Evening star., 1951-02-22
Senators Warn
|0f Danger in
Alaska Defense
Portions of Territory
Could Not Be Held,
Report Emphasizes
By John A. Giles

A Senate committee today de-
clared that it would be physically
impossible to hold all of Alaska
and the Aleutians in the event Of
an all-out war with Russia.
The Senate Armed Services
Preparedness Subcommittee adj
vocated the early dispatch of adj
ditional troops to the northern
most defense outpost.
1t said that the present alloca-
ton of troops to Alaska was pos
tulated on an 'austerity' basis"
and questioned whether or not
sufficient consideration has been
given to changing conditions
throughout the world"
Certainly this has not been
reflected in any revaiuation upward
of the forces assigned to the de-
fense of Alaska it asserted in
report by its three-member
group. ut appears that additional
combat troops and possibly addi-
tional aviation is required"
Defense Will Be Limited.
The last published information
on disposition of troops showed
about 1000 ground troops in Alas
ka with an announced planned
force of $4,000. The Air Force
then had one fighter group there,
with some $4,000 men.
But the subcommittee agreed
with the Joint Chiefs of Staff that
only the more strategic areas
could be defended.
Certain isolated areas must be
left undefended insofar as ground
troops and military installations
are concerned, but the critical
areas can be held" it stated.
THE more important bases in
Alaska are Elmendorf Air Forcs
Base and Fort Richardson, which
are located in the Anchorage area,
and the Ladd Air Force Base and
Eielson Air Force Base which are
located in the vicinity of Fair
banks. To these must be added the
naval base at Kodiak. The pos
session of this latter base by an
enemy would place him in a
favorable position to disrupt or
interfere seriously with the sea
lines of communication leading to
Alaska"
/ Realistic" Plan Underway.
The group found the military in
Alaska, within the limits OF
forces made available. is en-
barked upon realistic plan for
the defense of the territory"
t'If the present state of alertness
and vigilance is maintained, there
can be no Pearl Harbor in
Alaska" it declared.
The task force. headed by
Senator Hunt, Democrat, Of
Wyoming, found deficiency
especially in service troops in the
territory.
Service troops are inadequate
to properly support the forces in
the area plus the remaining in
crements of the authorized estab-
lishment," it said. "They are no.
where adequate to support an in
creased effort in the event of the
emergency movement of troops
to Alaska"
Other Factors Gripping Effort.
The defense effort also is
crippled by several other factors,
the group found,
Housing appears to be the big
bottleneck," Senator Hunt ex-
planned. "The little bottlenecks
within that big one are a scarcity
of labor, unreasonably high costs
of construction and transporta-
ton, outrageous costs of living
and a strangling amount of Gov
Iernment red tape upon which the
whole program exists"
Citing Al individual steps which
the task force found to be required
between the initiation of project
and the contract award, Senator
Hunt said:
Red tape along with Red Rus
sia can be dangerous foe. Unless
speedy and decisive action is taken
(See ALASKA, Page A-30