Evening star., 1949-12-08
Johnson : S NAM Talk
Held Ignoring Spirit
OF Unification Law
Description Of Bradley
As Quarterback for
Joint Chiefs Criticized
Bv David Laurence


Either Secretary Of Defenst
johnson is deliberately ignoring
the letter and the spirit Of tht
Qualification" law or he has un'
Willingly allowed some unnamed
"ghost writer" to prepare a speech
for him that misconstrues the Law
of the land with reference to thu
duties and responsibilities Of Gen
Bradley, chairman of the Join
Chiefs of Staff.
Mr.. Johnson's speech, delivered
before the National Association o.
Manufacturers in New York thi!
week. was replete with analogie'
to football games and plays. Ths
Secretary Of Defense said:
The job of command is tt
make a unified team out OF these
capable individual players.
THAT job of leadership ane
command is in the hands OF th'
civilian and military heads of tht
Department of Defense, and tht
three services that compose it
and of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff
headed by the brilliant quarter.
back, -one Of the best men on any
ALL time, all-American military
team-Gen. Omar Bradley"
Uniication Law Quoted.
There Is no provision of Law
for anyone on the Joint Chief'
resembling a quarterback, to cal
signals or direct the play. Here
is what the new "unification" law
enacted on August 10, 1949. say'
about the job of the chairman o1
the Joint Chiefs Of Staff:
There is hereby established
within the Department of Defense
the Joint Chiefs Of Staff, which
shall consist of the chairman, who
shall be the presiding officer there
of but who shall have no vote;
the Chief of Staff, United State.
Army; the Chief Of Naval Opera.
tions; and the Chief of Staff
United States Air Force. The joint
Chiefs of Staff shall be the prin-
cipal military advisers to the
President. the National Security
Council, and the Secretary of De.
fense."
After specifying that the chair
man of the Joint Chiefs shall
outrank all other officers from the
standpoint of grade, the law then
says: provided, that the chair
man shall not exercise military
command over the Joint Chiefs OF
Staff or over any Of the military
services"
The preamble Of the law states
that "it is the intent of Congress
.. not to establish single CHIEF
of staff over the armed forces"
These words were carefully
written by the conference commit
tee of the House and Senate after
former President Hoover and a
number of other witnesses, and
such congressional leaders as
Chairman Vinson Of the House
Armed Services Committee, had
warned against setting UP any
position that could conceivably be
used some day by military dicta-
tor.
Senator Tydings. chairman Of
the Senate Armed Services Com
mittee, told this correspondent
when the Senate bill was being
considered, that, as finally written
into law, the chairman of the
Joint Chiefs would be merely a
presiding officer. without vote. and
could not direct the action or
formulate the decisions of the
Joint Chiefs. But evidently Secre-
tary of Defense johnson has a
different conception. He now Off
cially proclaims Gen. Bradley as
the "quarterback" on the Amer
lean defense team.
Since a quarterback is a men,
ber of the team on the playing
field and calls the signals. it is
difficult to see how that title can
now be properly applied to the
chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He
not only has no vote in the coun-
cils of that team but he is specif1-
cally prohibited from exercising
any command over the Joint
Chiefs or over any of the armed
services.
Gen. Bradley raised the ques-
ton Of the identity Of the GUAR
terback" when. in testifying before
the House Armed Services COM
mittee in October, he referred to
"fancy Dams who won't hit the
line with all they have on every
play, unless they can call the
signals" Plainly if the Chief OF
Naval Operations cannot call the
signals for some other armed serv-
ice, then no other member of the
Joint Chiefs-and least of all its
chairman, who has neither vote
nor right Of command-can act as
quarterback and call the signals. y
The matter is not personal at
all. Gen. Bradley is a brilliant
strategist of land army operations
He Is not, however, qualified to tell
either the Navy or the Air Force
or both how to operate. for he has
had no command training or ex-
perience in air operations over
land or sea. Even If he did have
such an unprecedented experience
he would be disqualified by the
terms of the uniflcation law itself
from attempting to foist his con-
cepts upon any Of the three armed
services, including the Army itself
Under the Constitution, there
can be only one quarterback,
and he is the commander int CHIEF
Of the Army and the Navy. He may
be advised on military matters by
all members of the Joint Chiefs o.
Staff-each of whom is, however
coordinate with the other in COM
mand powers and in the right Il
advise on matters of planning o,
strategy and in giving the neces'
sary signals to his own platoon a