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About Eugene register-guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1930-1983 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1962)
Page IOC EUGENE REGISTER-GUARD, Sunday, Jen. 21. 196J A Normal Day Is 12 Hours Defense Secretary Supercharged EDITORS NOTE Th e V.S. kept out of war in 1961 but Us military headquarters, the Pentagon, Haw tome brisk sktr mishing. There were battles over the reserves callup, muz zling of top brass, budgets and ballistic missiles. In the mid dle was Defense Secretary Mc Namara, hired to be tough and able. How tough and how able was he? By FRED S. HOFFMAN Of the AuocUttd I'reii WASHINGTON UWMidnight (truck as the tall, slender man hefted a bulging briefcase and stepped from the big black limousine. He paused at the curb thought a moment, then turned to the chauffeur and asked "can you be-back here early?" "How early, sir?" the chauf fer said. "About 4 o'clock," replied Robert Strange McNamara, Sec rotary of Defense, before riis- ' appearing into his comfortable home. Four hours later, the still dumbfounded chauffeur drove tip the shadowed, silent street and there was McNamara, wait ing at the curb. The 45-year-old McNamara has an unflagging energy that has won grudging admiration even from some of his critics. Not Typical Of course, this wasn't a typi cal night. It happened last Scptcmher while McNamara was spending long hours before a Senate com mittee and other long hours at his Pentagon desk, catching up with backloggcd work. It was at a time, too, when the Berlin crisis military buildup was be ing set in motion. But ths inciden' gives a glimpse of the vay McNamara has driven himself in his first year as ' President Kennedy's defense chief. For McNamara a 12-hour working day is normal. He's generally striding into the Pentagon about 7:19 a.m an hour before most of the civil service workers start streaming to their desks. On Saturday, when most of Washington officialdom is re laxing, McNamara generally can he found in his spacious office at least part of the da. It's not uncommon for the defense chief to drop by on Sundays as well. Avoids Socializing McNamara hasn't made much ot a dent on this capital social ly. He avoids tho cockluiland banquet circuit as much as pos sible. But his Imprint or the sprawling military establish ment is deep and unmistakable. His rimless glasses, somewhat bookish look and shy smile con vey a deceptively mild impres sion which belies his basic toughness. If there is any one outstand ing characteristic of his first year in the Pentagon it la the clear establishment of firm ci vilian control. There are those in the uni formed services who complain privately that the military pro fessionals havo been shunted in to a secondary role in the deci-sinn-miiking process. A reporter who roams the corridors of the Pentagon some times hears caustic remarks about the "whiz kids" the band of civilian theorists and managers McNamara has brought into tho Defense De partment. Prodding Military Aides of McNamara deny tho military professionals are being pushed aside. They note that the secretary meets regularly with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and consults at other times with individual service chiefs. What the civilian leadership Is doing, they say, is to try to prod the military into faster re actions to policy decisions. "Wo arc in the process of making military policy more re sponsive to over-all national pol icy, particularly foreign policy, tinder civilian direction and control," one of McNamara's aides told a reporter. r t . 1 ii"iM Long Day (AP Wircphoto) End of a long day finds Robert McNa ' mara, secretary of defense, putting pa pers into his briefcase before leaving his Pentagon office for his home in Wash ington. In addition to complicated work in his office, McNamara spent many hours before Congress committees dur ing his first year. The term "civilian direction and control" is a key one. It is a fundamental objective of President Kennedy, who told Congress last Mar. 28: "Our arms must be subject to ultimate civilian control and command at all times, in war as well as peace." Good Year As his first year in the Pen tagon drew to a close, McNa mara summed up what had hap pened in that time and found it good. We have strengthened our nuclear strike force, so that it is a more powerful deterrent to potential aggressors, he said. 