Evening star., 1949-09-11
FAQ-FINDERS OPPOSE STEEL PAY INCREASE
This Means My Naval Career
Captain Charges General Staff Wrecks Navy,
Calls B-36 Furor Attempt to Avert Destruction

al ooAllAAdtS0 Ny pAAS ~<SAASA "a
Staff" This is the Army plan
ming body. He also contended the
Navy is subject to decision of two
men on the Joint Chiefs of Staff
who may have a landlocked con-
ception of national defense"
On the Joint Chiefs of Staff are
Admiral Louis Denfeld, chief of
Naval Operations. Gen. J. Lawton
Collins, Army Chief of Staff. and
Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg. Air
Force Chief of Staff. Capt. Crom-
melin is on the staff working un-
der the Joint Chiefs.
The chairman of this top mill
tary planning and strategy board.
he said, is in a position to "wield
tremendous power" and also may
have a landlocked philosophy. The
chairman now is Gen. Omar N.
Bradley, former Army Chief OF
Staff.
Capt. Crommelin said 1t. Sam
uel Ingram, who has figured in the
B-36 controversy. told him last
April he had seen document in
the Office of the Secretary Of De-
fense which gave systematic
schedule for the gradual reduction
of naval aviation and the absorp-
ton of its remnants after a period
of time by the Air Force"
Missed Chance to Testify.
The 46-year-old captain, flyer
and veteran of warfare in the
Pacific, had prepared his formal
statement for an expected ap-
pearance as q witness before a
naval court of inquiry. When
the court recessed Friday until
September 81 without hearing
him, he released the statement
anyway.
The court is trying to find out
who had a hand in getting up a
once anonymous memo that
touched off the B-36 bomber in
vestigation in Congress last
month.
The Navy and Air Force have
a deep-seated feud over their re-
,spective roles in strategic air war
fare.
Capt. Crommelin told of sitting
in on a meeting last May with
Cedric r. Worth. suspended Navy
official who wrote the memo;
Capt. Leroy Simpler, a public re-
lations officer, and 1t. Ingram.
who denied only Friday that he
'peddled" the memo around Con-
gress.
Denies Hand In Document.
Capt. Crommelin said the others
were interested mostly In getting
q B-36 inquiry going and talked
about giving the Worth memo to
the press. The memo, on which
Mr.. Worth later backed down.
suggested the big Air Force bonn
ber was obsolete and that its de-
velopment was accompanied by
fraud and political skulduggery
in high places. $3.50.
The House Armed Services
Committee unanimously ruled that
none of this was shown in the
evidence.
Capt. Crommelin said he had
nothing to do with preparation OF
the document.
He said his interest was much
broader, that he hoped a B-36 in
vestigation would become an en-
tering wedge for letting the Navy
explain it's opposition to "the
further concentration Of power in
the Department of Defense.
And, he said, "a decision was
made to try to get congressional
action to help create a situation
which would give the Navy a
chance to publicly state its views
on the then proposed Tydings bill. "
Sees Dictatorship Trend.
Later enacted in modified form.
this bill provided greater cont ol
over the defense setup for Defense
Secretary johnson, created the
job OF chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of staff, and proposed q
new military budgeting plan.
Sitting in the study Of his home,
(See B-36, Page A-4J
A Io++or Ero,