Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-04-16

Reorganization Act OF 1855"
: Section . rewrites the dec.
laration OF policy Of the Ma.
tional Security Act OF lo47. a.
amended. TO conform 10 organ.
: national changes elected b,
the draft bill. II recognizes The
existence Of the Department Of
Defense 10 include the Depart.
.ments OF the Army, Navy. anc
Air Force. II eliminates ref.
! erence 10 separately admins
tered" military departments
under the authoritative CO.
sordination" OF the Secretary Of
Defense. Reference TO assigned
combat and service components
is deleted. However. the safe
: guards that the departments
will not be merged and that q
: single Chief Of Staff for the
armed forces will not be esetab-
: lished are retained.
. Section 3 Is designed TO i'm
plement certain proposals con-
: tanned in the Presidents mes
sage to the Congress OF April
g. 1858. This section deals with
authorities Of the Secretary Of
Defense.
: (a) Section la) amends Sec
stion 202(c) Of the National Sc
curity Act Of l947. as amended
Clause ~ repeats para
!. graphs 10. 20 and go. thereby
eliminating restrictions on the
Iauthority of the Secretary OF
Defense regarding the transfer,
.reassignment, abolition. or con-
; solidation Of combatant func-
: tons assigned to the military
services by law. Those para
graphs prohibit modification OF
scombatant functions directly,
by the transfer of personnel,
: or the expenditure Of funds.
: Clause az sets forth q new
paragraph ID designed to pro-
: vide for the organization Of
unified or specified commands,
: The Secretary Of Defense is
: directed to establish such COM
: mands. with the approval Of
. the President. and to assign
: forces Of the Departments of
the Army. Navy. and Air Force
: to them. The commands are
: directly responsible to the Pres
: ident and the Secretary Of De-
: Tense. Missions are assigned to
them by the Secretary Of De-
: Tense. with the Presidents
approval. Forces not assigned
{ to commands remain in their
Irrespective military depart
ments. Under the direction Of
: the Secretary of Defense, the
military departments are re-
: spoisible for supporting their
: respective forces in the COM
/: mands except as otherwise
: directed by the Secretary Of
Defense. BY general usage, a
; unified command is one COM
posed Of forces from more than
zone military department: a
specified command is one COM
: posed Of forces from only one
military department.
Clause 49, amends para
graph ~ to remove the word
separately" in stating that the
military departments are adj
Tministered by their respective
Secretaries under the direction,
authority and control OF the
Secretary of Defense. The
paragraph is remembered 90.
Clause ~ amends para
graph 80 and reminders it
80. As amended, it authorizes
the Secretary Of Defense to take
appropriate steps to provide in
the Department of Defense for
more effective, efficient and
economical administration and
: operations, and to eliminate
duplication. His steps may in
clude the transfer, reasSign-
ment. abolition. or consolida-
ton Of functions. All steps
must be within the policy
enunciated in section 2, dealing
with the declaration of policy.
Thus, for example, he could
not merge the military depart
ments. remove naval aviation
or the Marine Corps from the
Navy Department. or establish
a single Chief Of Staff over the
armed forces. etc. Moreover.
1t is provided that no substan-
tial transfer. reassignment, abo-
lition, or consolidation of
statutory functions can be
effected until 80 days after a
report in regard to all pertinent
details thereon shall have been
filed by the Secretary with the
Committees on Armed Services
If fha ConorAes
Clause ~ repeats paragraph
90. That paragraph states that
no provision Of the National Sc
curity Act shall be so con-
strued as TO prevent a Secretary
Of a military department or a
member Of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff from presenting TO the
Congress. on his own initiative,
after first so informing the Sec
rotary Of Defense, any recon-
mendation relating to the De-
partment Of Defense that he
may deem proper.
Id section ID amends Sec
ton 202(d) of the National Sc
curity Act Of l947. as amended,
to change from semiannual to
annual the report Of the Secre-
tary Of Defense to the Congress.
tcJ Section (c) and section
ID repeal sections 220l and
1851 Of title 10, United States
Code, to eliminate recitations
Of vague responsibilities for CO.
ordination and planning orig
inally prescribed for the statu-
tory Research and Development
Board and the Munitions Board
in the National Security Act OF
l947. Reorganization Plan No.
6 Of 1858 abolished the boards