'We have increased the capa bility of our strategic forces to survive even a massive attack, and we have improved our com mand and control arrangements so that the temptation to an ag gressor to attempt another Pearl Harbor is considerably re duced. "We have added to our non nuclear forces, so that the range of military options open to us is greatly increased. "We have assumed a new and expanded program for civil de fense so that we can improve our non-military defenses, along with our military defenses, against the distant hut terrible possibility of a major thermonu clear exchange." From all indications, McNa mara and Kennedy have meshed well, and the defense secretary is rated as one of the most in fluential figures in the adminis tration. McNamara and Kennedy met for the first time only a few days before the then President elect announced his selection for the cabinet post in Decem ber 1060. Pay Cut When McNamara took the oath of office on Jan. 21, 1061, ho traded a $SOO,000-a-ycar in como as president of the Ford Motor Co. for $25,000 as a gov ernment official. In addition, McNamara cashed in stock investments which would have yielded him an estimated $3 million over three or four years. He said then it was worth it and there is no outward sign that he ever has regretted the decision. The first year of the McNa mara regime has seen a number of significant moves toward uni fication something which had eluded most previous secre taries of defense as the Individ ual services reluctantly gave ground. Under McNamara's direction the separate intelligence opera tions of the services were com bined into a Defense Intelli gence Agency. Such a step had been urged as far back as 1946 when a congressional commit tee determined intelligence lapses contributed to the Pearl Harbor disaster. Supply Agency To end duplication and the sometimes cost-boosting compe tition between the services he ordered creation of a De fense supply agency to buy items like clothing, automotive supplies and other goods used by the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines alike. Eventually, this agency could control an inventory worth about $21 billion. Planners en vision savings of between $2 billion and $4 billion. One of the most significant actions was creation of a strike command a' unified organiza tion combining elements of the Army's "Fire Brigade" strategic reserve and the Air Force's Tac tical Air Command. This means that the fighting men and the planes assigned to carry them swiftly to trouble spots around the globe are being placed under single direction, responsible to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. One of the major objectives of the McNamara group has been to develop what is called a "controllable deterrent" force safeguarded from destruction in any first enemy strike and able to mount a devastating counter attack. New Approach Outlining the aim to Congress, McNamara put it this way: "In re evaluating our general war position, our major concern was to reduce our dependence on deterrent forces which arc highly vulnerable to ballistic missile attack or which rely for their survival on a hair-trigger response to the first indications of such an attack. "Conversely, we sought to place greater emphasis en the second approach the kind of forces which could ride out a massive nuclear attack end which could be applied with de liberation and always under the complete control of the consti tuted authority." Accordingly, the Kennedy ad ministration increased from about one-third to one-half the proportion of tho nation's stra tegic bombers that is on 15- minute ground alert. It also boosted sharply the Polaris mis sile submarine program and hastened plans to emplace re liable, quick-to-fire Minuteman intercontinental ballistic mis siles in underground firing sites. In this same realm, steps were taken to improve this country's air defense system Machinery was built into the command and control system to guard against war by accident or miscalculation. In July, Kennedy shifted re sponsibility for civil defense to the Defense Department and a revitalized effort got under way. This year, the administration hopes to hit stride with a $700 million fallout shelter program. Range of Choices Another basic objective of the Kennedy administration and McNamara was to build up con ventional forces. As many Pentagon officials have expressed it, the idea was to give the President a range of military choices so he would not have to decide only between the extremes of a humiliating sur render and ail-out nuclear war. In this field, action was taken to strengthen Army and Marine J ground forces, to provide more i airlift and scalift, to increase I tactical air support of ground troops in a limited war situation, i and to equip the troops and navy ships with the latest con-1 vcntional arms and modern equipment. j As this two-pronged effort was taking shape, Russia heated up the long-standing Berlin dis-: pute. I In close