First, a realistic limitation of armaments and an enduring, just peace remain our national goals; we maintain powerful military forces because there is no present alternative—­forces designed for deterrent and defensive purposes alone but able instantly to strike back with destructive power in response to an attack.

Second, we must stay alert to the fact that undue reliance on one weapon or preparation for only one kind of warfare simply invites an enemy to resort to another.  We must, therefore, keep in our armed forces balance and flexibility adequate for our purposes and objectives.

Third, to keep our armed forces abreast of the advances of science, our military planning must be flexible enough to utilize the new weapons and techniques which flow ever more speedily from our research and development programs.  The forthcoming military budget therefore emphasizes modern airpower in the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and increases the emphasis on new weapons, especially those of rapid and destructive striking power.  It assures the maintenance of effective, retaliatory force as the principal deterrent to overt aggression.  It accelerates the continental defense program and the build-up of ready military reserve forces.  It continues a vigorous program of stockpiling strategic and critical materials and strengthening our mobilization base.  The budget also contemplates the strategic concentration of our strength through redeployment of certain forces.  It provides for reduction of forces in certain categories and their expansion in others, to fit them to the military realities of our time.  These emphases in our defense planning have been made at my personal direction after long and thoughtful study.  In my judgment, they will give our nation a defense accurately adjusted to the national need.

Fourth, pending a world agreement on armament limitation, we must continue to improve and expand our supplies of nuclear weapons for our land, naval and air forces, while, at the same time, continuing our encouraging progress in the peaceful use of atomic power.

And fifth, in the administration of these costly programs, we must demand the utmost in efficiency and ingenuity.  We must assure our people not only of adequate protection but also of a defense that can be carried forward from year to year until the threat of aggression has disappeared.

To help maintain this kind of armed strength and improve its efficiency, I must urge the enactment of several important measures in this session.

The first concerns the selective service act which expires next June 30th.  For the foreseeable future, our standing forces must remain much larger than voluntary methods can sustain.  We must, therefore, extend the statutory authority to induct men for two years of military service.