Evening star., 1948-01-25
UNIT Foes Argument!
Fa|Iacious, ForrestaI
Letter Tells Roberts
By John A. Giles

Arguments by foes of universal
military training that atomic Weap-
ons and push-button warfare had
made mass armies obsolete and
UNIT unnecessary were branded as
"fallacious" yesterday by Secretary
of Defense Forrestal.
Mr.. Forrestal, who is leading the
Army Mayfair Force fight for
passage of the UNIT bill, made this
charge in letter to former Supreme
Court Justice Owen j. Roberts,
chairman of the National Security
Committee Justice Roberts released
the text of the letter. at a press
conference.
The committee, which is COM
posed of individuals and SIS Nation
wide organizations with member
ship totaling 100000, was formed
last fall to crystalline the campaign
for UNIT.
disturbed" Over Charges.
Justice Roberts said he had be-
come disturbed by the possible ef-
feet of published charges by oppo-
nents of UNIT to the effect that
push button warfare makes mass
armies obsolete and therefore uni
versal military training" and that
he wrote Mr.. Forrestal for his
views.
This argument is fallacious for
two reasons" Mr.. Forrestal wrote.
"In the first place, the push-button
era of warfare has certainly not yet
arrived and may be many years in
the future. In the meantime, we
must anticipate that any future
war might be of total aspect in
volving at the outset possible
sudden and violent attack upon our
homes and cities.
I'VE must therefore be prepared
at all times for an immediate mobil-
zation of trained men on large
scale throughout the country. I
firmly believe that UNIT is the
only effective democratic means OF
providing the necessary trained
and ready reserves in such an
emergency.
Won't Give Mass Army"
Secondly, UNIT would not give
us. a mass army in the popular
sense. On the contrary, the entire
military training program empha-
sizes the technical and specialized
training that modern warfare re-
quires.
Before World War II it required
ground crew of three men to serv-
ice a combat airplane. Today's
planes require IL and more men to
keep them in the air. Scientific de-
velopment of weapons requires not
only greater numbers of highly
trained men, but longer periods of
training as well. The UNIT pro-
gram is designed to furnish the basic
elements of such training prior to
any future emergency"
Mr.. Forrestal also branded as
mot sound" the argument that q
greatly increased striking air force
would obviate the need for UNIT.
ERP Called Vital
True national security cannot
be obtained through any single
measure to the exclusion of any
other" he wrote From the broad
standpoint it includes, in addition
to a strong military establishment,
the preservation of sound free
competitive system of enterprise In
our country, the recovery of Europe,
the solution of problems of Greece,
Turkey, China and the Middle East
and the revival of the machinery
of production throughout the
world.
I'm short, the European Recovery
Program is a vital element Of ma
tional security. UNIT is another
vital element. One cannot discuss
security in terms of only one of its
elements nor in terms of the United
States alone"
Calling UNIT the "basis Of man
power planning for all Of the armed
services" Mr.. Forrestal declared it
absolutely essential to our ma
tional security
Justice Roberts, in releasing Mr.
Forrestal's letter, said 1t "effec-
tivitely destroys the mass armies
fallacy."
Argument Called Nonsense.
THE argument that we don t need
millions of men behind the ma
chimes is pure nonsense" Justice
Roberts said.
The decentralization that would be
created by blitz atomic attack
alone necessitates the enactment of
U. M. T., he declared.
The American Legion, meanwhile,
charged last night that the House
Rules Committee is ''gagging men,