Evening star., 1949-12-27
johnson Believes Self
Commander in Chief,
Dinner Speech Shows
Defense Head Comedies
A Few Exceptions When
President Is Consulted
By David Laurence

johnson revealed In q little-no-
ticed speech the other day that he
now considers himself for all
practical purposes the comman-
der-in-chief Of the U. s. Army,
Navy and Air Forces.
Mr.. johnson comedies that
there may be q few exceptions
where 1t is appropriate" for the
President of the United States to
be consulted. but In the main. his
idea Is that Congress has dele
gated to the Secretary Of Defense
what the Constitution says Is a
power vested only In the President
who is elected by the people.
Earlier this year when Mr..
johnson ordered the construction
abandoned Of the Nays newest
prototype Of q modern aircraft
carrier. Mr.. johnson placed much
stress on the fact that he was
acting on the recommendation
and advice of the U. S. Joint
Chiefs Of Staff. From one end Of
the country to the other came
protests that nowhere had Con-
gress given the u. s. Joint Chiefs
Of Staf the power to decide by a
two-to-one vote what q third
service shall do with the funds
allocated to 1t by Congress.
Pronouncement at Dinner,
For months there had been
criticism of the two-to-one sys-
tenn In the joint chiefs. Now Sec
retary johnson in an address be-
fore q non-military body in New
York City-the annual dinner Of
the New York County Lawyers As
sociation-makes this important
and rather historic pronounce
ment on military policy which will
certainly interest the members of
Congress. He says:
1.-THE concept that decisions are
madeeby q two-to-one vote In the
Joint Chiefs Of Staff is a fallacy.
The Joint Chiefs Of Staff do not
vote, neither do they decide. They
recommend. The Secretary Of De-
fenSe or, where appropriate. the
President himself, does the decid-
ing. The ultimate decision Of the
Secretary of Defense or the Presi-
dent Is not necessarily governed
by the fact that two of the chiefs
may recommend substantially
identical courses Of action. while
q third recommends something
different. All that any difference
of opinion means is that the issue
must be decided by someone other
than the Joint Chiefs Of Staff. "
This is . complete reversal Of
the policy by which the United
States fought successfully the
biggest war in all history, when
the Joint Chiefs were expected to
and did reach unanimous agree
ments. This was because they
were required not to act simply as
commanding officers Of . given
service, but Is . group Of three
military advisers interested SOLE
ly in carrying out the assigned
missions Jointly. -..
The Congress In the unifcation
law specifically delegated to the
Joint Chiefs the task Of making
the strategy Of the United States.
It implied that the three serv-
ices should reach an agreement on
strategy. They have done 80. Also
they reached q momentous agree
ment on the missions and roles
which each Of the three services
were to follow. This Is what Is
known as the key West agree
ment," clarified and supplemented
by the Newport agreement"
But Congress reserved for itself
the right to determine how much
money should be appropriated for
each service and also how each
service should be permitted to de-
velop its own weapons.
Has Ignored Congress.
Mr.. johnson has ignored Con-
gress. He has delegated to a COM
mittee headed by an air force
officer the determination Of how
much money each service shall
have. He has allowed the joint
chiefs to recommend" how much
money shall be allotted to the
other services and what weapons
the other services may have.
This is in complete disregard Of
the Key West and Newport agree
ments which spelled out exactly
that the Navy, for instance.
should be permitted to perform its
mission Of control of the seas by
the use Of air power. This meant
that the Navy fliers launched
from carrier decks could fly over
land areas to attack enemy sub
marine bases. It also meant that
In certain areas more accessible
through aircraft carriers than by
land-based planes, the Navy
could actually strike at military
installations Of any kind neces-
sary to advance the strategic
plans of war.
Admiral Sherman, Chief OF
Naval Operations. in a speech at
Boston last week said:
"Our outstanding superiority
over the Russian fleet lies in our
carrier force. The maintenance
of our carrier force is essential
to our uninterrupted use Of vital
sea communications. It is also
essential to Naval support Of the
Army and the Air Force. It Is the
core OF the offensive power Of
the fleet. It is the most mobile
= tactical Air Force in existence" !"
When Mr.. johnson says the
Joint Chiefs only recommend"
and do not "vote." he is endeav-
oring to minimize the implications
OF his many months Of malad-
ministration Of the Joint Chiefs Of
staff which he has allowed to
deal not only with strategy but
the details of how each service
shall conduct its detailed research