Evening star., 1947-06-02

WEST POINT, N. Y.-EISENHO
, Chief of Staff, is shown as he
honor man, here yesterday. c
look on approvingly. This is
to start a war, and his handicap il
prosecuting it successfully if started
will be in direct proportion to tn
power and readiness of our mobil
striking force. Because it Is i'm
possible now to predict who o
> where this enemy will be, our mobil
striking force must be prepared t.
operate in the Arctic or in tn
tropics and to deliver punishin,
: blows halfway around the world
In calling for immediate unihca
ton of the armed forces, the com
mission declared there could be M
realistic planning or preparation
without unity of command, ane
added:
THE reluctance of Congress anl
some branches of the military estab'
lishment to move wholeheartedly
toward unifieation has been a pow.
erful deterrent toward acceptance
by the public of the idea that unity
of purpose in our national life is the
foundation stone of our security"
i Universal Training Explained.
| 6. Universal training. In recon-
mending this program, the commits.
sion said there was no other way oi
i guaranteeing a sufficiently speedy
flow of trained men to win a wal
if large-scale fighting for bases Of
invasion of the enemy homeland
are needed.
But even more Immediately ano
even more certainly" the commits
sion added, these pre-trained young
men will be ready to cope with the
unprecedented problems of internal
security which atomic warfare will
bring-problems of such magnitude
that our failure to meet them at
once, wherever they developed
might lose us the war overnight" ;"
At the same time, the commission
warned of the danger that putting
universal training into effect might
lull the Nation into a feeling OF
| false security and result in curtail-
ing one or more of the other mill
tary elements of national security.
The report emphasized that If in.
PRODUCTION of universal training hac
tthat effect, then our commission is
of the firm opinion that the adop-
tion of universal training would be
a mistake and would diminish
rather than increase. our nationa.
security"
National Guard Under Strength.
/ Throughout the voluminous re-
port, the commission repeatedly en-
phasized that if war came again
there would be no time to prepare
after the enemy struck, and that
more trained men would be needed
more quickly than in World War II
Discussing the National Guard as
a source of trained manpower
quickly mobilized, the report pointed
out that the Guard, nearly two
years after the end of the war, has
about one-ninth of the $4,000 men
considered essential by the Army
for emergency military needs. Al
though one-third of the contem-
plated 5000 Guard units have been
organized, the report added, the
units are mostly on paper or consist
only of top officers with a small
cadre of non-commissioned officers
and specialists.
The report contended that similar
problems exist in all other reserve
organization. 1t warned that un-
less universal military training is
adopted to fill the ranks of these
reserve outfits, their effectiveness is
certain to decrease sharply with the
passage OF time, since most of their
strength comes from World War II
veterans.
In discussing the report at 8
White House press conference be.
fore its publication, DR.. Compton
said he was afraid it presented q
"lurid and discouraging picture" but
that the commission was convinced
program Of military preparedness
was of no value unless it was good
enough to meet the worst that coulc
be expected. Otherwise, he said, il
would be like pitting a picket fence
against an avalanche"
Delay Seen in Program.
/ Emphasizing the urgency of the
recommendations, he said that Il
Congress enacted the universe
training legislation this summer, i
would be another year before il
could go into operation and fivt
years before enough men would b,
trained to fill the quotas of tn,
National Guard and other reserve
organizations.
! In analysing long range as vel
as immediate threats of war, tn,
commission said it was not think
ing exclusively Of the tensions tina
are so apparent to all of us today.
But it pointed out that as long a
there is a serious conflict of interes
and theology between any of tn,
powerful members of the Unitet
Nations, there always is the DANCE
that a minor action might be tn
spark which would ignite a worlt
Sconf1agration."
, The commission said that push
button warfare" in the popula
, sense is not a development of tn
:, foreseeable future. But it said ''in
: describable horror" would accom-
pany the initial attack in an atemi
war.
Gen. Collins Testimony Given.
/ The report presented the testi
r mony of 1t, Gen. j. Lawton Collin:
r veteran field commander of Worl
War II and now the Army's chief @
> information, saying that his testi
: mony was more restrained thai
: many other witnesses" Said Ger
!. Collins:
I'VE could expect that the wa
would start very suddenly and com
Through the air and that the enem
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