Evening star., 1949-10-20

BRADLEY TESTIFYING-Gen.
Chiefs of Staff, answers one q
he appears before the House Al
is investigating defense squabbl
the unanimous ratification of the
Air Force investment in the B-36
last February. This ratification was
not made under dureSs of any kind.
And raise the question, If 1t has be-
come so disastrous to national secu-
rity now, why did the Navy concur
eight months ago?
Better Planes to be Used.
The Navy has also made great
moment of the fact that the B. 36 is
not the best plane for strategic bonn
bardment, and that inter-continental
bombing as such is an impracticable
idea. May I point out that no
member of the military establish
ment has said that better types
won't be used when they are avail
able, nor has any responsible in
dividual indicated that there has
been any cessation on the part of
the Air Force in developing a bet
ter, faster, and longer range bomber
as soon as possible -
/ would like to point out. in all
fairness, that one service, the Navy
has taken this opportunity to publicly
disparage weapon-the B-36-that
the Air Foce, the service responsible,
has chosen to perform an assigned
mission. This is in direct contra
diction to the Navy's own idea
presented so forcefully and frequently
to the public, that each service
should be allowed to develop and
have the weapons it feels is needs
for the mission it is assigned.
These Air Force men, who will
have to face the risk Of the great
losses that the Navy predicts, are
perfectly willing to stake their rep
utations and their lives on their
/ performance.
And too, the testimony implies
that the Russians-our only pos
sible opponents for many years to
come-have the capability of caus-
ing intolerable losses on any bomber
engaged in missions where the Rus
sions have adequate defenses. They
base this allegation on the credit
able performance of one Of the
Navy's fighter -interceptor aircraft,
the Banshee. However, we do not
know whether or not the Russians
have a "Banshee" At the same
time, might point out that the
Navy is anxious to have a flush
deck carrier" so that they can use
even larger planes with longer
ranges from their floating air
bases. 1t seems to me that these
larger planes would be subject to
the same attack which Navy wit
nesses have visualized against the
B-36. -
Related to this entire discussion
of strategic bombing is the ridicu-
lous assertion that the atomic bomb
is effective on only small area,
insinuating that we Americans have
misplaced our confidence and our
dollars in this weapon. '>''
! Contrary to many of the state
ments made before your Committee,
the Navy case in these matters has
been presented to the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, and among other things,
it has been the Navy's continuous
argument that they should be per-
mitted to use the atomic bomb, both
strategically and tactically. II it is
really so ineffective as some would
have you believe, 7 wonder why
the Navy is so anxious to use it.
The Atomic Bomb.
And without clouding the issue,
would like to add one more rele-
want point on the atomic bomb. It
is no secret the tests at Bikini and
Eniwetok revealed that the Navy
af1oat is one Of the most profitable
targets for an enemy with an atomic
bomb and that its effect on ships is
lasting. Even without sinking them,
1t promises to deny our use OF them
for many, many months after the
onslaught. This, know, contributes
to the Navy's worries and indicates
to some of their thinking members
that surface fleets en- masse might
be thing of the past. -"
Undoubtedly, without Navy sup
port, any amphibious operation is
impossible. However, by appraising
the power Of the atomic bomb, I am
wondering whether we shall ever
have another large-scale amphibi-
GUS operation. Frankly, the atomic
bomb, properly delivered, almost
precludeS such possibility. I know
that I, personally, hope that I shall
never be called upon to participate
in another amphibious operation
like the one in Normandy.
If I may digress for a moment
from my consideration of the atomic
bomb. I would like to point out to
those who hold that a tremendous
Marine Corps is essential for future
amphibious operations; and that
naval air must be correspondingly
large, that have participated in
two largest amphibious assaults ever
made in history. In neither case
were any Marines present. And
in neither case were any Navy car
riers used.
The A-bomb is the most powerful
destructive weapon known today.
Personally, hope it can be outlawed
as a weapon by the adequate inter-
national control our Government
has recommended. But until that
has been achieved, I shall not dis
credit its effect, nor shall I short
sightedly limit its role to purely
strategic use.
i AS believer in humanity I de-
plore its use. and as a soldier, I
respect it.
The careless detractions of
the power Of this weapon have
done national security no good, and
may have done our collective Sc
lcurity, in these precarious times,
''on'''d A''9