Secretary PATTERSON. I do not think it would be wise to write into the act the provisions of that Executive order. Mr. MANASCo. You would rather trust an Executive order than an act of Congress. Secretary PATTERSON. No. On the whole, I would rather have an act of Congress, but in a matter of that type I think an Executive order is preferable. Mr. MANASCO. I know that there is a lot of argument that dictatorship is more efficient than our democracy, but I still like democracy the best. Secretary PATTERSON. So do I. Mr. McCORMACK. Will the gentleman yield for a question? Mr. McCORMACK. Mr. Secretary, I want to ask this question: Is it not true that an Executive order from the President would be taken on the recommendation of the Secretary of National Defense after consultation with the National Security Council, the National Security Resources Board and the other Boards? Those Executive orders, in other words, are usually taken not on the President's sole initiative but on the combined intelligent recommendation of all of those people who would be able to evolve a policy which required an Executive order. sir. Secretary PATTERSON. That is the way it would be handled; yes, Mr. MANASCo. The Secretary of National Defense could disregard recommendations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the War Council, the Munitions Board, and the other Boards, could he not? Secretary PATTERSON. Yes. Mr. MANASCo. And ask the President to issue an Executive order to suit his own peculiar whim? Secretary PATTERSON. Yes. Mr. MANASCo. Of course, we have no assurance we will have an able man like you as Secretary of National Defense for the next 10 years. Secretary PATTERSON. Thank you. Mr. MANASCO. I hope we do, but we have no assurance to that effect. There is a question on this joint procurement. Of course, I realize you can standardize too much. It was agreed, was it not, the Germans standardized on the Stuka dive bomber and froze production on that, thereby losing valuable time on perfecting other aircraft. Secretary PATTERSON. I think that is true. They had a hard choice to make. You have to freeze a thing of a certain type to get quantity, mass production. Mr. MANASCO. You would not want to have a rigid freeze on the work of your procurement and your research boards. Secretary PATTERSON. No. Mr. MANASCO. You would want to have some flexibility. Is it not true we could save a lot of money for the taxpayers of the United States if we would standardize on a lot of items that could be interchangeable? For instance, your trucks. I know the Navy has a design for a 21⁄2-ton truck that is similar to the design of the Army and they are both to be used to accomplish the same purpose. Secretary PATTERSON. A large amount of money can be saved by common specifications or standards and the size of the savings would be determined by the volume of the procurement. Mr. MANASCO. I read an article recently in the United States News, in the March 7 issue, dealing with the plan for a separate air arm from the Army and Navy. In this article, the Air Forces, if they are given separate entity, are going to change all their uniforms. Do you know whether or not that is true? Secretary PATTERSON. General Spaatz told me there was not the slightest idea of doing that. Mr. MANASCO. That would cost the taxpayers a lot of money if that were true. Secretary PATTERSON. He told me there was not the slightest basis for such a report. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Manasco, your time has run over double. I have just been advised there are several subcommittee meetings this afternoon. So, it will be necessary for us to suspend here. Sometime after the Easter holiday, would it be convenient for you to come back? Secretary PATTERSON. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will suspend now until some later date, probably around the 14th or 15th. Secretary PATTERSON. Yes, sir. (Thereupon, the hearing adjourned at 4 p. m.) NATIONAL SECURITY ACT OF 1947 THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1947 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The committee met at 10 a. m., pursuant to call, in the Main Caucus Room of the House Office Building, Hon. George H. Bender, presiding. Mr. BENDER (presiding). The committee will be in order. We will call the roll. (Roll call. Mr. BENDER. A quorum is present and we will proceed with the hearing. We will ask the Secretary to take the witness chair. There were some members who at the last meeting had not had an opportunity to question the Secretary of War, and if there are members here who would like to ask the Secretary questions, we will ask the Secretary to keep the stand until you will have completed the questions. Mr. Wadsworth, do you have any questions? STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT P. PATTERSON, SECRETARY OF WAR-Resumed Mr. WADSWORTH. I have a few questions. Mr. Secretary, if such a thing is possible, I would like to glance down the vista of the future with you with respect to the potentialities of this bill. The bill provides, among other things, for the establishment of a separate Air Corps, a Department of the Air. At present, as I understand it, the personnel of the Air Corps, being a part of the Army of the United States, is supplied by the procurement machinery of the War Department and the Army. Secretary PATTERSON. That is right. They are served as a part of the Army by the Quartermaster, Ordnance, Engineers, and the other technical services of the War Department. Mr. WADSWORTH. Now, looking toward the future, do you anticipate that, as a result of the establishment of a separate Department of the Air, the supplies now furnished by the Quartermaster General, for example, such as rations and clothing, will be furnished by an officer or agency set up within the new Department of the Air? Secretary PATTERSON. I do not anticipate that, and I think such a development would be very unfortunate. I would expect, under the directions of the bill, that the Secretary of National Defense would see to it that there was the greatest degree of interdependence between the three departments, so as to prevent overlapping and duplication, and that he would see to it that a separate engineer corps and a separate ordnance department and a separate quartermaster corps were not set up within the Air Department, but that they should continue to rely upon the Corps of Engineers, Ordnance Department, Quartermaster Corps, for their procurement and lines of supply, such as storage and depots and delivery of commodities just as they do now. Mr. WADSWORTH. It is very important, as you understand, that that be understood pretty thoroughly by the services involved, as well as by the Congress. Secretary PATTERSON. I have already discussed it with General Spaatz on a number of occasions, he being of course the Chief of the Air Forces, and he is in thorough accord with me on that. I think there is sufficient in the bill as it stands to indicate that is the solution that Congress, if it passes the bill, would expect to be taken. The bill says in several places here that the operations are to be conducted in the direction of integration; and, of course, in a development auch as you have just outlined, it would not be in the interest. of integration, but would be in the line of further separation and further duplication. Mr. WADSWORTH. It would be dispersion. Would that be a descriptive word? Secretary PATTERSON. Yes, dispersion and overlapping. Mr. WADSWORTH. Again looking into the future, as I understand it, a graduate of the Military Academy at West Point is commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to one or another of the branches of the Army. Will you explain to the committee just how a graduate of West Point, under the present law and regulations, becomes a commissioned officer in the Air Corps of the Army? Secretary PATTERSON. Yes, sir. During the war, the course at West Point was shortened 3 years, that is, was shortened to 3 years, as you know, and air training was given right within those 3 years, so that when a lieutenant who was qualified for air service graduated from West Point, he was already a qualified flyer. That, since the war, has been abandoned, and at the present time no flying training is given in the course at West Point. The cadets are taken up in the air, and they see what it is like to be in the air, but they are not trained as pilots. They have to acquire that after they have graduated at the present time. After their graduation, those who elect air are then given their training, primary, basic and advanced in flying. Mr. WADSWORTH. I suppose they have to demonstrate certain qualities before they are admitted to the actual Air Corps training? Secretary PATTERSON. Yes, sir. Mr. WADSWORTH. It is not merely the result of their individual applications. Secretary PATTERSON. No. They have to qualify, of course. They have to qualify later. Mr. WADSWORTH. How do you visualize that is going to work when we have a separate Department of the Air? Secretary PATTERSON. I would anticipate no change for the time being. If Congress should see fit, at some later time, to set up an Air Academy, that would be a debatable matter at that time, but it is certainly a matter that requires no immediate or prompt action. The system will work at West Point to graduate officers for the Army and for the Air, and will work well just as it does now. |