9. Chairman, Research and Development Board, becomes appointee of Secretary of Defense rather than of President. 10. Departments of Army, Navy, Air Force are defined as "military" departments within an “executive" department, the Department of Defense. I see that I have about used up my time-so rather than explain the changes in any greater detail, I think I'll throw the floor open for questions. Thank you for your patience. THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, Washington 25, D. C., March 25, 1949. Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense: The Joint Chiefs of Staff have considered your memorandum of March 15, 1949, enclosing a copy of the bill to amend the National Security Act of 1947 and inviting suggestions for technical changes in that act in addition to the substantive changes recommended to the Congress by the President. In this connection, they have also considered your earlier memorandum requesting their views as to whether their duties as prescribed in section 211 of the National Security Act of 1947 should be amended, clarified, or deleted, and as to whether any new functions or responsibilties should be added. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have no suggestions for technical changes in the National Security Act of 1947. However, in order that their comments may be fully responsive, they have carefully examined the bill to amend the National Security Act of 1947 with respect to its direct bearing on their responsibilties as Joint Chiefs of Staff and offer the following comments thereon. The Joint Chiefs of Staff note that, other than stating that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall be the "head thereof" and that he shall take precedence over all other officers, there is contained in the bill no description of what relationship shall exist between the Chairman, the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the services. It is believed sound in principle that this important position should be adequately set forth and not subject to gradual establishment by custom or usage. It is accordingly recommended that the following be added to subparagraph (b) of section 211: "Provided that, by virtue of his office, the Chairman shall not exercise military command over the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the services." The Joint Chiefs of Staff consider that the functions now set forth in subparagraphs (b) (1) to (7), inclusive, of section 211 of the National Security Act of 1947, are purely military and, as such, are properly duties with which the Joint Chiefs of Staff should specifically be charged. To eliminate any possible misinterpretation or ambiguity, the Joint Chiefs of Staff recommend that subparagraph (c) of section 211 of the bill be changed as indicated (omit matter in black brackets): "Subject to the authority and direction of the President and the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall [assist the Secretary of Defense in] perform[ing] such duties as the Secretary of Defense may direct, including, in the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, any or all of] the following:" It is noted that subparagraph (d) of section 211 of the bill provides that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, rather than the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall act as the principal military adviser to the President and the Secretary of Defense and shall perform such other duties as the President and the Secretary of Defense may direct or as may be prescribed by law. In order that it may be entirely clear that these duties are to be performed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in that capacity it is recommended that this subparagraph be revised to read as follows: "The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as such shall act as the principal military adviser to the President and the Secretary of Defense and shall perform such other duties as the President and the Secretary of Defense may direct or as may be prescribed by law." The proposed amendment to section 212 of the National Security Act of 1947, which has the effect of removing the limitation of 100 officers for the Joint Staff, also provides for the appointment of the Director of the Joint Staff by the Secretary of Defense instead of by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Joint Chiefs of Staff believe, in principle, that the original provision on this matter would be the sounder of the two methods of appointment, since the Joint Staff constitutes an activity under the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and its director, accordingly, should be appointed by them as a matter of normal command relationship. They recommended accordingly that section 212 of the bill be revised as follows (omit matter in black brackets, new matter in italics) : "There shall be, under the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a Joint Staff to be composed of approximately equal numbers of officers from each of the three armed services. The Joint Staff, [shall operate] operating under a Director thereof appointed by the Joint Chiefs of of Staff, [Secretary of Defense] shall perform such duties as may be directed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Director shall be an officer junior in grade to all members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." Subparagraph (c) of section 213 of the bill makes no change in the duties of the Munitions Board as now set forth in the National Security Act of 1947, but omits the present provisions for relating these duties to the strategic and logistic plans which they are designed to support. In order that this point may be clarified, it is recommended that this section be rewritten as follows: "The Board, or if the Secretary of Defense should so prescribe, the Chairman, after consultation with the Board, shall assist the Secretary of Defense in performing such duties as the Secretary of Defense may direct, including, in the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, any or all of the following in support of strategic and logistic plans or in consonance with guidance in those fields provided by the Joint Chiefs of Staff." For the Joint Chiefs of Staff: LOUIS DENFELD, Admiral, United States Navy. Memorandum for the Joint Chiefs of Staff: THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, In your memorandum of March 25, 1949, which you submitted in response to my request of March 15, 1949, you have made five suggestions with respect to