Milford chronicle., 1951-04-06
EUROPEAN DEFENSE

In one of his recent columns, Robert S.
Allen wrote Western Europe can be eff
fectively defended against Russian aggres-
sion by the North Atlantic pact army that
General Dwight D. Eisenhower is creating.
CategOric assurances on that have been Civ
en- by General Omar Bradley. How and why
this relatively small force can resist Com
munist military might was graphically spell
ed out by the head of the joint chiefs of staff
at a clOsed-dOor meeting of the Senate for
elgn relations and armed services commit
tees"
Mr.. Allen went on to tell what General
Bradley said. The planned Western Euro
pean army will consist of so to 20 divisions
of which six are to be American. On the other
side of the fence, according to current mill
tary opinion, the Russians have ITS diVis-
ions. But, said General Bradley, this does
not give the Russians so great a superiority
as might be assumed. First of all, some of
the Russian force must be deplOyed outside
of Europe. Second, Russian division con-
SiStS of not more than 5000 men-abOut one
third the numerical strength of one of ours.
Third, we will have a great edge in two
weapons on which General Bradley laid spe-
cial stress-airpOWer and the A-bOmb.
He told the commit ees, according to Mr..
Allen, that Gin the discussions about build
ing up effective defenses in Europe nearly
everyone but the military seems to overlook
the vital fact that General Eisenhower will
have the strongest air force in history. He
will have at his command the air services of
all the Atlantic pact nations. That's stu
pendOus power
The matter of air superiority is crucial
to the tactical plan which the Western Euro
pean army will follow. General Bradley en-
phaslzed that this arny's chief mission will
not be to win ground battles, but "to force
the Russians to concentrate their troops to
such degree that allied air superiority
could be used with great effect against them.
1t doesn't take a very large force to
impose upon an attacker the necessity to
concentrate"
The viewpoint that General Bradley ex-
pressed is not unanimous by any means.
There is a very real fear in many quarters
that In the event of war these plans would
go aWry and that the Western European
army would be crushed and dissipated. There
IS also the fear that Russia will not give the
atlantic pact nations the time needed to
build force of so divisions or so. But the
Bradley testimony is highly important as a
reflection of present thinking on the top mil
itary level. 1t goes without saying that it is
in cOnsOnance with the views of General
Eisenhower and the chiefs of staff.
Aside from all differences of opinion. the
Western European spine seems to have stiff
Tened considerably of late The feeling of
hopelessness that characterized much Euro
pean thinking on the problem of defense
against the Russian colossus has certainly
abated. Communist power in Western Eu-
rope, though it is still big factor to be
reckoned with, has declined to a great ex-
tent, according to a number of observers.
In the most recent elections, the Communist
vote shrank substantially.
General Eisenhower seems to be satisfied
that the Atlantic Pact powers will now 90
ahead with full vigor in building their de-
lenses. This, it may be said, is a consider
able personal tribute to the new Supreme
Commander. The confidence he always rad
lates has been contagious in the highest Eu-
rOpean councils.