Evening star., 1950-07-20
Officers SoyU. S.IsNot Sending
Latest Weapons to Aid Europe
By John P. Leoeocos

By John P. Leococos
HEIDELBERG. July 90 (By
airmaiD Here is where you can
see Europe being rearmed in
earnest. In Is schools of the
United States Army in Germany,
nearly 1000 officers and men of
seven Atlantic Pact nations have
been receiving and will receive
all through the summer intensive
equipment and weapon training.
This knowledge in turn will per-
colate down to an eventual 30
divisions. it is hoped. Specialized
courses in radar and electronics
are also planned shortly.
The American military aid pro-
gram to European allies, made so
much more pressing by events in
Korea. however, raises the three
grave questions in the minds of
supervisory staff officers here.
They are:
One-Is American information
true that the --latest" weapons are
being sent to Europe?
The recent line has been that
these --latest" weapons will obvi-
ate the need for large mass armies
to oppose expected Russian hordes.
The answer given by Army Ga
supply officers Is that the weapons
shipped are not the latest" in
the sense of what is still in the top
secret development stage.
Best of World War III.
The weapons are the latest
manufacture of the best World
War II design. They include all
the standard infantry, artillery
and tank materiel. AS released
by authorities here, such a list in
cludes the MI rife, 50-calibre
machine gun, 105 and 155 howitz-
ers, recoiless 75-mm. gun, bazooka,
MIA tank and so forth. The
French and Belgians. incidentally,
have baked at accepting these
tanks, calling them "obsolescent.
Two-IS enough war stuff COM
ing over to do any good in the
near future?
The answer to that is yes and
no. Materiel is being distributed
to active units. But troops must
be trained first in it's use, as Is
being done here. Second, recipi-
entS must have adequate mainte-
nance. Arrangements for such
care are in arrears, however. This
means the complex equipment can
be ruined if left unattended.
Further, in the opinion of COM
petent officers on the spot, the
arms appropriation for the second
year of the program is peanuts.
1t is just about the size of last
years appropriation of 81 billion.
And no European arms manufac-
ture has yet begun in quantity.
Year Behind Schedule.
Three-Is the military materiel
arriving in time?
Europeans and Americans reply
together that the shipments,
started only last April. are about
a year behind schedule. The de-
lay was a political matter. The
more realistic aspect of the pro-
gram now concerns what is termed
appropriation logistics."
+. It. is estimated for instance,
that the first years arms aid will
take IA months to be delivered in
toto. Time elapses in procure
ment authorization, preparation
for shipment or manufacture Of
arms, actual transport, etc. When
initial stocks in United States
arsenals are depleted, the time lagI
win be greater still.
The second years arms appro-
priation will ride a similar bureau
cratic train. even though the laws
term is for July l. 1850, to June
80, 1851. Practically speaking
such projects are always about six
months later than one thinks.
Only wartime emergency action,
top-priority pushing and expedit-
ing by numerous crack personnel
make the wheels of military prep
arations go fast. The arms pro-
gram is not geared to that speed
as yet.
Major Decision Necessary.
The gap between the best avail
able weapons and the So-calledI
ultar-modern weapons will shortly
force a major decision about
standardization of arms, it is
predicted here. Wars are fought
with arms at hand, not with those
on blueprints. When current
stocks run out, new supplies will
have to be manufactured.
This impels the staff officers to
ask: What types of arms should
the Atlantic Alliance approve?
Especially if recent improvements
are to be included in the stand
ardized makes? Everybody agrees
that no nation is so rich that
they can throw away old types
IBlt's Cheaper to