S. 1269, as introduced by Senator Tydings. Of the five suggestions, I am of the opinion that the first, third, and fourth constitute suggestions which I can and will submit to the Bureau of the Budget and the Congress, since they do not seem to me to be in conflict with the President's proposals for amending the National Security Act, as set out in his message of March 5, 1949, and as set out in greater detail in S. 1269. Your second and fifth suggestions, however, seem to me to be in conflict with the President's message of March 5, in conflict with the provisions of S. 1269, and in conflict with the unanimous recommendations of the members of the Hoover Commission. In this connection, your attention is invited to the entire contents of the President's message of March 5, and in particular your attention is invited to the following excerpt from the President's message: "I, therefore, recommend that the National Security Act be amended * * * to provide the Secretary of Defense with appropriate responsibility and authority, and with civilian and military assistance adequate to fulfill his enlarged respon* * * This can be provided * * sibility. * by the conversion of existing agencies of the National Military Establishment into staff units for the Secretary. The act should be amended to make possible the flexible use of both of these agencies [Munitions Board and Research and Development Board], and of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as staff units for the Secretary of Defense." [Italics supplied.] * * * In the light of the language quoted above, I do not feel that your second and fifth suggestions-which would assign fixed duties, instead of flexible duties, to the Joint Chiefs of Staff-can be regarded as in conformity with the program of the President. My intention, therefore, is to go forward with your first, third, and fourth suggestions, but not with the second and fifth. JAMES V. FORRESTAL. Hon. MILLARD E. TYDINGS, THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, United States Senate. Chairman, Armed Services Committee, MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I have just completed reading, with a great deal of interest, the first 2 days of hearings before your committee on S. 1269, amending the National Security Act, introduced by you on March 16, 1949. In connection with some of the matters which your committee has already considered at the first 2 days of hearings, it occurs to me that a recent exchange of correspondence between Secretary of Defense Forrestal and the Joint Chiefs of Staff will be of interest to you and the members of your committee. Accordingly, I am attaching photostatic copies of this exchange. Briefly stated, the Joint Chiefs of Staff submitted five recommendations for changes in the wording of S. 1269. These five recommendations have been numbered in red pencil on the attached photostats. The five recommendations and the views of Secretary Forrestal and the Bureau of the Budget on these recommendations, can be summed up as follows: 1. The Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended that the following wording be added to the section which deals with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "Provided that, by virtue of his office, the Chairman shall not exercise military command over the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the services." Secretary Forrestal and the Bureau of the Budget have advised the Joint Chiefs of Staff that, in their opinion, this particular suggestion has merit, and can probably be added to the bill. 2. The Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended that the enumerated duties of the Joint Chiefs of Staff should be fixed by the statute, instead of being left flexible, as S. 1269 proposes. Secretary Forrestal and the Bureau of the Budget have advised the Joint Chiefs of Staff that, in their opinion, this particular recommendation is in conflict with President Truman's message of March 5, in conflict with the provisions of S. 1269, and in conflict with the unanimous recommendations of the Hoover Commission. 3. The Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended that the proposed wording of section 211 (d), which now states that “The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall act as the principal military adviser to the President and the Secretary of Defense," be amended by the addition of 2 words as follows: "The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as such shall act as the principal military adviser to the President and the Secretary of Defense. The Bureau of the Budget has advised the Joint Chiefs of Staff that it is of the opinion that this particular recommendation, while perhaps not in conflict with the President's message of March 5, nevertheless does not represent any improvement in S. 1269 as presently drafted. * ** 4. The Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended that the Director of the Joint Staff be appointed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, rather than by the Secretary of Defense, as contemplated by S. 1269. The Bureau of the Budget has advised the Joint Chiefs of Staff that it is of the opinion that this particular recommendation, while perhaps not in conflict with the President's message of March 5, nevertheless does not represent any improvement in S. 1269 as presently drafted. 5. The Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended that additional language be added to section 213 (c), which describes the duties of the Munitions Board, in order to add the thought that these duties are to be performed "in support of strategic and logistic plans or in consonance with guidance in those fields provided by the Joint Chiefs of Staff." Secretary Forrestal and the Bureau of the Budget have advised the Joint Chiefs of Staff that, in their opinion, this particular recommendation is in conflict with President Truman's message of March 5, in conflict with the provisions of S. 1269, and in conflict with the unanimous recommendations of the Hoover Commission. In view of the fact that General Bradley, Admiral Denfeld, and General Vandenberg are testifying before your committee today, I am sending you photostatic copies of the exchange of correspondence between Secretary Forrestal and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in order that your committee may be fully informed of the views which the Joint Chiefs of Staff have submittted to this office. Sincerely yours, LOUIS JOHNSON. (Whereupon, at 12:15 p. m., an adjournment was taken.) |