Development of approved space projects beyond the preliminary research stage is centralized in the Air Force because that department already has the greatest responsibility and capabilities in the space development field. To allow the other two Services to continue to enlarge their own research capabilities in space development would cause needless duplication as well as dissipation of scientific resources that can be used for other vital research projects. Question 10. In your opinion, do you feel the aviation industry would have benefitted if all aviation had been placed under the control of a single Service in 1947? What would such a consolidation have achieved? Answer: It would certainly not have been beneficial to place all aviation under control of a single Service, and decisions made at the time reflect this. In the example of aviation, there were and are unique Service requirements which are to a great extent generated by the restricted range capability of certain aircraft. This requires, for example, that a naval task force be equipped with integral aviation capability. However, Earth orbiting systems, by their very nature, are not limited to a local geographic sphere of activity but are global in nature and perform functions on a global basis which can be used by all three military departments, independent of location, provided the orbits are selectively chosen. In the interest of economy, therefore, joint requirements of all three Services are being formulated and will be the basis for each space development. It may be, in the future, as we become more knowledgeable in the use of space systems that deviations from this approach become evident or desirable. The exceptions clause in the new space directive will accommodate this situation should it arise. Question 11. Please define "preliminary research." Answer: Preliminary research means theoretical, exploratory and feasibility efforts including studies, experimentation and model fabrication. Studies include theoretical, planning, investigatory feasibility or preliminary design efforts related to the utilization of space for military purposes or in support of assigned military missions or responsibilities. Experimentation and model fabrication includes component, instrumentation, subsystem, propulsion, experimental payload and other efforts uniquely or chiefly applicable to or useful for space. (Whereupon, at 12:35 p.m., the committee recessed to reconvene at 10 a.m., Saturday, March 18, 1961.) DEFENSE SPACE INTERESTS SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 1961 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND ASTRONAUTICS, Washington, D.C. The committee met at 10 a.m., Hon. Overton Brooks (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The hearing will be in order. We are sorry we had to have this Saturday morning committee meeting, but it appeared there was no alternative. The purpose of the hearings that were opened yesterday was defined as that of establishing under the new orders from the Pentagon the lines of demarcation between military space effort and the civilian, or the NASA space effort. There is no attempt on the part of the committee, I want to explain, to interfere with the internal operation of the Pentagon; and the orders put out by the Secretary with regard to the assignment of missions and roles in space and the space effort, I don't believe will be questioned by this committee. But we want to clear up certain points that have arisen in reference to the extent of the orders insofar as the NASA program is concerned. Now, this morning, to accommodate these two gentlemen who I know are very busy men, and have a full schedule, we have agreed to hear General White and General Schriever in their testimony. We asked them to come down only yesterday afternoon, so we don't expect them to have any prepared statement-am I wrong in that respect? General WHITE. I do not have one, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Consequently, we will ask each of them to make a short general verbal statement as to their reaction on the orders in the Pentagon, and then to clear up any doubt as to the present or the future of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I want to say this beforehand, that the Air Force has had a good many Chiefs of Staff, and I have known every one of them. I have been in Congress ever since the Air Force was organized, but we have had no greater Chief of Staff of the Air Force than we have at this time. I told General White after he finishes he may leave. He tells me he works every Saturday. He is probably on Congressional hours and, therefore, as soon as we finish you may go back to your work. Could you give the committee briefly your idea, or your reaction, as to the orders from the Secretary of Defense assigning most of space to the Air Force? I will assume in advance that your reaction is favorable. (The biography of General White is as follows:) GEN. THOMAS D. WHITE, USAF Thomas Dresser White was born in Walker, Minnesota, on August 6, 1901. Upon graduation from the U.S. Military Academy on July 2, 1920, he was commissioned a second lieutenant of Infantry and immediately promoted to first lieutenant. Entering the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, General White was graduated in July 1921 and assigned duty with the 14th Infantry at Fort Davis, Panama Canal Zone. In September 1924 he entered Primary Flying School at Brooks Field, Texas. He was graduated from Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field, Texas in September 1925 and assigned duty with the 99th Observation Squadron at Bolling Field, Washington, D.C. In June of 1927, General White was assigned to duty as a student of the Chinese language in Peking, China. Four years later he returned to the United States for duty at Headquarters, Air Corps, Washington, D.C. General White was named Assistant Military Attaché for Air to Russia in February 1934. A year later he was appointed Assistant Military Attaché for Air to Italy and Greece, with station at Rome, Italy. General White was graduated from the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Alabama in May 1938. He then entered the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth. Upon completion of this training, he was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Air Corps, Washington, D.C. In April 1940, General White became Military Attaché to Brazil and the following August was named Chief of the U.S. Military Air Mission to Brazil. Returning to the United States in March 1942, General White was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations of the Third Air Force at Tampa, Florida