Evening star., 1951-05-20
Caribbean Force, Capable Of HoIting
Any Hostile Move, Guards Water Strip
By Luis c. NoIi

Any Hostile Move,
By Luis
! PANAMA.-The Panama Canal,
major artery of commerce and
vital lifeline Of defense. may seem
). in peacetime to be an inviting
target. but it is no plum for easy
military picking.
! The 10-mile- wide Canal Zone
no longer bristles with guns.
Many of its barracks, home to
thousands of troops in the last
war. are empty now. Out of its
airf1elds, once nests Of jet fighters
and heavy bombers. only rescue
planes drone on mercy missions.
Its once bustling naval bases now
shelter dirty freighters and luxuri-
Gus cruise liners.
; But
The nucleus of far-fiung de-
Tense force, capable of standing
off an enemy while reinforcements
come, stands ready to expand into
action the minute an enemy
strikes. Every hour of the day
! and night, the canal itself is
under guard.
;ESecurity and Defense
The Panama Canal defense set
up has two aspects: Security and
defense. The security phase is
under the Governor. Francis K.
Newcomer, retired brigadier
general Of the Army. The de-
fense is intrusted to a unified
command of the armed forces. It
is composed of the United States
Army Caribbean, the Caribbean
Air Command and the Caribbean
Sea Frontier.
! In peacetime the military COM
Imanders help the Governor of the
canal maintain the security of the
I50-mile long waterway. In war
time the military takes over,
Since the security and defense
measures dovetail, the Governor
and the, Caribbean commander In
chief keep in close touch.
1t. Gen. William H. H. Morris,
Ijr.. Caribbean commander in
chief, says his forces now are on a
modified alert. This is just one
step short of instant readiness
for action. The anti-aircraft
guns in the Canal Zone are ready
to fire at all hours.
Sabotage and a sudden attack
are generally recognized as the
two most serious threats against
the big ditch. The atomic bomb
has not. altered that concept
: What it has changed is the esti-
!, mate of damage. An A-bomb hit
| in the right place could knock the
: canal out of business for at least
:, four years. engineers estimate.
Gen. Morris feels that none OF
the potential enemies of the
United States could achieve sur
prise with an organized air at
tack. If such an attack were at
tempted "it wouldn't take long
to get forces from the United
States to meet 1t.
AS to a sneak attack, the situa-
alton is vastly different from
World War II when Germany anc
Italy operated far-reaching com
mercial air lines in neighborine
. countries. There was a definite
threat that the Germans or 1tal-
ians could convert their CONNER.
t cial ships into bombers for sur
> prise raid.
', Intelligence Important
l The danger of sabotage, in Gen
= Morris opinion, has nothing to dt
| with the strength of troops in thi!
r area. 1t is a question of intelli-
: gence. he says. and he feels Every
happy with what we have here.
/ AS one of his top ranking officer.
, put it: THE forces here are
capable of stopping anything
short of major invasion"
: The outstanding present weak.
ness of the Canal Zone defense
t setup is the lack of air power.
Brig. Gen. Emil c. Kiel
S commanding general of the Car.
= ibbean Air Command, says the sit.
uation is inadequate in that re.
gard. ,..- .-
His command includes only one
] active base-Albrook. It has M
, combat planes. Nevertheless, Car.
ibbean Air Command is set up tx
handle tactical units the minute
they arrive, Gen. Kiel says
1 "The present situation" he ex.
plains, indicates more of a threat
of sabotage, not an attack by ar
armed force or an air raid. THAI
picture, however, can change to.
morrow. But If our intelligence
indicated that this was an ares
lPOooAb1y SuUJCCV w 4d1QS VI SOAllS
kind, no doubt we would get some
reinforcements from the United
States before anything seriou!
could happen.
Il don't think, however, thai
our possible enemies have the
capacity for a large attack against
the Canal"
Gen. Kiel also finds reinsurance
in the fact that the Canal is sur.
rounded by friendly countries. All
Force missions in Latin America
which are under Gen. Kieps com.
mand, are established in IA coun.
tries.
The United States Air Force
lSchool for Latin America, located
at Albrook Base and also under
= - sr
1 I