Major Split Appears Among Joint Chiefs on Limited War Issue
t Sunday, February 21, 1960 Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon
Air Force-Alone-Rejects Change in Massive Retaliation Policy
EDITOR'S NOTE This is
the sixth article in a twelve
part series distributed by Asso
ciated Press based on Gen. Max
well D. Taylor's new book, "The
Uncertain Trumpet."
By GEN. MAXWELL D.TAYLOR
Retired
As the policy review proceeded
in the spring of 1958, it was ap
parent there would be a major
split within the JCS. The Army,
supported this time by the Navy
and Marine Corps, held that for
met statements of basic military
policy were inadequate in an era
of mutual deterrence and incour
iced an undue reliance upon nu
clear weapons, particularly upon
large yield weapons, to the im
pairment of the conventional
capabilities of all services.
The Air Force would have no
part of such thinking. Some of its
spokesmen went so far as to ac
cuse advocates of the new philos
ophy of betraying the national
interest. Such talk, they felt,
would inspire doubt as to whether
the U.S. was prepared to use the
weapons in its nuclear arsenal.
For them, the growth of the So
viet nuclear power changed noth
ing other than to accentuate the
need for more atomic weapons
and delivery vehicles to stay
safely ahead of the Russians.
. The split in the armed services
was carried first to the Secretary
of Defense and then to the Na
tional Security Council. Acting as
spokesman for the Army, Navy
and Marine Corps before the
Council, I expressed our common
feeling. There had been suffi
cient evidence of the deteriora
tion of our international power
position in relation to that of the
Accruing Interest
TULSA, Okla. Wl One of the
world's richest men, J. Paul Get
ty, has a $12.50 government check
waiting for him here. It is pay
ment for a part of his land which
the government wants.
Soviet bloc to convince us that a
thorough reappraisal of our mili
tary strategy was essential.
The overall problem, as I saw
it, was to readjust our strategy
to a period of mutual deterrence.
It could be assumed that the
United States and the USSR
would be increasingly restrained
from deliberately initiating a gen
eral nuclear war. In such a situa
tion, there was no place for a
policy of massive nuclear retalia
tion except as a deterrent to total
nuclear war or as a reprisal if one
began. It was doubtful whether
either the Soviets or our allies
believed we would use our retali
atory power for anything other
than to preserve our own exist
ence. A NEW IDEA
I stated our atomic deterrent
forces would be the shield under
which we must live from day to
day with the Soviet threat. This
shield would provide us protec
tion, but not a means of maneu
ver. It was rather to the so-called
limited war forces that we hence
forth must look for the active
elements of our military strategy.
The point that limited war
forces had the active role to play
in future military operations, and
the atomic retaliatory forces a
passive role was new. Initially,
the concept had been that ground
forces in Europe and the Far
East were the shield behind
which the U.S. could deliver the
devastating blows of its atomic
sword. Now the role was being
reversed.
After I had finished my state
ment, Generals Twining and
White presented the Air Force
point of view, which was to re
tain unchanged the status quo
of our military strategy. To my
disappointment Secretary Dulles
did not provide the strong sup
port for a new strategy which I
had hoped. The meeting broke up
without a decision being announc
ed but in reality our cause was
lost for the time being. Soon
after, Secretary McElroy issued
a memorandum that there had
been no changes to warrant any
WW
A J
GENERAL TAYLOR
significant revision in the "Basic
National Security Policy.
Under these discouraging pros-
p e c t s for the proponents of
change in national strategy, the
formulation of the 1960 budget
began in midsummer of 1958. In
effect, the guidance was directed
at maintaining approximately the
same overall dollar ceiling for the
defense budget as in 1959 and at
retaining the same percentage al
locations. From fiscal year 1955
these had been about 46 per cent
for the Air Force, about 28 per
cent for the Navy and Marine
Corps, and some 23 per cent for
the Army, with the remainder of
the budget going to the Depart
ment of Defense itself. In the
vital area of funds for the pur
chase of new equipment the Air
Force had consistently received
some 60 per cent of the available
resources, the Navy and Marine
Corps about 30 per cent and the
Army about 10 per cent.
As Red Chinese: guns bombard
ed the islands in th Taiwan
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strait, the budget debate carried
forward. The renewed evidence
of Communist readiness to resort
to limited war measures had no
effect on the issue. In the end,
the budget went to the National
Security Council without essen
tial change.
All the services, particularly
the Air Force and Navy, had em
barked upon expensie programs
for the production of heavy weap
ons such as the Atlas and Titan
intercontinental ballistic missiles,
the Thor and Jupiter intermedi
ate range ballistic missiles, the
Polaris submarine missile sys
tem, and the B o m a r c sur
face-to-air missile. The early
warning program was creating
expenses beyond those antici
pated. The Army also had Nike-
Zeus antiballistic missile. To stay
within the dollar limits of pre
vious budgets required the elimi
nation or the cutback of many of
these programs. In the end the
IRBM and the Nike-Zeus pro
grams bore the most significant
reductions.
