Evening star., 1949-09-28
Naval Aviation Should
Not Have 10 justify
Itself 10 Any One
Air Force Chiefs Delay
In Going Aboard Carrier
Seems Incredible
By David Laurence

-
Seems Incredible
By David Laurence
It seems incredible that. with
the important place in modern
life that air power has acquired,
the heads of the United States Air
Force-namely, the Secretary for
Air and the chief of the Air Forces
should never before this last
week end have been aboard an
aircraft carrier of the United
States Navy or any other navy
while in operation.
1t is explainable that Secretary
of Defense johnson, who has been
out of Government service until
recently, should not have first
hand knowlege of aircraft car
riers, but it would seem that three
Of the four men who compose the
United States Joint Chiefs Of
Staff Gems. Bradley, Collins
and Vandenberg-might before
this have witnessed operational
maneuvers from the deck Of an
9 aircraft carrier.
The demonstration occasions
surprise particularly because ed
ucation on aircraft-carrier op-
erations is an integral part of
American air power. Apparently
this education has to be achieved
through a spectacular show on a
single week end when actually
naval aviation should not at this
late date have to justify itself to
any one.
Action in War Recalled.
The United States Naval Air
Forces swept VIGOROUSLY across
the Pacific in the last war and
not only sank more japanese mer-
chant ships and naval vessels than
were sunk by any other air force
planes but actually protected the
land operations of American
troops by providing air cover for
weeks at time. as at Okinawa.
Now the problem of delivering
the A-bomb has produced bitter
controversy. Our land-based Air
Force, which was formerly a part
OF the Army, wants a monopoly on
carrying the A-bomb. The average
American will view with dismay
that kind of dispute, as he is
interested not in what armed serv-
ice gets proprietary rights but
what can be done by all armed
services together to strike effec-
lively at the enemy.
While the so-called Key West
and Newport agreements
outlined specifically the missions
and roles Of each of the three
armed services-did allocate to
our land-based Air Force the pri-
mary responsibility for strategic
bombing. there is nothing in those
agreements which prohibits the
Navy from developing aircraft
carriers with decks sufficiently
strong to carry planes that can
deliver the A-bomb.
What Navy Wants.
The Navy wants carriers that
can handle planes able to pene-
trate 1,500 miles inland from car
riers and would want that kind of
a fiat top irrespective of whether
1t is permitted to supplement the
Air Forces strategic bombing mis-
sions. Two members, however, of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff-Gens.
Bradley and Vandenberg-not
only have voted against letting the
Navy build longer carrier with
stronger decks than it now has
but they also voted against letting
the Navy modernize its existing
carriers so as to be able to get
greater efficiency with It's planes.
It Is this background of 2-to-1
votes against naval aviation in
the Joint Chiefs of Staff that has
made naval officers feel they were
being Disseminated against by
men who have repeatedly declined
their invitations to go aboard q
carrier and see how it operates.
Only at the insistence of Secretary
johnson were such invitations
finally accepted.
The demonstration probably
will not change any preconceived
opinions but 1t illustrates to the
Nation why the interservice con-
troversy is not a mere matter of
knocking heads together or of
spending week ends together. It
is q matter Of unfamiliarity by one
service with the needs and re-
quirements of the other. This
argues for the right of each serv-
ice to determine how to use its
own weapons within a budget al
located to each by the President,
the Director of the Budget, the
Secretary of Defense and Congress.
Americas air power should not
be in1peded by the demand of
any one service to exclusive rights
to the development of the air.
plane.
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