Evening star., 1949-02-20

l1C1C 4o oSl1AV oooSet
are concerned they were express
ing anything more than was re-
quired of them by Secretary o.
Defense Forrestal, who wants tt
give the public the impression tina
the merger Is working with ful
harmony.
The doubt that exists in thu
minds of many members Of Con
gress as to the actual state Of at
fairs between the three service
Is caused by the fact that each o
them is endeavoring to obtain Al
large o share as possible Of th'
coming, defense appropriation. II
order to do so they must prov
to Congress that theirs Is thu
most vital arm of national defens'
and must be increased at the ex'
pense of the others-if necessary
Navy in a Squeeze
Since the Army now realize:
that because of the high per cap
ita cost of maintaining the Amer.
lean ground soldier-$5. 900 a heac
without counting equipment-it
cannot hope to obtain more thar
six divisions for peacetime serv'
ice, 1t is leaning toward support
Of Air Force claims to q larger
share in appropriations.
Caught between these two pow.
erful millstones, the Navy is moi
likely to do 50 well. The target Of
attack is not the standard COM
bat ship of the Navy, but its all
arm, which the Air Force prob
ably would like to take over in q
single air service Of the United
States.
Unquestionably there are argu.
ments in favor Of such . move
There may even be strong argu-
ments in favor Of reducing the
Navy in the future. Some asser-
tions by military and air officers
that the Nays ships may be-
come as obsolete as the bow and
arrow-may be correct. Only the
future can tell who is right about
such things.
If peace were in sight and in.
ternational conditions were q.
stable as after World War I. We
should have plenty Of time tt
consider all academic and theo-
retical arguments. But this Is not
the case. We are in the midst OF
q cold war, and the hot war Il
blowing on our necks. According
to the chiefs Of staff Of the three
fighting services in executive ses-
sions of Congress, we are not pre-
pared to meet q real emergency
except possibly with our naval
power.
War Scare Last Spring
Last spring. after the first Incl
dents which led eventually to the
Berlin crisis, the 80th Congress
had a real war scare and appro-
priated $4,000. 100000 for the
armed forces. Experts, who testi-
fed before committees Of both
houses, spoke plainly in executive
sessions about our shortcomings
and inability to meet the first on
slaught of the Reds. II they decide
to go on the warpath.
Secretary of Air Symington and
and his chief Of staff. Gen. Van
denberg, told Congress that q
minimum Of 10 air groups Is what
the United States needs imme-
diately for its first line Of all
defense. They did not exaggerate
the situation. and were able tc
prove with facts and figures that
with q lesser force. the United
States might be placed at q dis
astrous disadvantage. Congress.
approved their request.
In the fall Of 1948 1t looked a.
II the cold war would continue fol
an indefinite time. Reports o1
both British and American intel
ligence services, while avoiding
any statement that there was nc
danger Of war in the near future
for no one can read the. minds o1
Prime Minister Stain and hi
Politburo-said they saw no mill.
tary indications, i.e., regroupini
Of troops and aviation. which
would lead them to conclude thai
the Russians would strike soon.
The backwash from these re-
ports was q feeling In Congress
that since there was no threat o1
war, President Truman should not
increase appropriations for the
armed forces. Realizing that there
WAS no chance to get more money
the three services started jockey
ing for position in their discus
sions with officials Of the Budget
Bureau.
Navy Economy Target
The Army and Air Force de-
eided that the best way to get
the maximum for themselves was
to cut down the Navy. The Air
Force insisted that it was foolish
for the Navy to maintain in serv-
ice the excessive" number of car
riers it now has, since they could
not possibly survive an>enemy at
tack.
Secretary Forrestal was strongly
urged to lay off as many naval
ships as possible and thus obtain
o reduction in the expenditures
of that branch Of the service
The Army argued that the Med
tterranean-where we have con-
centrated q large naval force
was untenable In event Of war. and
that the ships now there should
be withdrawn to join the mothball
fleet. The Air Force argued that