Page 126 - NS-2 Textbook

THE COLD WAR ERA 119

The demobilization of the fleet progressed rapidly in the years following World War II, as indicated by this aerial view of some of the moth-
balled ships at San Diego, California, in 1950.

ening of the services continued. Ships sat alongside piers free use of the seas. Various Navy spokesmen such as
vdth half cre,Ys, lillable to get under ·way. Nimitz and Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal did not
foresee a major world ,varin the inunediate future. In-
UNIFICATION OF THE SERVICES stead, they saw the dangers of takeovers in cotmtries
bordering the Soviet Union and Communist-inspired in-
Along with demobilization came a reappraisal of the en- surgencies in many tmderdeveloped nations. The coun-
tire u.s. defense structure. Under the slogan of "unifica- tries threatened were the ones most closely associated
tion/' many in goverrunent and in the Arnl)' and its Air with the West and most dependent upon logistic and tac-
Corps component proposed a centralized military estab- tical support from the sea. Furthermore, Forrestal op-
lishment that would, they hoped, make the shrinking posed the idea of a single chief of staff over all of the
peacetime defense budgets stretch htrther. TIle Navy armed forces because that would almost certainly result
came under special criticism. Several loud voices stated in an enlphasis on one of the services at the expense of
that the Navy "vas extravagant and unnecessary because the others.
there ,vas no naval power anywhere in the world to op- Despite the general Navy opposition to tmification,
pose us. there were many things to be said for it. Unified com-
The Army Air Corps sought independent status as mand in large combat areas could be a significant ad-
the U.S. Air Force. They pointed to their strategic bomb- vantage, improving overall battle coordination. Also, it
ing role in Europe and Japan, and the fact that only they might help to eliminate some waste and duplication,
had the ability to deliver the atomic bomb, since Navy which none of the services could afford with their aus-
planes were not large enough. Some Air Corps generals tere peacetime budgets.
questioned the need for a Navy at all, arguing that any After long debate, Congress finally passed the Na-
future wars, unlikely as they were, could be won cheaply tional Security Act (NSA) in July 1947. The new law cre-
and quickly by bombing. They saw the proposed Air ated the Department of Defense, headed by a secretary of
Force as the nation's new first line of defense. defense, with subordinate Departments of the Army,
Fleet Admiral Nimitz, by now the chief of naval op- Navy, and Air Force, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Under
erations, took a more realistic view. He felt that no one the terms of the NSA, the secretary of defense became a
weapons system would be adequate to provide for all as- member of the presidenfs cabinet, while the secretaries
pects of national defense or to protect the nation's grow- of the services did not have cabinet rank. It established
ing world interests, most of which were dependent upon the Air Force as a separate service and gave it responsi-