fought on the same pat
tern as the last our ground forces
again would have to travel thou
sands of miles over the ocean to
reach land on which they could
operate. The Russians are already in
the immediate vicinity of all these
potential fields of operation.
AS an illustration, there has been
a good deal of talk in recent weeks
about sending troops to Greece to
bolster the weakened regular forces.
Our military experts believe that
two American combat divisions could
dispose Of the guerrilla forces in
Northern Greece, and that it would
not take a very long time.
The main question is what would
happen to those 10000 American
troops If Marshal Tito were to sup
port Moscow's puppets in Greece
the partisans? The Yugoslav die
tator has about 100000 troops in
Macedonia. They could move south
ward in a few days, while it would
take weeks for American reinforce
ments to reach Piraeus or Salonika.
The military answer to those who
favor using American troops in ac-
cordance with Article 81 of the
U. N. Charter is that partial mobili-
zation of the American Army would
be necessary before such a step
could be taken.
Four Planes to Our One
It also would be necessary, accord
ing to our military experts, if the
Italian government, threatened by
incursions of Yugoslav troops from
the east in support Of the Com
munist Party, were to ask for Amer
lean support. Most military men
believe that in the event Of an
armed conflict with the Soviet Union
the brunt would be borne by the
United States Air Force, which Is
still in a position, despite its reduc-
ton to peacetime standards, to give
a good account of itself In case Of a
challenge.
The numerical superiority Of the
Red Air Force is acknowledged by
our top-ranking aviators. Although
our intelligence work is deficient and
we have only scant information as
to the actual number Of all types Of
airplanes available in the U. S. s. r.,
it Is probable that they outnumber
us by more than four to one.
In the air. as at sea, the quality
Of planes and particularly the quail
ity of flyers Is Of utmost Importance.
The Russians never showed them
selves to be skillful aviators during
the war. They did little strategic
bombing, but used the tens of thou
sands Of lend-lease planes we sent
them principally for reconnaissance
purposes and to support the ad-
vancing mass Of Red soldiers.
There are, Of course, some first
class Russian flyers. But the quail
ity OF rank-and-flle aviators is poor
1t is recalled that when lend-lease
planes we're being sent to the U. s.
S. r. the instrument panels were
reduced to the very minimunl-an
altimeter and gas and Oil gauges.
The complicated instruments which
were carried on American planes
we're removed 50 as not to confuse
the Soviet flyers, who preferred to
use landmarks-a particular build
ing or clump Of trees--rather than
instruments for navigation.
Quality Another Matter
There Is no indication, so far as
is known here, that this situation
has changed. According to some
American observers, Russian avia-
ton today can be compared with
Mussolini's feet before it got into
the war with Britain. The italian
feet was beautiful to look at. 1t
had modern and fast ships and put
on an imposing display in maneuvers
and parades. Their speed was put
to good use to enable them to take
refuge In the inner harbors Of
Taranto and other naval bases when
the British went out looking for
battle,
Whether this situation would be
true Of Russian aviation today Is
hard to say. Our military men are
given to overestimating an enemy;
only occasionally do they underesti-
mate an active or potential enemy
However, the psychological factor is
often neglected, as was the case In
our war with Japan.
On paper the Russian air force
is far superior to the American. But
in an actual showdown it is ques-
ton whether Russia's aviation would
not perform the same way the Ital-
be lost in Communist contemptuous
confusion. The witnesses did not