Show THIS T H I 1 S in wissi culka buas striking power keynotes talks washington military diplomatic arid and congressional leaders are measuring the fela relative tive U S and russian military potentials in preparation for a firm stand at the forthcoming summit talks the yardstick being used Is striking power measured both in total force and ability to move rapidly to counterattack once the first blow has hag been delivered tle the opinion of military experts weve talked with is that neither nation could deliver on an initial knockout blow japan they recall delivered an n all out sneak rk attack on pearl harbor that crippled our navy our superiority in the movement of men and material to distant parts at the world proved in the end to be decisive russia undoubtedly has or will boon have the ability to strike an even abre punishing first blow through the use of long range missiles silea out but we now havoc ability to move ully fully equipped armies thousands of miles in a 8 matter in at t 0 r tt 0 f hours I 1 s and to kep them ilcin supplied plied through oil art aerial pipeline secretary of the air force james 11 II douglas pointed out that in addition to an undisclosed number of military planes the U S has on a stand by basis some come 2500 civilian cargo and passenger alnes in a civil reserve air fleet that would dwarf the famous berlin airlift except for the availability of the CRAP the military budget now new before congress might be appreciably larger secretary douglas recognized this when lie he told a congressional appropriations committee committed we have not ordered any turbojet transport aircraft for the military air transport such as the airlines have on order in large numbers and which we count qu the airlines making a part apart of CRAF tills this fleet Is an essential part of our wartime airlift ability these views aro are shared by congressmen C oti gressmen with whom we have talked MO lep prince 11 II PrO MOO toa chairman Cht of the he subcommittee tor for the air force told us in an interview our howo not so secret weapon more significant than all the sputniks is the civil reserve air fleet it should be maintained aad strengthened to give us unmatched ability to shift and con ten en our striking power in a matter of hours not days or weeks the building of a strong cl civilian air fleet through government assistance not only is good sense it also is good economy the berlin airlift air lift demonstrated the value of our ability to move people and supplies safely and speedily rep albert thomas D tex another member of the subcommittee told us that if and when the next war starts the initial movement of men and supplies must be done by air this can be done only if we maintain and strengthen our air power both military and civilian ah an ade quate reserve through the commercial airlines Is of the utmost importance rep john J rooney D NY N Y also a member of the air force forc subcommittee said air power will continue to be of vital importance in our total defense for some time I 1 favor maximum utilization of both military and civilian planes as the most economical method for maintaining our air strength |