Evening star., 1953-07-31
Far Eastern Force
Won't Be Cut Until
Tension Is Eased
By John A. Giles

| ~ SVbbe FNs SbSS
High defense officials reiter-
ated today that there would be
absolutely no decrease in the
strength of Far Eastern forces
as long as the current truce stu
alton exists.
They admitted there already
has been an increasing number
of inquiries on this subject,
And Secretary of Defense Will
son is not moving hastily to
bring about the reduction in
armed forces which he told Con-
gress would come about should
peace come in Korea.
"He plans to stand around and
see how it works first" one OFF,
cial said.
Hannah to Visit Orient.
The Eisenhower military pro-
gram calls for a total military
strength Of 3.356,00O as of June
80. 1854, with a reduction to 3.3
million IF hostilities cease in
! Korea"
! DR.. John A. Hannah, Assistant
Secretary of Defense for man.
| power, plans an early visit to the
Far East to discuss problems with
top officials in the area.
These are the requirements Of
the situation in Korea:
l. To move the whole 9th
Army Immediately away from
the strain of actual combat--not
to a normal peace setup' but to
a poised state of readiness for
reSuming combat instantly
should the armistice terms be
violated.
2. To maintain exacting 'front.'
line and rear area alertneSs "a
hours a day, which will become
increasing difficult as time goes
on and no actual alarm is
sounded.
3. To find satisfactory occupa-
ton and something approaching
contentment for more than 3OO,-
600 men, a large proportion of
whom will want to go home pre-
maturely. The maintenance of
morale. which was difficult in the
occupation periods after both
World Wars, it likely to be much
more difficult now, Korea being
Korea.
4. To balance the soldiers
work and recreation suitably and,
instead of letting the efficiency
OF troops and troop units de-
teriorate, to improve it.
Troops to Be Rotated.
Units along the line outside
the demilitarized zone-"the
front line"-Will be rotated from
time to time to rear areas and
others will take their places. In
the rear areas extensive training
will be undergone. But every
recreation possible also will be
provided.
Individuals will accumulate
rotation points for combat Just
as If the firing was continuing
until October l after which the
tour for all Army personnel in
Korea will be 16 calendar
months. Credit accrued before
October l will remain valid and
will be converted to months in
fixed tours.
The Marine Corps, which has
no set policy as regards time to
be served in the area, said it's
rotation system was "based upon
the availability of trained re-
placements and the military sit
uation.
"The determination is made
by the commanders in the field
and it has been working out, to
be about 10 to IL months" the
Marine Corps added.
Won't Rotate Units.
The truce terms allow the ro-
tation of up to $4,000 men
monthly. A total of around 20
900 has been rotated monthly in
the past.
There has been a proposal for
the rotation of complete units
but the Joint Chiefs of Staff ex-
pressed concern that such a
system might disturb the 9Th
Army's fighting ability.
There are no restrictions in
the truce provisions on the size
of the Navy or Air Force in the
Far East.
There are now eight divi-
sions in Korea and part of
another. The Sd Marine Divi-
sion-bolstered to full strength
of $4,000 men and possibly more
now is en- route to the Far
East. It's deployment is up to
Gen. Mark Clark, Far East COM
mander.