consultation with I Kennedy, McN .mara presided I over the beef-up ;n U.S. military strength by about a quarter of a million men to help show the Russians this country did not intend to be pushed out of Bcr lin. Complaints Came In To meet the military man- j power needs in the shortest , possible time, the Pentagon ! called up 156,000 Army, Navy, 1 Air Force and Marine reservists and Army and Air National Guardsmen. There were complaints from ! some of the guardsmen and re-, servists about poor quarters, : clothing and equipment short ages, about having little to do in training camp. McNamara's reaction to the complaints was sharp and direct. When he heard that Rep. Al vin O'Konski, R-Wis., was voic ing charges of "criminal negli gence" in handling the callup of the Wisconsin 32nd National j Guard Division, McNamara reached for his phone and told Secretary of the Army Elvis J. Stahr Jr.: "Get the Inspector General out there right away." I Maj. Gen. Edward H. McDan iel, the Army's IG, flew out j promptly to Ft. Lewis, Wash., ; and reported back in a few days, i He said some of the complaints ' were true to a degree. The Army then announced . inadequacies were being corrcc-, ted. Off the experience in the Reserve-Guard callup, the Penta- j gon is taking a new look at whether to rely on such forces to meet Berlin-type crises in the future. 1 Rely on Regulars Indications are the Pentagon will depend more on larger rcg-; ular forces to meet cold war i flareups, and hold the Guard and Reserve for longer-range ' mobilization. McNamara, who spent more I than 88 hours testifying before ! Senate and House committees last session, likely will find him self explaining his policies in this field to congressmen during the 1962 session. The House Veterans Commit tee has announced intentions to hold hearings on the Reserve Guard callup. Others may follow suit. The Defense secretary almost certainly will trek to the Capitol to defend anew his policies on controlling the public utterances of high ranking officers. REGISTER NOW . . . for FEBRUARY CLASSES 1962 Union Leader Says His Job Like Cleric's By It AI, 1,1(111 AI.I.SHIinOK Ot the AlsorUtrd Prmi NEW YORK inHarry Van Arsdale Jr. sometimes compares his role of union leader with that of a clergyman. He says he believes rarh has sacred trust and that he should live humbly and not rount the long hours he puts in for members of his flock. Now 56, the stocky, grey haired Van Arsdalo is one of the nation's ablest and most prominent union leaders. Ho is considered a possible successor to George Meany as head of the AFI.CIO. Ilia name ha been in the rrews la-tely a head of Local 3 c-f Hie BtwMrerke M Elect riral tSieukoKt! wlweh k just won a IHmHtkh a strike against bivlt 'w t'' , siilltimillion jjttVtn misjtrli rtotry. "ifs VMft ' previous 1W,Qtt8l eHy re- . Ww iint board with JQfat Aar ltit7 that has He Won the Five-Hour Day built a $20 million low-cost apartment project large enough to house 2.000 of the local's 30,000 members. Convalescent Home A 80-room mansion on 300 acre Long Island estate was purchased and converted into a union convalescent home. A scholarship program is send ing 277 children of union mem bers to college. Each year three union rep resentatives go abroad on good will, vacation and study trips. I'nion workers are sent to schools to broaden their educa tion horizons and develop leader ship and a stronger jense of community responsibility. And with all of these fringe benefits, the local's members are among the highest paid unionists in the nation. The 9.000 involved in the strike have been working a six hour, five day week with a guaran teed extra hour esrh day at overtime ratrs This brought their weekly earnings to $105. Now. under the reduced work week they will get slightly lower pay. They will work five hours a day at $4 06 an hour, plus an extra hour of overtime, for a weekly wage of $161.20. In some instances, however, a union member may he employed for as many as 15 hours overtime a week, which would bring his pay to $235.60. Nothing New Shorter working hours are nothing new to Van Arsdale. His union has had a basic six-hour day since 1934. He began his campaign fnr a four-hour day back in 19."'H I'niiins. he said "must work up an entirely new set of values" and stop emphasizing a "six-cent raise this year and another six-cent raise next year." He predicted that hundred of thousands of workers would be mad permanently unem ployed unless the country gets ready for a four-hour day. Van Arsdale today envisions a time when the nation's work force will work four hours daily and spend four hours studying in colleges and schools. "In our struggle to maintain peace in freedom," he says, "we must