Evening star., 1949-10-11
Desperate Effort Seen
To Cover Up B|unders
In B-36 Procurement
Hush-Hush Drive Looks
Like Use Of Propaganda
Reinforced by Johnson
By David Laurence g

Reinforced by Johnson
By David Laurence
Over the week end and since,
the effort to hush up the House
Armed Services Committee hear
ings on the B-36 has taken on the
proportions of a propaganda which
Is reinforced by Secretary of De-
tense johnson.
There must be something vitally
wrong behind the scenes in the
way orders for the B-36 were
handled or there would not be
such desperate efforts to cover up
the facts.
The well-worn excuse of ma
tional security" which Is brought
forth every time there is an effort
to get at the bottom of what has
been happening in the Defense
Department. Is trotted out again.
National security will be far more
endangered If Congress is not al
lowed to learn the truth.
People Want the Answers.
The American people want the
answers to the questions which
have been raised. for example,
by pertinent section of Admiral
Radford's S testimony which, in the
midst Of so many other interest
ing statements, did not get wide
attention when first made. Ad-
miral Radford said in his care
fully prepared statement:
Through the entire year 1948
the Secretary Of Defense (For-
restaD and the Navy Department
were given the impression in all
official presentations of which I
was aware. that the Air Force con-
sidered the B-36 to be an un-
satisfactory weapon.
"On the morning Of January
IL, 1949. the chief Of naval oper-
ations and I did not know that the
Air Force had any plans for the
B-36 other than to cut back its
procurement. We learned about
the Air Force plan for additional
procurement by reading the morn
ing newspapers Of that date.
From conversations which I
held with Mr.. Forrestal that morn
ing, it is my strong belief that
this was also the way he learned
about this major shift in the pro-
curement program Of the Air
Force -
THE precipitate action Of the
Air Force In January. 1949, placed
Mr.. Forrestal and the chief of
naval operations, as a member of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in the
difficult and anomalous position
Of either going along with the
Air Force plans or Of repudiating
them after they had been an
nounced to the public and to the
aircraft industry" =.
Strange for |rUnification."
This is a strange way for"uni-
fication" to operate. Who in the
Air Force took the action referred
to and why wasn't the late Sec
tary Of Defense Forrestal in
formed?
There has been much talk
about "unihcation" and how the
Air Force has been the leading
advocate Of that policy. But it
turns out that the Air Force not
only did not tell its sister service
what was going on but took action
on its own. Here Is how Admiral
Radford expresses 1t:
Summarizing the history of the
B-36. I believe that the Air Force
has based the need for large num-
bers Of this plane on unilaterally
determined military requirements.
They have done so without proper
coordination with the other serv-
ices and agencies which are
equally interested in and respon-
sible for national security. They
have processed approval of the pro-
curement program by accelerated
procedures which have prevented
adequate review. They are spend
ing more than $1,000,000, 900
before q full evaluation has been
made Of the tests, information,
and studies which bear on its en-
ployment in combat. Air Force
action in these respects has un-
dernined unification and, If
allowed to continue, will unilater-
ally set the national strategy of
future war In a pattern which Is
seriously open to question"
What Were "Procedures"?
What were these accelerated
procedures? There is one report
that the Research and Develop
ment Board, which had previously
approved or disapproved procure
ment proposals from the stand
point Of scientific evaluation, was
deliberately by-passed by extra
ordinary and unprecedented in
structions from Secretary johnson.
Whether or not it was he who was
responsible for this, the fact re-
mains that the board was not
given the opportunity to pass on
the weapon.
The procedures behind the
scenes are matter of public con-
Germ. They should not be kept
from the public for reasons OF
expediency or to cover up blunder-
ing.
1t is not a question Of security"
though it Is easy enough to cry
national security" when it is
desired to suppress anything in
Government nowadays. This is
the oldest trick in the long history
OF invisible Government and
bureaucracy.
Reproduction Rights Reseryed.)
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