DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION

In consideration of the complexity and scope of functions and responsibilities assigned to the Director of Public Information in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, the position was established as requiring the services of a general officer whose rank and length of service could provide experience basic to the proper fulfillment of this important function.

Discussion of public-information activities are usually based on the concept of a single function-that of providing information concerning the Air Force to the public. In actual fact, this requirement, while highly important, is only 1 of the 3 principal fields with which the USAF Director of Public Information must be concerned. The other two, Air Force Community Relations and staff adviser to the Secretary of the Air Force, Chief of Staff, United States Air Force, the Air staff, and air commanders in matters of public relations are equally important. The Director of Public Information acts as principal spokesman of the Air Force in disseminating information concerning Air Force policies, plans, and actions to the public through the medium of press, radio, television, motion and still pictures, periodicals, speeches, etc. As spokesman, queries concerning the Air Force are directed to him from all sources who look to him as the authority on matters concerning the Air Force.

Occupying hundreds of installations in the Zone of Interior and foreign countries, the Air Force faces a complex problem in community relations. In the continental United States, the problem is the acceptance of the Air Force installation into the community's way of life. Saturation of civic facilities by military personnel, noise by military aircraft, and the remote hazard of aircraft accidents create community misunderstanding which can be minimized through communityrelations programs. The program for the Air Force is the responsibility of the

Director.

In the foreign communities, the Air Force installation is faced with language, cultural, and physical difficulties which must be overcome if the mutual defense of the allied countries is to be properly served. The solution of this overall problem is a responsibility of the Director, who must consider and advise on the type and method of indoctrination and orientation of Air Force personnel proceeding to service in foreign countries.

The Director of Public Information acts as principal counselor to the commanders and staff of the Air Force on public-relations matters. This touches on all fields of internal relations as well as those which have as their ultimate objective, the informing of the American people. He must consider plans made by commanders and staffs in the light of their public acceptance and of their effect on the personnel who comprise the Air Force. He must insure that the interests, attitudes, and reactions of the public and of the personnel of the Air Force are carefully considered in the conduct of Air Force activities. In the pursuit of this function, he provides advice through, and to the Secretary of the Air Force, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and Air staff, and to Air Force commanders to insure his complete up-to-the-minute knowledge of Air Force actions, and he attends meetings of the top Air staff planning agencies. As spokesman for the Air Force, and as principal staff adviser, the Director of Public Information must be possessed of a long and varied experience within the Air Force itself. He must have the detailed knowledge of Air Force operations in all their complexities, and must possess the stature (and rank) which mark him as a senior officer and authoritative spokesman for the Air Force.

To fulfill these requirements, he should be a general officer.

Mr. BLANDFORD. That is right, Sory Smith, he is 43 years old. would guess he is a very capable pilot. I don't know anything about him. I would guess, also, that given his choice he would like to get as far away from Washington as he would like to get and probably

considers

General WETZEL. I can say "amen" to that.

Mr. BLANDFORD. And considers his present assignment the worst he ever has had. I would like to know how much experience General Smith has had in newspaper work or in the public-information field? General WETZEL. I am not sure I can answer that.

Mr. BLANDFORD. I suggest this, General, and I think it is true for many of these public-information people, at least in the general billets

and in the colonels billets. Most of them are people without newspaper experience who are there merely to make sure that the releases have something to do with the Air Force, in your particular case, and there is nothing confidential or something that will be of aid and comfort to the enemy or that the right picture is painted. In other words, the reason you have a general officer is that you want to make sure the information is going to be of benefit to the Air Force and not detrimental to the Air Force.

General WETZEL. I think I would include the country there, too, and not just the Air Force.

Mr. BLANDFORD. It is a little unfair in many respects to bring in an officer who has been commanding a wing and say, "You are now the Director of Public Information. You may not know it but you are now an authority on public information matters."

It is so far afield from flying an airplane or running a wing or a materiel command or anything else.

Why can't it be done by Reserve people with newspaper experience or regulars with experience in that line, or possibly a topflight civilian who has Air Force background who would know whether those stories are going to be of aid to the country and to the people and eliminate that as a general officer's billet for the Air Force and release this man to pick up one of these billets you so sorely need? It is one that stands out like a sore thumb. All the services are doing it. I am not directing this just at the Air Force.

Here is a Marine Corps with a brigadier general. They have as much need for that man running that as they have need for six more four-star generals.

