OCR Text |
Show The Kennedy Administration's Defense Actions When the Kennedy Administration took office it immedi- ately undertook intensive surveys of the adequacy of our defense v.; structure to meet the challenges of the 1960s. Rapid changes in military technology have meant that weapons systems and strategic doctrines alike have suffered from rapid obsolescence. In the new administration's six months specific steps have been initiated to overcome each deficiency in organization, doctrine, doc-trine, manpower and weapons that has been revealed by these studies. Here are some of the important actions which have been taken : New emphasis has been placed on developing our capacity for limited non-nuclear war an increasingly important defense need which was given a back seat by the previous GOP Administration. Admin-istration. (Continued on Page Four) L The Kennedy Administration's Defense Actions (Continued from Page One) To increase mobility of our limited war forces, planned procurement of troop carrier aircraft in Fiscal Year 1962 has j been stepped up from 50 to 129, and a large contract has been let for the design of a new jet troop carrier plane. Training of special forces in guerilla tactics and techniques has been considerably increased. Procurement of modern conventional weapons has been stepped up so that our troops in the field can be supplied with up-to-date weapons and equipment at an early date. Authorized Marine Corps manpower has been increased. Modernization of Navy ships most of which were built 20 or more years ago has been accelerated. To increase the capacity and security of our nuclear deterrent deter-rent against major war. Our Polaris submarine program has been stepped up. Twice as many Polaris will be started in Fiscal Year 1961 as had been planned by the previous administration. For FY 1962 an additional 10 Polaris will be constructed. These steps will provide a total Polaris fleet of 29 in commission by 1964 three years sooner than previously planned. |