Evening star., 1955-06-20
|Sy1nington Hits
Defense Bill
Continued From First Page

CLlC APpIOJl ldGIUIlS SO11l11ltUcS II
March, 1850. when Mr.. Eisen
hover, then a flve-star general
appeared in support of tn
Truman SIS billion defenst
budget. He quoted him as saying
"Out of my personal regard
for the economy Of the country
I have strongly urged that that
figure not be exceeded. I be-
lieve we could work out an effec-
tive defense at that level"
"That belief could not have
been more wrong" Senator
|Symington declared. within q
matter Of weeks the Communists
attacked in Korea and soon the
administration was asking Of
Congress - and getting from
Congress-$60 billion annually
instead of SIS billion"
The Senator quoted the Presi-
dents testimony advocating a
48-group air force and then
lasserted: I.
But he was wrong again, as
many Of us felt and stated at
that time. Shortly thereafter
came the Communist attack and
/. !. a doubling Of National
Guard air strength and a
tripling Of regular Air Force
strength.
1.-THE record is sad from the
standpoint of the Air Force-but
lit is no better with respect tc
the Army. Navy and Marines"
He quoted further from the
record Of Mr.. Eisenhower's tes-
Itimony and asked:
BASED on this record, is II
right for US to follow blindly
this request for even further
reductions in our military
strength"
1851 'Buildup" Scrapped
He said the Joint Chiefs oi
Staff came up with a new &C.
celebrated military buildup in
1851. But as soon as the Eisen-
hover administration took office
that program was promptly
scrapped by a new and totally
inexperienced Secretary OF De-
fense," the Senator continued.
The decision was made with
out consultation with the Joint
Chiefs Of Staff, he said. The
chairman, Gen. Omar Bradley
announced disagreement when
Ihe wrote "We had started to
coast before we reached the TOP
Of the hill'," Senator Symington
added.
And we have been coasting
down, to save money. every day
until the recent incredible dis
play of airpower by the Soviet,
he asserted.
The Senator said administra-
ton attempts to justify the
ground forces reductions on the
bases Of Air Force supremacy
were not justified in view of the
disclosure that Russia was ahead
|of expectations in the develop
|ment and production Of Jet air.
craft. He figured that for less
than 10 per cent Of the request
for foreign aid. the l17.000
trained combat troops scheduled
to be dropped could be retained.
Hits Pentagon Setup
He also suggested that the adj
ministration could look else
where for economies and he at
tackled the administrative mon
strosity" built up in the PEN
tagon.
He pointed out that when he
became Assistant Secretary Of
War for Air in 1946 there were
a total Of eight military secre-
taries and assistants. The num-
ber was sufficient to win World
War II, he added.
Nov the number Of secre-
|taries has grown to the incred-
ible figure Of 81" he said. "If
this administrative monstrosity
was cleaned up at the top
through true unification, that
uniflcation would extend all
through the defense organiza-
ton and billions of dollars
would be saved for the American
taxpayer" ,
AS the Senate debate opened
the Democratic National Com
Imittee issued an eight-page doc
ument titled Contradictions In
q. s. Air Power Policy" appar-
entity designed to provide fuel
flor Democratic attacks on the
Eisenhower administraticn's de-
lfense program.
The document, prepared by