8 B
SUNDAY. JANUARY 20. 1963
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON
Noise Expected in Congress Over Death of Skybolt Missile
Br CHARLES W. CORDDRY
Untied Presi iniernaiionai
: Washington (UPD - There
will be a lot of noise in con
gress over the death of the
Skybolt missile, and come
wrathful advocates of the
weapon may take to jabbing
pins Into the image of De
fense Secretary Robert S.
McNamara.
But neither Capitol Hill
nor Pentagon authorities ex
pect the Air Force's lately
cherished bomber launched
missile 10 Be resurreciuu.
In the Air Force's upper
echelons, the idea is to put
the Skvbolt out of mind ana
get on with other means of
fortifying uaz rjomoers. tin
men expect the huge Jets,
armed with Improved ver
sions of other type missiles, to
be key strategic weapons for
another decade.
May Ignite Debate
But if the Skybolt is dead,
its fiery exit may Ignite a
fundamental debate in Con
gress and around the nation
on where- President Ken
nedy's defense policies are
heading.
Bv the time the new Con
gress convened, the president
had taiKea Britain imo sub
stituting submarine-launched
Polaris missiles for the buy
bolts it wanted and McNa
mara had instructed the Air
Force to shut down the proj
eot. .
A year ago, the defense
chief was telling Congress he
and the Air Force believed the
Skybolt could be developed
"satisfactorily" as a 1,000
mile range ballistic missile to
be launched from B52's.
Now he has executed the
nraiect. which employed thou
sands, promised longer life
for bombing planes, and of
fered a potent new war de
terrent. Done for a combina
tion of financial, technical
and military reasons, the deed
annoyed a variety of mem
bers of Congress, defense ex
perts, representatives of com
munities that will suffer eco
nomically, Republican critics,
and service veterans.
The Skybolt episode stimu
lates two questions, further
underlined by the defense
budget sent to Congress last
week, around which a new
strategy debate is likely to
revolve:
-Is the bombing plane face
to face with oblivion, with
America about to base its
strategic forces entirely on
intercontinental and submarine-launched
ballistic missiles?
-Are there to be enough
missiles? Is the trend toward
a latter-day Maglnot line con
cept based on a rigid force of
missiles mainly designed to
prevent war through the
threat of annihilation - in
brief, a city-busting force? Or
will America continue to de
velop flexible forces able to
"prevail" over an .enemy
armed force if deterrence
fails-in brief, to come out of
nuclear war at least less of a
loser than the enemy?
For his advocacy of the
B52-Skybolt combination and
the RS70 war plane, which
the administration also does
not plan to produce, Gen.
Curtis E. LeMay is being
charged in some quarters with
vainly holding on to out
moded concepts. In other
words, the man the free world
praised for building the great
est bomber force in history is
now being accused of being a
bomber general.
The criticism ignores thnt
LeMay, now Air Force chief
of staff, was Air Force re
search chief as a major gen
eral in 1945 when McNa
mara was an Air Force major
and some of McNamara'a pres
ent strategic weapons advis
ers were in high school.
LeMay could be culled a
father of the Air Force missile
program. Last year he urged
far more Minutcmcn Inter
continental missiles than Mc
Namara allowed. His sole aim
is to be able to deliver won
pons on targets accurately If
there it war. He told Congress
he would use a kiddle car if
that were the best way to
do it.
In-Being Protection
He said: "We should never
replace trsted and reliable
weapons with new and un
proven ones until we are sure
that the new one can cither
do a better Job or a necessary
job that can not be done at
all by the old systems. In
short, I believe in having in
being protection along with
progress."
The Air Force Believes, with
support from the other serv
ices, that America must have
a "mix" of missiles and
manned air craft in its strate
gic forces, with emphasis in
creasingly on missiles. It is
certain that later on there
will have to be manned space-craft-espccially
when missile
defenses are perfected - and
men arc needed aloft in ma
chines to defeat mechanical
devices.
Its arguments are generally
that manned war planes, as
Cuba shows, can provide any
kind of response from show
ing the flag up to total anni
hilation. Missiles are last re
sort weapons. With both mis
siles and planes, the nation
has a variety of attack meth
ods in case one or another is
rendered ineffective by enemy
defense.
Moreover, the enemy is
forced-as Russia has been for
years - to invest enormous
sums in defenses against many
kinds of weapons. The enemy
also has an almost insoluable
problem in trying to attack
this country. Finally, there
are many targets that inter
continental missiles cannot
attack. . ,
Those are some of the rea
sons the Air Force will be try-
ing to improve the Houng Dog
missiles now carried on B52's,
devise new types of missiles
of shorter range than the Skybolt-
would have had, and de
sign a successor to the B52
that McNamara may endorse.
Curiosity whether present
administration defense poli
cies may lead to a "Maginot
Line concept based malnlv
on a city-busting force stems
from action like that taken
on the Skybolt and others in
dicated in the new budget.
Clues Arc Seen
. These are some of the clues
seen by those asking the ques
tion: Skybolt is dead. RS70 is
dying. The Nike-Zeus anti
missile missile is not being
put into production. The B47
jet bomber force will be ex
tinct by about 1966. Only a
few hundred B52's will be
left by 1970. In fact, there
are estimates that Russia in
a few years may have more
bombers than America. "
With these factors are the
other controversial questions
whether an adequate force of
Minute-man and Polaris mis
siles is being built to do more
than bust cities, that is, to im
pose some sort of defeat on
the enemy's military forces
if deterrent fails.
