Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-02-15
Civilian Defense
Agency Planned
For Atomic War
Program Will Ignore
Gardens, Bond Drives
Stress Realism
By John A. Giles

Plans for establishment of q
comprehensive national civilian
defense organization that woulc
go into immediate action in
event of an atomic war were
announced yesterday by Secre-
tary of Defense Forrestal.
Mr.. Forrestal told a news con-
ference that President Truman hao
approved the formation of the Civil
Defense Agency as a part Of the
National Defense Establishment. He
said it would not make any fan
tastic" plans. 1t will be headed by
a $10,000-a-year civilian director
yet to be\named
The unit will distinguish be-
tween fantastic and realistic and
necessary plans and when say fam
tastic l refer to such proposals as
placing the whole steel industry
underground, Mr.. Forrestal said.
The procedure outlined by Mr.
Forrestal was recommended in a
report of the War Department Civil
Defense Board, headed by Maj. Gen
Harold r. Bull, made public at the
same time. The board reviewed
the operations of the wartime Office
of Civilian Defense, along with
British, japanese and German civil
defense Set-ups and came up with
recommendations largely patterned
after the German plan.
No Gardens, Salvage Drive.
There will be no Victory Gardens
salvage and bond drives and recrea-
ton activities under the new setuI
II the board has it's way. Such &C
tivities, which the OCD sponsored
with much fanfare during the last
war, Should be supervised by
agencies other than civil defense, >
the report stated.
The board reported that based or
q, study of United States civil de.
tense activities during the war, 1t il
apparent, in retrospect. that the
civil defense organization, in spite
of noteworthy, patriotic response OF
the civilian volunteers, was made
quate to cope with a heavy attack
The board added that "of the L.
400 OCD employees, about go per cent
were engaged in the promotion OF
sucn activities as Victory Gardens
war bond drives, child welfare, con-
sumner interest, nutrition study, SAL
wage, education, rationing and the
like"
Should Concentrate ON Defense.
The almost unanimous opinion OF
witnesses before the board was that
a civil defense organization should
conf1ne itself to emergency protec-
tive services and that extraneous ac-
tivities should be supervised by other
agencies.
A Civil Defense Agency, the board
recommended, should be created
now to begin the SLOW and tedious
task" of planning and creating ar
organization from the local up to the
national level. 1t suggested that ar
effective program would require 9
high degree of local control ant
probably would utilize existing agen.
cies of State and municipal govern.
ments, with Federal supervision tt
achieve necessary uniformity of pro.
cedure and to relate overall policie!
to military needs. 1t called civil de.
Tense an essential part of nationa
defense"
The director, reporting directly tx
Mr.. Forrestal, will have the re-
sponsibility of recommending a ma
tional program and for planning
the structure and necessary legisla-
ton for permanent agency.
Would Follow German Plan.
A spokesman for the board saic
its recommendations called for "ar
organization in depth, somewhat
like the Germans finally evolved
during the war. That Is, there would
be training for individual self de-
tense, plans for mutual aid on block
and city wide and area scales, ano
the formation of national special
lied mobile reserve units to support
that action"
Undoubtedly, the spokesman said
the new unit would have radio
logical section and perhaps a bac.
THEOLOGICAL warfare section tt
identify the danger" in atomic
and bacterial attacks. If they came
and to train citizens to protect
themselves.
I'VE must not forget that yor
cannot snap your fingers and ere
ate such Pathological safety people
throughout the United States" he
commented. The agency itseli
must decide on the training of such
people. how many there shall bt
and just how and where such train
ing will take place.
Job Is Purely Civilian.
THAT is just one of the multi
ferrous questions that must bt
faced and solved now because there
will be no time for making plan;
(See CIVILIAN DEFENSE, Pig. Al