General WETZEL. Perhaps this is the time for me to make a statement which you should realize as you consider this problem. General Vandenberg is charged with running the Air Force. If it is not run properly it is his neck. He has that responsibility and nobody understands what that responsibility is, I am convinced, until they are in the position. He is the guy.

In his Air Force he has, in his opinion, certain positions that are legitimate, justified general-officer positions. He is limited in the number of general officers he has. He cannot fill all of those positions.

For instance, presently the Senate Armed Services Committee have a ceiling of 383 on general officers. With fewer general officers, fewer than he feels are required, he carefully allocates the generals that he does have to the positions that he feels will best help him accomplish his mission. You have got to accept that. He is the chief. He is the guy with the responsibility. He is given some means to do his job, perhaps not adequate, limited many times. He uses those means in his experience and in his judgment in the best possible way to enable the Air Force to meet the responsibility that it has.

That is true in some of these, many of these, positions, perhaps. You cannot understand why, when the Air Force is so limited in general-officer capability, he would waste one of those in the office of public information.

I submit to you only that in his opinion, which differs from yours, he does not consider it wasteful. He would prefer to take one of his limited positions, withhold it from a combat wing, and put it in this public-information seat in Washington.

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News breaks fast and you know the press as well as I do. By the way, this position reports to the Secretary. Whether that is true in the Army and Navy or not I do not know.

Many times, and one very good reason it seems to me for having a general officer occupy that position, is that when things do break fast and he has to speak and he cannot wait and run to the Secretary or run to the chief, he speaks for them.

Mr. BLANDFORD. You don't think a civilian could do that?
General WETZEL. Perhaps he could.

Mr. BLANDFORD. That is the point I am making, General. I am also making this point in reply to your statement about General Vandenberg's responsibility, which certainly I appreciate: I call your attention to an often forgotten little document called the Constitution of the United States. For some reason known only to the founders of this Nation they gave to the Congress the right and authority to make rules and regulations for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. They didn't mention the Air Force but by inference it is there. The Congress must also exercise its judgment in connection with these matters.

General WETZEL. That is correct.

Mr. BLANDFORD. And that is what this committee is doing at this moment. What we want is guidance from you people as to the necessity for these positions because it is this committee which has to defend you

General WETZEL. I understand.

Mr. BLANDFORD. On the floor of the House. That is the reason for this inquiry. As a matter of fact, your statement is a very good statement as a summary of what we are doing. We are not matchingcertainly I am not, and I speak also for the subcommittee and I know I speak for myself-it would be presumptuous on our part to tell General Vandenberg how to fly airplanes and run the Air Force and when to deliver bombs and when not to deliver bombs. We have had experience like that during the Civil War when they had a committee on the conduct of the war. I don't suppose there was ever a sorrier performance by any committee of Congress. It probably extended the war for a good 2 years beyond what it should have been. But the Congress still is charged with the responsibility of raising the money to support this Air Force and it is Congress' responsibility to find out whether that money is being spent wisely.

General WETZEL. Granted, sir.

Mr. BLANDFORD. And when a suggestion is made that possibly the money is not being spent wisely, and I think those suggestions have been made in the past few years on a few occasions, it is your job to state it is being spent wisely and then for the Congress to decide whether your statement is sound.

General WETZEL. That is correct, sir.

Mr. ARENDS. Do you have information from them on this?

Mr. BLANDFORD. Only from the Marine Corps. The Committee on Expenditures has asked for the same information on public officers. As a matter of fact, all public information activities is included. Mr. ARENDS. All the services?

Mr. BLANDFORD. The services have requested they be permitted to supply us with a copy of the information which they will supply that committee without necessity of duplicating effort.

Mr. ARENDS. It will probably be available before we get through with these hearings.

Mr. BLANDFORD. Before we get through with these hearings I am sure it will be available.

General WETZEL. May I state in response to your statement that I am certainly not questioning the responsibility of the Congress nor the authority that they are given in the Constitution. I submit only that so often when you are not the fellow charged with it it is hard to understand why he does certain things.

Mr. BLANDFORD. That is right. I agree with that, General. We will run into this throughout these hearings.

General WETZEL. It is difficult, and yet none of us can say what we would do if we were the guy.