McNamara's computors and
judgments apparently say
yes, while those of the mili
tary men are not at all sure.
$2.8 Million in
Permits Are Issued
Grants Pass - Building per
mits totaling an estimated
$2,816,623 were Issued in
Grants Pass during 1962. ac
cording to M. C. Loughridgc,
city building inspector.
Out of 217 permits, SO were
for non -residential construc
tion, Loughridgc said. The
largest was $1,098,009 for the
new Josephine General hos
pital, which Is now under con
struction. Second largest was $240,
000 for the new First Federal
Savings and Loan association
building on Sixth St., also
under construction.
Seventy two residential
building permits were Issued,
for i total of $892,430. Per
mits for alterations, additions
and repairs totaled 05, with
an estimated cost of $317,950.
D)vnwniA a no
KVUAWi wii ujjjm
OUP
(7
7
i 1
WW
H Pc. LIVING ROOM GROUP
including
Superbly comfortable tola sleep twol
Matching tpatloue lwb chair and Ham ml
Cocktail table In blond, mahogany or charcoal!
2 matching ttapend ttbltil i
2 decorator pillow tl
2 pair coloroordinatd draperies!
2 pictures!
2 am art tabl lamptl
Smeltmg ,itandl 4 v
Magaiin tack)
10-Pc. BEDROOM CROUP '
including
Oerf mih Mr. ana Mra. ranar wM aavafarf !
filtlnf mirrerl
Matching lakraal haaataarW inW faataalrdl
Wandarfult cemfertable fnnariartai mat
trail and box lerlnii!
I plllowil
1 kauaalr llmail
J eklvrail
PAY JUST iS A WEEK!
5rSV!init-rw,...- '
'J'.t1JKOTfZii2t'5ma.i.
45-Pc.
3 ROOM
GROUP
ALL FOR ONLY
HERE'S WHAT YOU GET:
(o)(o)
(o)(g)
12-Pc. LIVING ROOM
GROUP including
luxurious sofa-sleeps two)
Matching club chairt
Cocktail tabl in walnut, mahogany
r blond! t
Two matching step-end tibltat ( .
Two decorator pillowil
Two picturoil
Magatin rack!
2 smart tablo lamptl
10-Pc. BEDROOM GROUP
including
Mr. and Mr, drouar with bevtttd
tilting mirrorl
Matching cabinet headboard and -"
foolboardl ,
Innarspring maHrett and box
spring I '
Two pillowtl .
Two boudoir Umpil
Two picturail
Living Room Group May Be Purchased Separately at $194
Bedroom Group May Be Purchased Separately at $194
PLUS FREE 23-Pc. DINETTE GROUP including
(In this 3roont group)
Plastic top wood grain dinette tabl with 4 chairs) -
IS'piac sot of modern dmnerwar!
LP. A m- - ' m 1 ,
rMI JU5I 3)4 A WttKZowsaaS!:
49-Pc. 3 ROOM GROUP Here's What You Get
Living Room Group May Ba Purchased
Separately at $274
Bedroom Group May Bo Purchattd
Separataly at $214
PLUS FREE 23-Pc.
DINETTE GROUP ' a)
a Plattk tat woad rani dlnatt axtamnia tabl whh 4
fhalnl
a M'plaia aat ( madam dinnarararal
mmasssmm
!9 ff II la C t - 01- 1 1 111. IL -i J-JLIjr . VY-
54-Pc. 3 ROOM GROUP towSSfSffi-
t 15-Pc. LIVING ROOM GROUP
including
Maniv futuristic styUrl lefa-tleepi two!
Matching luxurious chair and ottoman wilt
leap on moral
9x12 living room rugl
Cocktail tablo in charcoal, mahogany or blends!
Two matching itepend tablasl
,Two living room lamps!
" Smoking standi
Magatin rack!
ALL FOR ONLY
(5X5)
(mm)
i
PAY JUST $6 A WEEK
2 pair of living room draperiail
2 solo pillowsl
Living Room Group May Be
Purchased Separately at $294
14-Pc. BEDROOM GROUP
inctuding
Ganuin "Navemar plastic top Mr. 4 Mrs.
driisar with bvld tilting mirrorl
Night standi
Spacious chest of drawers!
Matching headboard and footboard!
FOAM RUBBER Innanpring mattress and box
spring)
2 baudoir lamptl
2 bod pillowtl
2 bedroom pictures!
2 pair of draperies)
Bedroom Group May Be
Purchased Separately at $294
PLUS FREE 25-Pc. DINETTE
GROUP
(in this 3-room group)
Beautiful wood grained plastic top dinatt ex
tant ion tabl with six matching chairil
11-pioc set of modern dinnerwerst
BUCK SAYS:
"Now' tha rime lo buy tht fine furniture
you've been wanting. We have a large
solection-for your living room, bedroom
and dinette 9roup all at tremendoui tav
ingi. All this for one price and a low ai
$4 per week. Buy by the houseful-save
by the roomfull Only at GRAY'S will you
find such bargains."
FURNITURE BARN INC
HWY 99 CENTRAL POINT
eaaaBBBBBam
Mi
OPEN
Monday
Nights
Till
EASY
CREDIT
TERMS
FREE
Delivery
o
S5
DEPOSIT
holds any
purchase
for
future
, delivery.
The Store
Where Your
DOLLAR'S
WORTH
MORE
o
4 STORE
BUYING
POWER
Central Point
Coos Bay
Roscburg
Eugene