The Key West citizen., 1951-05-17
/. EXPERT is NO
CLOAK AND
DAGGER MAN


hearings, you've heard how the
testimony is being censored. They
don't dare let everything get into
the public record-because much
of ii is highly secret. To let it out
would be to betray ourselves to
the enemy. So they've got top
notch expert reading every word
of the verbatim report-and snip
ping out the security stuff.
This expert is no cloak and
dagger spy man. He is one of the
top-ranking officers in the Navy,
and a Naval airman by inclina-
ton. His name: Arthur c. Davis.
Rank: Vice-Admiral. Occupation:
Director of the Joint Staff - in
other words he is the adminiStra-
tive officer for the joint chiefs of
staff.
A vice-admiral, for you Army
folks, is as good as Lieutenant
General Three stars.
Davis wass the man the joint
chiefs sent around when the Sen
ate committees asked for some
body with a lot of rank and a lot
of common sense. The admiral sat
down at a desk and plunged
right in with the blue pencil. He
has been there through the Mac
Arthur testimony and the Mar
shall testimony. And neither side
in the great controversy has
raised any serious objection toI
Davis's editing. Committee chair
man Richard Russell of Georgia
says when a man can stand in
the middle of controversy as
bitter as this. and get no COM
plants, he must be doing good
job"
During the past couple of
weeks, Admiral Davis has passed
on more than 100000 words of
testimony. Some of these words
might have been worth couple
of divisions to the enemy. Their
publication could change the
whole course of history, for all
we know. Admiral Davis prefers
not to dwell on the consequences
of little carclcsSness with his
blue pencil. He's just careful.
II happens that Davis is oneI
admiral who has welded an edi-I
torial blue pencil in the past
When he was at Annapolis, class
of 1915, he was editor of the
academy funny magazine. THE
Log" Not exactly identical work,
but good experience.
Arthur Davis is a native Of
Columbia, South Carolina - born
there So years ago to Ellery and
Annie Wright Davis. Arthur for
sook the magnolias early in life,
and went off to the University of
Nebraska for two years. AT the
end of that time he was appoint
cd, by a Nebraska senator, to the
Naval Academy. Davis still lists
his home as Lincoln-though he
and his wife are firmly rooted in
Washington. He has served in the
Capital off and on for many +,
years.
Despite the Washington job
and the editors green eyeshade-j
Arthur Davis is fighting ad-
niral-a deep-sea character,
Early in his career he saw COM,
bat service against the U-boatS
in the Atlantic during World
War lin a succession of small
and very uncomfortable SUBJ
chaSers. During the 20's, however,
he moved to cozier quarters-a
battlcship. In the course of time
he served on several of these
biggies.
In periodic turns ashore, Davis
found time to climb the Navy's
promotion ladder by hard work.
He took masters degree at the
University of Chicago. And he
went through flight training and
earned his wings in 1924. He was
then lieutenant.
And then began a series of
jobs aboard the early aircraft
carrierS-Rangcr and Langley.
During those days of experiment,
Davis got interested in the tech
nlque of what was called Light
Bombing" That soon became
dive-bombing-the famous battle
tactics which became SO deadly
in World War II. The official
Navy Biography specifically
credits Admiral Davis with in
augurating this skill He also was
prominent in the development
of the Norden bombSight.
During World War II, Admiral
Davis commanded the famous
flat-top Enterprise, in her ad-
ventures in the Solomon Islands.
And for this he earned a Navy
Cross-the nations second high
est award for sailors.
Admiral Davis later was chief
of staff TO the Fifth Fleet. And
as such presided over the reduc-
ton of the japanese Islands of
Two Jima and Okinawa. This
earned him a Distinguished Ser
vice Medal.
That, very sketchily, is the
career of this man who sits so