The first need is to assure ourselves that military organization
facilitates rather than hinders the functioning of the military
establishment in maintaining the security of the nation.
Since World War II, the purpose of achieving maximum organizational
efficiency in a modern defense establishment has several times occasioned
action by the Congress and by the Executive.
The advent of revolutionary new devices, bringing with them the problem of
overall continental defense, creates new difficulties, reminiscent of those
attending the advent of the airplane half a century ago.
Some of the important new weapons which technology has produced do not fit
into any existing service pattern. They cut across all services, involve
all services, and transcend all services, at every stage from development
to operation. In some instances they defy classification according to
branch of service.
Unfortunately, the uncertainties resulting from such a situation, and the
jurisdictional disputes attending upon it, tend to bewilder and confuse the
public and create the impression that service differences are damaging the
national interest.
Let us proudly remember that the members of the Armed Forces give their
basic allegiance solely to the United States. Of that fact all of us are
certain. But pride of service and mistaken zeal in promoting particular
doctrine has more than once occasioned the kind of difficulty of which I
have just spoken.
I am not attempting today to pass judgment on the charge of harmful service
rivalries. But one thing is sure. Whatever they are, America wants them
stopped.
Recently I have had under special study the never-ending problem of
efficient organization, complicated as it is by new weapons. Soon my
conclusions will be finalized. I shall promptly take such Executive action
as is necessary and, in a separate message, I shall present appropriate
recommendations to the Congress.
Meanwhile, without anticipating the detailed form that a reorganization
should take, I can state its main lines in terms of objectives:
A major purpose of military organization is to achieve real unity in the
Defense establishment in all the principal features of military activities.
Of all these, one of the most important to our nation's security is
strategic planning and control. This work must be done under unified
direction.
The defense structure must be one which, as a whole, can assume, with top
efficiency and without friction, the defense of America. The Defense
establishment must therefore plan for a better integration of its defensive
resources, particularly with respect to the newer weapons now building and
under development. These obviously require full coordination in their
development, production and use. Good organization can help assure this
coordination.
In recognition of the need for single control in some of our most advanced
development projects, the Secretary of Defense has already decided to
concentrate into one organization all the anti-missile and satellite
technology undertaken within the Department of Defense.
Another requirement of military organization is a clear subordination of
the military services to duly constituted civilian authority. This control
must be real; not merely on the surface.
Next there must be assurance that an excessive number of compartments in
organization will not create costly and confusing compartments in our
scientific and industrial effort.
Finally, to end inter-service disputes requires clear organization and
decisive central direction, supported by the unstinted cooperation of every
individual in the defense establishment, civilian and military.