The decision to hold back the
Nike-Zeus program was particu
larly regrettable. This imposed a
delay of at least one additional
year on this unique weapon so es
sential to deterrence of atomic at
tack and to national survival if
deterrence fails.
THE PUBLIC IS DISTURBED
The Joint Chiefs of Staff as a
body took no part in the formu
lation of the 1960 budget nor
had they in previous years. This
fact has often surprised Con
gress. But the secretary of de
fense has never given the chiefs
as a body a clearly defined role
in budget-making. This results in
part from honest doubt as to the
extent to which the chiefs should
be drawn into fiscal matters, in
part from a feeling they would
ask for the moon.
In the usual way, each service
produced its budget in isolation
tween the secretary of defense,
the department secretaries, and
their chiefs of staff, at no time
to my knowledge were the three
service budgets put side by side
and an appraisal made of the
fighting capabilities of the ag
gregate military forces supported
by the budget. It is not an exag
geration to say that nobody
knows what we are actually buy
ing with any specific budget.
As the budget ncared its con
clusion, Secretary McElroy ap
parently felt the need for some
endorsement by the Joint Chiefs
of Staff before sending it to Con
gress. After much discussion, we
finally agreed on the following
statement:
"The Joint Chiefs of Staff con
sider that the FY 1960 proposed
expenditure figure of $40,945,000,-
000 is adequate to provide for the
essential programs necessary for
the defense of the nation for the
period under consideration. They
find no serious gaps in the key
elements of the budget in its
present form, but all have reser
vations with respect to the fund
ing of some segments of their re
spective service programs."
Although this was rather tepid
support, the secretary of defense
elected to present it to Congress.
This action boomerranged.
Senator Johnson's Prepared
ness Subcommittee pounced upon
the memorandum and soon called
us to express our views of the
budget publicly under oath and
later to file written statements.
Despite a proper desire to avoid
public criticism of our civilian
supervisors, our testimony soon
showed what we really thought of
the budget. Noting the statement
that the overall sum was suffi
cient but that our individual budg
ets were far below what was re
quired, one senator dryly re
marked that he didn't see how
three insufficiencies could add up
to a sufficiency.
The testimony revealed for the
first time the extent of the schism
within the Joint Chiefs of Staff
and the division in their views on
Massive Retaliation and related
matters of strategy. This revela-l
tion profoundly disturbed many
members of Congress as well as
thoughtful citizens generally.
(Condensed from "The Uncer
tain Trumpet." B 1959, I960 bjr
Maxwell D. Taylor, published by
Harper if Brothers.)
2 Congressmen
File in Salem
SALEM (UPD Oregon Demo
cratic Reps. Al Ullman and
Charles 0. Porter filed Thursday
for reelection. They had an
nounced earlier they again would
be candidates.
Richard "Dick" Hill filed as a
candidate for U.S. representative
on the GOP ticket in the third
congressional district. Oregon
Democratic Rep. Edith Green is
the incumbent.
State Sen. Edwin Durno (R
Medford) has announced his can
didacy against Porter. So far,
Ullman is unopposed in his own
party and by the. Republicans.
Other filings included:
Benton County District Judge
Robert L. Gilliland, Corvallis, re
election. Clackamas County District Court
Judge Howard J. Blanding, Ore
gon City, reelection.
Crook County District Attorney
James B. Minturn, Prineville Re
publican, reelection.
Driver Fined $200
On Liquor Charge
Donald Davis Stringfield, 31, of
2435 Jefferson St, Eugene,
changed his plea to guilty and
was fined $200 Wednesday in Eu-!
gene Municipal Court on a charge
of driving under the influence of
intoxicating liquor.
Stringfield had pleaden inno
cent to the Jan. 9 charge after
his arrest by Eugene police at W.
Sixth Avenue near Olive Street.
Lectures Planned
On U of O Museum
t az-miaint the neonle of the
)! nt rironnn with what is tak
ing place in the University of
Oregon museum oi an, nuu
orrict mil alumnus of the Univer
sity, has agreed to give a series
of lectures on tne museum mm
;t AniiaMinns 9prn the state.
Early in March, Klep, together
with Mrs. Klep and Mrs. Virginia
H.pitin nlan to visit a number
of communities in the state to ex
plain the program of the trienas
nf tVio Mucpiim organization.
Kelp will lecture on the muse
um and show colorea suoes oi tne
works of art in its collections,
vlpn it s free-lance artist, with
his working base at Surf Pines,
Oregon.
Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 be
came the first American to win
the Nobel Peace Prize.
Loan Approved
TAIPEI. Formosa OB The Na
tionalist government has ap.
proved a loan equivalent to $600,.
000 to the China Fishing Co. to
help in the construction of two
550-ton trawlers that will operate
in the Atlantic. The fishing boati
will be Formosa's biggest.
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