Evening star., 1954-06-22
More Bang for Taxpayers Dollar But. :.
By Mormon Lindhurst

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES top MILL
tary leaders in Germany believe that
the 'push-button" era Of atomic war
fare is going to cost the United States
taxpayer a lot more-inStead Of less
for defense.
American generals on this cold war
battle front feel that the taxpayers are
belne miSled on the real implications
of the new look" in United States ma
tional defense.
1t may be that the taxpayer viii get
"more bang for buck" say the gen.
erals. but in the long run he is also
going to have to pay many more bucks.
The officers explain that the ''cut-rate"
theory of national defense overlooks the
fact that the Soviets. too. are rushing
tile development Of atomic weapons.
Hence, any atomic war, as the gen.
erals see it. will be two-sided atomic
disr .ay. And while the winner probably
viii be the side that produces the most
bang, it also probably will be the ma
ton that makes the greatest expendi-
ture for military might.
Such an analysis of why warfare is
getting more expensive instead of
cheaper is being advanced openly today
in Germany by the top military COM
mand. The men who must exploit the
new wonder weapons" fear that the
effectiveness Of the new arms may be
considerably curtailed unless false ideas
Of economy are diSpelled at the outset.
Gen. william M. Hoge, top American
officer in Germany, said in an on-the-
record discussion recently that push
button warfare" is "one Of the greatest
fallacies we have had to combat"
"The individual soldier today is Of
greater Importance than ever before"
he went on. I'VE keep hearing that the
new weapons will make it possible for
us to reduce the size of armies. but
there is absolutely nothing to prove
that this can be done in any marked
degree"
Combat commanders in Germany be-
lieve further that the administration is
going to have to live with the old ''bal-
anced forces" theory of defense, despite
its fiscal unpopularity.
In other words, the generals do not
believe that the Air Force can win any
future war unaided by the other two
services, or, in fact, can even effectively
conduct the major part Of any atomic
war.
Gen. Hoge summarized the views Of
his commanders:
"The weapons Of all three forces
the Army, Navy and Air Force-will be
needed. The only way to win any war
is to occupy land and subjugate the
people there.
II have never seen any proof that we
can win a war in any easier manner.
We have only to reflect on Korea, where
we dominated the skies and the seas
but still had to fight bitter ground war
fare. Despite the talk of wonder weap-
onS, the principles Of war remain today
the same as in the days of the club
and the spear"
Gen. Hoge not only rules out the
possibility of substantial reduction in
the size Of the army, but warns that
the training Of soldiers to handle atomic
weapons will be far more expensive
than schooling for conventional war
fare.
"The new weapons mean that almost
every soldier must be specialist, and
it takes time and money to train spe-
cialists," the general explained.
The American commanders predict
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will rocket defense costs many ways
as evidenced, for one thing, by the ex-
perimentS the United States Army in
Europe is carrying out on the tactical
use of helicopterS on q wide scale.
American tacticians forecast the devel-
opment Of transport helicopters able to
move troops and supplies into battle
rapidly.
Once the helicopter comes Of age, an
army would need literally thousands Of
them-and that too is going to cost
money. General Hoge. who was corps
commander in Korea, remarked, 1--WE
accomplished some amazing thing in
Korea with helicopters, but what we did
there is only the beginning"
Gen. Hoge also believes that atomic
warfare will involve the expenditure of
q vast amount for the development of
new equipment not directly related to
the wonder weapons but necessary to
get maximum effectiveness from them.
He explained:
while the more publicized Of mod
ern weapons developments have been
the 280-millimeter cannon, the Honest
John rocket and the Corporal guided
missile, development in virtually all
other phases Of our weapons and equip
ment has had to keep pace with nu-
clear weapons.
: ''It Is probable that any atomic
war would be two-sided war. We
then need the mobility Of the 280-
millimeter gun, and our ground forces
will also need greater mobility. greater
protection and more devastating fire
power per man and unit, regardless Of
size"
Gen. Hoge said that such equipment
to supplement atomic weapons is be-
ing developed. Full-track armored per-
sonnel carriers, virtually immune from
ordinary artillery fire, will carry arm
ored infantrymen into combat. In
fantry divisions are getting the equiva-
lent of two battalions of medium tanks.
and new communications equipment