Mr. BLANDFORD. Personally I wouldn't take the job of public information officer for any branch of the service if they made me a twostar general tomorrow. It is the unhappiest job anybody can have. You get blamed for everything that goes wrong and no credit for anything that goes well. You get blamed for everything, including shoelaces. I think that came up at one time.

Office of the Chief of Staff is self-explanatory. I would like to ask you, General, about this: You mentioned the Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, and I find nothing comparable for that in the Navy and I don't know whether the Army has anything comparable to that or not, you indicated he was a mighty busy individual. Would you explain what the Assistant Vice Chief of Staff does that the Vice Chief of Staff doesn't do?

General WETZEL. Can I first ask if any of the other personnel here can comment on whether the Army or the Navy has such a position? Mr. BLANDFORD. General Powell, does the Army have an Assistant Vice Chief of Staff?

General POWELL. No officer in that position. Vice Chief of Staff is assisted by a colonel assigned to the Office of the Secretary of General Staff.

Mr. BLANDFORD. Thank you very much.

That leaves you by yourself, General.
General WETZEL. How about the Navy?

Mr. BLANDFORD. The Navy does not, I am sure.

General WETZEL. How about the Marine Corps?

Mr. BLANDFORD. A Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff. They have a commandant, assistant commandant, a Chief of Staff, a Deputy Chief of Staff, and then the four

General WETZEL. A commandant

Mr. BLANDFORD. Yes. But, as a matter of fact, you will find that the Marine Corps and Air Force are closer together than any two branches of the service.

General WETZEL. Is that right?

Mr. BLANDFORD. Yes.

General WETZEL. I am anxious to get our figures straight.

Mr. BLANDFORD. I might mention this: The Marine Corps does not have a general officer who is an executive to a Chief of Staff as you have it. They have a commandant who acts as your Chief of Staff. Then they have Chief of Staff and then they have a Deputy. General WETZEL. I see.

Mr. BLANDFORD. So with the exception of the executive officer, who is a general officer in the Air Force, they do not have any comparable person. They have a person who is a colonel who occupies a comparable responsibility. However, that would be normal in relationship to the size of the Marine Corps as compared to the size of the Air Force.

General WETZEL. Let me read his job description, or his mission in life, what he gets paid for, and then we can talk about it further. Mr. BLANDFORD. Yes.

General WETZEL. The Assistant Vice Chief of Staff assists the Chief of Staff and the Vice Chief in the development and implementation of plans and policies and in the overall direction of the United States Air Force. He exercises general supervision over administration in the Air Staff.

He, General McKee, runs the Air Staff. The Chief of Staff does not. I have an idea he does not in either the Army or the Navy probably. They are busy on Joint Chiefs' activities, and in my opinion if he is a good Chief of Staff he is out of Washington frequently looking through the store, letting the troops see him and finding out what goes on.

During those absences the Vice Chief acts as Chief and attends Joint Chiefs of Staff meetings and Armed Forces policy council meetings. Therefore, the Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, who acts for the Chief and for the Vice Chief, and runs the Air Staff, deals with directors, is the approving authority, and runs the business.

In the Air Force, and perhaps it is just because of the way we are organized, in my opinion, and, of course, in the opinion of the Chief and Vice Chief, it is a very necessary position. It certainly carries the responsibility of a major general. McKee handles the Deputy Chiefs of Staff, of which there are 5, 5 in the rank of 3-star generals.

I am sorry I don't know more about the Army and Navy business on that.

Mr. BLANDFORD. Actually the Navy has five deputies. Then you have a Vice Chief of Naval Operations and a Chief of Naval Operations. They do not have an assistant Vice Chief of Naval Operations who acts as such, nor do they have a flag officer who acts as an executive officer. They have secretaries and aids, I think, to the flag officers who are usually captains. However, it is not anything of major importance.

Office of Inspector General intrigued me for four reasons. What does the Air Provost Marshal do? I can appreciate a provost marshal in the Army where they are charged, may be charged with the responsibility for controlling prisoners as they did during World War II, but I just mention this: The Navy's comparable setup is commanded by s lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, and I would guess that the Air Force would have about as many prisoners as the Navy would have in the event of a war. I don't know. What justifies a major general as an Air Provost Marshal?

General WETZEL. Once again we are in the position that we were before. Let me read his duties and responsibilities. He exercises supervision, responsibility over all matters pertaining to the maintenance of military discipline, enforcement of security, and the security of the atomic-energy program in the Air Force. He recommends his plans, policies, and procedures for improvement of discipline and