Evening star., 1961-08-06
MCNAMARA
Continued From First Page


from q man they think has less
experience or information than
they have" he says. He went
about taking control Of his vast
empire through the simple ex-
pedient Of acquiring more IN
formation than anybody else on
any given subject.
The military are not happy
with this strong man in their
midst. While every suggestion
for change is tactfully put In
question form, there is no ques-
ton about who Is in charge.
Their idea of a Defense Sec
retary," says one Of Mr.. Nc
Namara's brainy civilian aides,
"iS a man who represents them
on Capitol Hill on legislation.
and doesn't concern himself
with military planning"
Knows the Plans
Mr.. Mcnamara knows the
fine points Of every major mill
tary plan in the Pentagon files.
Every plan, at his inSistence,
has a number, an alternative
solution and a price tag.
Interviewed in his large Of
flee overlooking the river, Mr..
Mcnamara said he sees no dra-
matte difference in managing
the $4,000 in his charge at the
Pentagon from running the
Ford Motor Co. He is some
what impatient Of the rituals,
procedures and ceremonies that
run through military bureauc-
racy, but he comedies there may
be a reason for them.
He believes there are certain
problems endemic to all large
organizations and that they
grow in proportion to the size
of the plant.
Running the Pentagon is
about as different from run
ming the Ford Motor Co. as
running the Pentagon would
be from running the Catholic
Church." says Mr.. Mcnamara,
who is an elder in the Presby-
terian Church. "Of course, the
lead time is different. At Ford,
it's about two years before you
can see how effective your
policies are. It's longer here
maybe five years. In the Cath
olic Church, I think it would be
even longer, although I don't
really know"
AS for the split personality
Of his domain, he insists for
the record that he thinks there
is no such thing as "the mill
tary mind" although char
acteriStically he has just read
a treatise on the subject by a
Michigan sociologist.
Paper Work Heavy
Generals use as much paper
as anyone" he says with a
smile, indicating 18 inches of
paper in his "in" box. BE
sides, look at Rickover."
Secretary McNamara'S uni
formed detractors complain
that he is trying to reduce the
art Of military strategy to an
exact science.
He runs 1t through a COM
puter," they wall.
But If he gives the impress
sion that he knows where
every gun in our mighty ar
senal is and how much it costs,
Mr.. Mcnamara is far from be-
ing the literal mind at work.
He is as receptive to abstrac-
tionS as he is to statistics. He
is an enthusiast Of the Great
Books idea.
His IA hour day reflects
a nice balance between re-
Election and action. He has
figured out that he gives 10
per cent Of his time to congress
sional testimony and reports
that one hour Of testifying re-
quires three or four hours of
preparation.
He has budgeted approxi-
mately IA per cent of his work.
ing day for an exercise he calls
creative planning" At 7:15
every morning, upon arrival, he
shuts himself up for an hour
and a half to address himself to
a specific problem. Sometimes
it is an item-by-item review of
military expenditures. More
often 1t is a consideration of
"our military activity to our
political objectives."
It is only in the twilight zone
Of personalities and politics
that Mr.. Mcnamara is not at
home. Officers grumble that
he displays intellectual arro-
.s.SyA A,I,,.s, q, =. ;,;.I,:1