THE WEEK

The disputes among the armed services have been further embittered by a quarrel between the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Arthur W. Radford (backed by Secretary of Defense Wilson and Secretary of the Treasury Humphrey) on the one side, and the Chiefs of the three separate services on the other. Admiral Radford has projected a three-year cut of 800,000 in military manpower, with a concentration of effort in nuclear and other technologically advanced armament and research. His rebellious colleagues insist that this would leave the country with an all-or-nothing military arm which could function only in the improbable event of total war, and would leave us impotent in relation to the lesser conflicts that will almost certainly continue to break out. If Admiral Radford’s recommendations prevail, American forces in Europe will be reduced to token strength, and the concept of a resident army in Western Europe capable of resisting the Soviet Union, finally abandoned. Yet Mr. Dulles seems to have no objections.

How good is the radar net that protects the United States against a surprise attack by the USSR? Not very, according to a censored report recently released by a Senate subcommittee. The net failed, the report states, to detect a group of low-flying U.S. bombers that made a 1000-mile penetration into the U.S.—and this despite the fact that the defense forces had been alerted for such an “attack.”

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The disputes among the armed services have been further embittered by a quarrel between the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Arthur W. Radford (backed by Secretary of Defense Wilson and Secretary of the Treasury Humphrey) on the one side, and the Chiefs of the three separate services on the other. Admiral Radford has projected a three-year cut of 800,000 in military manpower, with a concentration of effort in nuclear and other technologically advanced armament and research. His rebellious colleagues insist that this would leave the country with an all-or-nothing military arm which could function only in the improbable event of total war, and would leave us impotent in relation to the lesser conflicts that will almost certainly continue to break out. If Admiral Radford’s recommendations prevail, American forces in Europe will be reduced to token strength, and the concept of a resident army in Western Europe capable of resisting the Soviet Union, finally abandoned. Yet Mr. Dulles seems to have no objections.

How good is the radar net that protects the United States against a surprise attack by the USSR? Not very, according to a censored report recently released by a Senate subcommittee. The net failed, the report states, to detect a group of low-flying U.S. bombers that made a 1000-mile penetration into the U.S.—and this despite the fact that the defense forces had been alerted for such an “attack.”