Evening star., 1947-08-28
ForrestaI Picks
Pentagon for
Headquarters
Defense Seeretoy's
Offices. Will Be
Ready Sept. IS
By Nelson M. Shepard

Headquarters of the National Mill.
tary Establishment will be in the
Pentagon Building, and Offices fol
Defense Secretary Forrestal will be
ready on September Is, by which
time it is expected he will have
taken the oath of Office.
Mr.. Forrestal announced the
choice for the unified headquarters
last night.
The new Offices which Mr.. For
restal and his staff will occupy in
the Pentagon will be on the third
and fourth floors. His personal
offices will be the four room suite
on the third floor, formerly occupied
by Secretary OF War Royal when
he was undersecretary. They are
rooms 3E714 through 3E718.
Mr.. Forrestal had announced he
would set up only small policy
staff in the Pentagon. The space
the headquarters staff will occupy
on the two floors is on the E Ring
between the sixth and seventh cor
ridors.
Some Alterations Required.
Army officials said only minor
alterations will be required for Mr.
ForreStafs suite and none at all
for the other offices.
The official announcement at the
Navy Department set at rest many
rumors and some proposed actions
for the future use OF the worlds
largest Office building" wartime
project which cost the War Depart
ment around $74,000,00O, including
itSintricate road and highway sys-
tenn. Bills have been introduced tc
convert 1t to a super-Veterans' Hos
pital. Another supposed use was fol
the storage of Government docu-
ments and property.
1t was generally understood, how
ever, that in the event of the armed
services being unified, as now
authorized, the Pentagon was the
logical building for housing the new
headquarters and top-f1ight Army
Navy and Air Force commanders
under one roof.
Mr.. Forrestal's choice of offices
was simplif1ed by the fact that
there is little difference between
his and Secretary Royals. To take
over the War Secretary's Offices
would dislocate the present arrange
ments for the high command of
the War Department. Offices of
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Chief
of Staff, adjoin the Secretary S
suite. A door that is never locked
separates them.
Nimitz Move Undisclosed.
About the only accessories Secre-
tary Royals and Gen. Eisenhower S
suites have over the other are a
private elevator, a private dining
room across the corridor and "over-
night" facilities in the event OF
emergency.
Whether Fleet Admiral Chester
w. N;mitz, Chief of Naval Opera
tions, will move to the Pentagon
also was not made clear last night
In time, it was believed, the entire
group of top-f1ight officials will be
quartered there. That in itself
would impose a space problem re-
quiring considerable shifting about
since Admiral Nimitz' staff now
occupies two wings in the Navy
Building.
The Pentagon now houses about
$4,000 employees. Although demo-
bilizatlon has been going on for
two years, the Army in Washington
still occupies all or portions of a
dozen or more buildings.
Unless the armed forces are re-
duced to point absolutely made
quaJe to provide for the full security
of the country, it is doubtful if all
the Washington personnel could ever
be lodged under one roof in the
Pentagon,' a top-ranking official
said today