NATIONAL DEFENSE

For the first time in our nation’s history we have consistently maintained in peacetime, military forces of a magnitude sufficient to deter and if need be to destroy predatory forces in the world.

Tremendous advances in strategic weapons systems have been made in the past eight years.  Not until 1953 were expenditures on long-range ballistic missile programs even as much as a million dollars a year; today we spend ten times as much each day on these programs as was spent in all of 1952.

No guided ballistic missiles were operational at the beginning of 1953.  Today many types give our armed forces unprecedented effectiveness.  The explosive power of our weapons systems for all purposes is almost inconceivable.

Today the United States has operational Atlas missiles which can strike a target 5000 miles away in a half-hour.  The Polaris weapons system became operational last fall and the titan is scheduled to become so this year.  Next year, more than a year ahead of schedule, a vastly improved ICBM, the solid propellant minuteman, is expected to be ready.

Squadrons of accurate Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles are now operational.  The Thor and Jupiter IRBMs based in forward areas can hit targets 1500 miles away in 18 minutes.

Aircraft which fly at speeds faster than sound were still in a developmental stage eight years ago.  Today American fighting planes go twice the speed of sound.  And either our B-58 Medium Range Jet Bomber or our B-52 Long Range Jet Bomber can carry more explosive power than was used by all combatants in World War II—­Allies and Axis combined.

Eight years ago we had no nuclear-powered ships.  Today 49 nuclear warships have been authorized.  Of these, 14 have been commissioned, including three of the revolutionary Polaris submarines.  Our nuclear submarines have cruised under the North Pole and circumnavigated the earth while submerged.  Sea warfare has been revolutionized, and the United States is far and away the leader.

Our tactical air units overseas and our aircraft carriers are alert; Army units, guarding the frontiers of freedom in Europe and the Far East, are in the highest state of readiness in peacetime history; our Marines, a third of whom are deployed in the Far East, are constantly prepared for action; our Reserve establishment has maintained high standards of proficiency, and the Ready Reserve now numbers over 2 1/2 million citizen-soldiers.

The Department of Defense, a young and still evolving organization, has twice been improved and the line of command has been shortened in order to meet the demands of modern warfare.  These major reorganizations have provided a more effective structure for unified planning and direction of the vast defense establishment.  Gradual improvements in its structure and procedures are to be expected.