Milford chronicle., 1958-06-13
THE ARMED FORCES CONTROVERSY

. THE ARMED FORCES CONTROVERSY
One of the most controversial issues o1
the time is the Administration proposal o1
extensive reorganization of the Defense De-
partment 1t has been supported and op-
posed with the utmost vigor. Confusing ques-
tions of semantics have arisen-every phase
almost every word, of the proposed bill has
been examined with meticulous care to see
what varying interpretations might be given
One of the country's leading writer's on
military affairs, George Fielding Eliot, re-
Gently devoted three syndicated columns to
the reorganization problem. Mr.. Eliot has
full sympathy with the Presidents determi-
nation to save time--tO have decisions
made more quickly, to eliminate time-wasting
procedures and practices, above all to meet
the terrible problem of how free society
may key its reactions to the split-second de-
mands of the missile era =. :" But, in his
view, certain key provisions of the Admin
stration bill-increased authority for the
Secretary of Defense, decreased authority
for the varicvs services, unified commands
and concentrations of power would not be
ime-savers-"they are tlme-wasters'.
A basic trouble, he feels, lies in over
heavy organization of the Defense Depart
ment itself There are endless assistant secre-
taries and committees with finger in the
military pie And Mr.. Eliot's fears, it seems,
are that there is a danger we may apply at
tempted remedies which will make matters
worse, not better.
AS matters stand now, the members OF
the members of the Joint Chiefs are also the
commanders of their respective services-the
Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force. The re-
organization plan would strip them of this
command authority and responsibility. The
authority and responsibility would be given
to newly created unified commands made up
of components of all the services. Then the
Joint Chiefs, in his words, would be detached
from "the realities of military life" and be
left STRANDED and lonely figures"
Mr.. Eliot foresees another danger. The
reorganization plan would not formally estab-
lish single chief of staff system, to which
Congressional leaders are violently opposed.
But it would give the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs very broad additional powers. And
the result, says Mr.. Eliot, would be to make
him al-powerful in fact if not ia name-and
if so, we would have to all practical purposes
single chief of staff establishment. The
Secretary of Defense would have almost no
one else to turn to for guidance.
Mr.. Eliot has high confidence in the ex-
perience and abilities of the President and the
Secretary. But ultimately, there will be new
President and a new Secretary, with fewer
qualifications in this incredibly complicated
field. Then, as he sees it, establishment of the
new proposed system would mean that 'the
fexibility inherent in the present system will
have been lost, and to restore it will be task
almost beyond human powers ="
Another basic trouble, he finds, is that the
national objectives" of the military have
not been clearly defined. So, he writes near
the end, e. why not, before reshaping the
whole military establishment, try defining
clear and positive objectiyes on which the
present Joint Chiefs of Staff can frame a
clear and positive strategy"
SSo~%
FATHERS DAY 1858
Forty-eight years ago Mrs. John Bruce
Dodd was the driving force in starting Amer
leans to celebrate Fathers Day. Since 1910
the third Sunday in June, has been observed
as Fathers Day, although it is not usually de-
clared legal holiday. This year Fathers Day
comes on the 18th of June.
Each year on Fathers Day, emphasis is
placed on closer father-chiid relation as a
means of building better world. In the aver
age family in Milford or any other communi-
ty in America, the father is a way from the
home during the major portion of the day.
Children dod not have an opportunity to be-
come as well acquainted with their father as
they do with their mother.
All of us realize how important it is to
the proper development of child to have the
sympathetic guidance of Dad. Too often
fathers, weighted down with the response
blity of making a living, fail to devote
enough of those precious moments to the
youngsters.
The important role that a father plays in
molding the character of his children has
been recognized through the ages. Aristotle
wrote, From good parents comes a good
son."
One father is more than hundred school
masters. Character is largely caught, and the
father and the home should be the great
sources of character infection.