enlist the understanding of the people, Understanding can come through enriucatinn." Rom in the rough hell's kitch en section of New York, he was forced to end his own education in the second year of high school. His father also was an elec trician and union man. Van Ars dale still lives with his wife in the ramshackle cottage she helped him build years aco. $10,100 a Year He receives $10,400 a year for running the big local and his friends say he works 16 hours a day. His guiding slogan is one he got from a Texas-born labor official yean ago. if Is: "Give me the hills to rlimb and the strength to climb them." SMU SCMdPdDL RIGIIT . . . proper running position as taught in the Register-Guard ki school. Hip and heel at right angle with skis. 'mm WltO'G . . . Try to avoid "Back seat chuss," WEDELN . . . with sideslipping and spread of the skis into a snowplow. As taught in the Register Guard ski school. SKI SCHOOL FACTS: School Director is George Amis, certified PNSIA instructor. School will be held at Willamette Pass Ski area on Highway 58. Cost of four consecutive lessons (cither Saturdays or Sundays) is S12. With transportation furnished from Eugene by Grey hound bus, $22. Pupils may enroll under these choices: Four con secutive Saturdays in February or Four Sun days in February. Rus or lesson tickets are not transferable. Instruction for beginning beginners, beginners, in termediates and advanced. Each day's session will run from 10:30 a m. 'til noon and from 1 p.m. 'til 2:00 p.m. Ruses will leave the Greyhound terminal at R a m. and will depart from the ski area for Eugene at 4 p.m. One of the instructors will he assigned to each bus as chapcronc. Applications mint be in by January 26th. Rus seats arc limited and will be assigned in order of application. A certificate will be giv en to each person com pleting their class. R.isic ski niu i p m e n t (skis, bmdinys, poles and bmitsl can be rented for $3 50 per day Rent als are s,i,ihlp at ski and a p o rt i n g goods stores as well as at th ski area. GEORGE ARNIS DIRECTOR IN CHARGE A word about Mr. Amis. He be gan his skiing career in Colo rado where he became a class A racer. Ha is presently director of Willamette Mountain Ski School and a Certified instruc tor. Amis is also a member ot the Pacific Northwest Ski In structors Association. The Register-Guard ski school will be teaching the American technique, which will include all phases of skiing from walk ing to wcdcln. It is approved by both the P.N.S.I.A. and the Na tional Ski Association. Teaching in this Certified Ski School will be 2 certified teach ers, 1 associate certified teach er and 25 registered instructors. The school is prepared for 300 students in each session. Small classes (maximum of 15), under the direction of one instructor, will assure the finest training In safe skiing. CLASS CATEGORIES- BEGINNING BEGINNER: A One who has never had skis on. BEGINNER: One who has attempted skiing but does not know how. INTERMEDIATE: One who skis occasionally but lacks confidence, has bad habits and a weak turn In one er both directions. ADVANCED: One who has skied a number of years and can negotiate most types of terrain and snow con ditions but who desirei to smooth out and polish his technique. HERE'S MY APPLICATION FOR THE EUGENE REGISTER-GUARD'S 1962 SKI SCHOOL Please enroll me In the Register-Guard's 1962 Ski School. I am enclosing my entry fee with this application. I understand that my Ski School ticket! will be mailed to me. (signature of parent or guardian necessary for those who have not reached their 18lh birthday.) In consideration of your accepting this application, I hereby, for myself, my heirs, executors and administrators, waive and release the Guard Publishing Co., employees, successors, their representatives, and assigns, for any and all injuries to person or prop erty by the undersigned or by any of them at said Ski School sessions and traveling to and from same, except such as may result from the willful wrong of the Guard Pub lishing Co. NAME ADDRESS CITY PHONE AGE SIGNED: (signature of parent or guardian if under 18) Important . . check the group you wish to be enrolled int SATURDAY, Feb. 3, 10, 17, 24 ($12) with transportation ($22) SUNDAYS, Feb. 4, 11, 18, 25 ($12) with transportation ($22) NO REFUNDS NON TRANSFERABLE Placo Mo In At Beginning beginners class beginners class Intermediate class advanced class ir Applications may be mailed with lees to: In this case tickets will be mailed back to you. SKI SCHOOL DIRECTOR EUGENE REGISTER-GUARD EUGENE, OREGON Applications and money may be brought Into the Register-Guard. Ask (or Mrs. Helen SpUlefc Promotion Department, Monday through Friday, 10th Street entrance.
