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Show GRASSROOTS Ike's Duty Is To Integrate 11 Military Commands By Wright A. Patterson TiHE INTERNATIONAL ARMY General Eisenhower is to organize, or-ganize, equip and command, should the Russians attack us or any one of the Western European nations, presents many intricate and difficult diffi-cult problems. It will be composed of troops from 11 different countries, speaking speak-ing and understanding 11 different languages. All must understand army orders in exactly the same way so that none work at cross purposes pur-poses in battle and cause what could prove to be disastrous confusion. He must devise a workable system that will make any misunderstandings misunderstand-ings impossible before he can hope to defeat the Russian hordes on land. In Korea, General MacArthur, as commander of the United Nations forces, composed as it Is of troops from several nations, na-tions, speaking and understanding understand-ing several different languages, has had somewhat the same problem, though to a smaller extent, and he has solved that problem. He also has had the problem of arms and ammunition ammuni-tion supply for the troops from different nations. That was difficult, dif-ficult, but he solved it. Eisenhower will have the greater problem of providing interchangeable interchange-able arms and ammunition for his army, so the same rifle bullets will work for all troops regardless of the country from which they come. The agreement between the nations of the North Atlantic pact is that each nation will provide the needed items of supplies for which they are best equipped. America, England, France and Germany will each contend con-tend it can prfevide the best of planes, tanks, trucks, guns and ammunition. am-munition. The decision will rest with Eisenhower. That decision, when made, will arouse many antagonisms which can only be removed by the contesting con-testing manufacturers being shown, diplomatically, the reason for his decision. To permit such antagonism antagon-ism to go unanswered would create distrust on the home front that could result in disaster on the battle bat-tle front. That problem of production of arms, munitions and supplies for this international army constitutes con-stitutes what is probably, the greatest single problem Eisenhower Eisen-hower has undertaken. It will call for the exercise of all the diplomacy he possesses to keep peace in the international family, fam-ily, without which victory on the battlefield will go glimmering. glimmer-ing. But to attempt to fight a war with the arms, munitions and supplies not being interchangeable, inter-changeable, coming from 11 different sources, would be Impossible. Im-possible. ' The general will have no great difficulty in organizing his general staff.- He can pick the best of the officers from each of the 11 nations na-tions involved, and the combined ability of the general staff, applied to the many problems involved will aid materially in providing solutions. so-lutions. One of the small ones is the full understanding of road signs on the part of drivers of trucks, tanks, and other self propelled pieces of equipment, or transportation in general. gen-eral. Whatever a road sign says must be understood by all as meaning mean-ing the same thing. Camp signs would come within the same category. cate-gory. Road signs are of seemingly small importance, but on them could hinge success or failure when it became time to move reinforcements reinforce-ments to a threatened weak spot in a battle line. Such a job as that Eisenhower has assumed calls for the ability of a superman. No soldier in all the world's history has ever before be-fore been expected to do so much to solve so many intricate problems. prob-lems. Eisenhower is the one man in the armed forces of all the 11 nations who could best be expected expect-ed to have the organizing ability and strategy in the field, the patience pa-tience and diplomacy to meet problems of the home front, and those of army organization and training. Can Eisenhower do the job? My guess would be that he can that he can and will solve the innumer- Ar!? r6mS the 3ob Presents. And should Joe Stalin and his Russian Rus-sian Commies start anything, they Th?t Ut bef0Ie ther iar that they are up against a real adversary. ad-versary. To solve all the problems mvolved calls for a gerJus, and n3aVtUe nius in whom au H nations have faith. |