and subsequently named Chief of Staff. Reassigned to Air Force Headquarters in January 1944, he became Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Intelligence. Proceeding to the Southwest Pacific in September 1944, General White assumed duty as the Deputy Commander of the 13th Air Force, taking part in the New Guinea, southern Philippines, and Borneo campaigns. The following June he assumed command of the Seventh Air Force in the Marianas and immediately moved with it to Okinawa. In January 1946 he returned with the Seventh Air Force to Hawaii. That October he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Pacific Air Command in Tokyo, Japan. One year later, in October 1947, General White took command of the Fifth Air Force in Japan. Transferred to the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force in October 1948 General White became Director of Legislative Liaison. He was appointed, in May 1950, Air Force Member of the Joint Strategic Survey Committee in the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was assigned as Director of Plans, Hq USAF, in February 1951 and in July 1951 assumed duties of Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, for the Air Force. General White was promoted to his present four-star rank of full general on June 30, 1953 and designated Vice Chief of Staff at that time, becoming Chief of Staff for the United States Air Force on July 1, 1957. His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with one Oak Leaf Cluster, and Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster. He is rated a command pilot, combat observer, aircraft observer and technical observer. General White has one daughter, Rebecca Ann (Mrs. William Mitchell, Jr. of Boyce, Virginia). He is married to the former Miss Constance Millicent Rowe. PROMOTIONS Commissioned a second lieutenant (permanent) July 2, 1920, he was promoted to first lieutenant (temporary) July 2, 1920; reverted to his permanent rank December 15, 1922; was promoted to first lieutenant (permanent) August 24, 1925; to captain (permanent) August 1, 1935; to major (temporary) May 20, 1939; to major (permanent) July 1, 1940; to lieutenant colonel (temporary) July 15, 1941; to colonel (temporary) March 1942; to brigadier general (temporary) November 2, 1942; to lieutenant colonel (permanent) July 2, 1943; to major general (temporary) July 6, 1946; to major general (permanent) February 19, 1948; to lieutenant general (temporary) July 28, 1951; to general (temporary) June 30, 1953. Up to date as of January 1959. STATEMENT OF GEN. THOMAS D. WHITE, CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE AIR FORCE General WHITE. I should say my reaction, of course, is favorable because I think the whole Air Force is mindful of the confidence that the Secretary of Defense has placed in the Air Force in defining this mission more clearly than in the past. I think that our major reaction is that a very great responsibility, insofar as the military space program is concerned, has been placed upon the Air Force, and we intend to carry it out to the very limit of our ability. The CHAIRMAN. Now, that gives military space largely to the Air Force. That is correct, is it not? General WHITE. It gives the research, development, and testing of space matters to the Air Force, but there are many provisos that require us to consult with and utilize facilities and personnel of the Army and Navy on projects in which they may have an interest. It also provides that the other services may continue studying ways and means whereby space may be utilized for their particular missions in the military sphere. The CHAIRMAN. Now, when a weapons system becomes operative it is then assigned to the proper military department, is it not? General WHITE. It is assigned to the appropriate military command; the Unified Commands, or Specified Commands, which would have the need for the utilization of that particular system. It is a fact that with minor exceptions all combat forces of all the services today, since the Reorganization Act of 1958, are assigned to unified and specified commanders and are no longer under service operational control. Prior to the 1958 Act, for example, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force commanded certain of the major units of the Air Force, such as the Strategic Air Command, the Air Defense Command, and one or two others. The Chief of Naval Operations prior to the Reorganization Act commanded all naval forces. With the Reorganization Act, that authority was rescinded and the command reposes in the Unified, or Specified Commands. The CHAIRMAN. Here is a point we want to get to: Some time back my attention was directed to a certain directive, order, or statement purporting to come from you in which you referred to the future of NASA-you referred in that statement to the fact that the military would ultimately take over NASA. That is a point that I wanted you to clear up. General WHITE. I am delighted to have a chance to clear that up, Mr. Chairman. The memorandum has been declassified, and I would like my staff to pass a copy to each member of the Committee, and then I would like to talk about it. The CHAIRMAN. Is there any objection to putting that in the record? General WHITE. Not at all, sir. The CHAIRMAN. If there is no objection, it is so ordered. (The document referred to is as follows:) AFPDC (Gen Landon) AFDDC (Gen Wilson) Certified True Copy. 14 April 1960 1. I am convinced that one of the major long range elements of the Air Force future lies in space. It is also obvious that NASA will play a large part in the national effort in this direction and, moreover, inevitably will be closely associated, if not eventually combined with the military. It is perfectly clear to me that particularly in these formative years the Air Force must, for its own good as well as for national interest, cooperate to the maximum extent with NASA, to include the furnishing of key personnel even at the expense of some Air Force dilution of technical talent. 2. It has come to my attention that key personnel in NASA feel that there has been a shift in Air Force policy in respect to the type of cooperation stated above. I want to make it crystal clear that the policy has not changed and that to the very limit of our ability, and even beyond it to the extent of some risk to our own programs, the Air Force will cooperate and will supply all reasonable key personnel requests made on it by NASA. 3. To meet the above requirement I have no doubt that some shifting of Air Force personnel within the Air Force will be necessary in order to feed new talent into ARDC. This should be done. In addition, while late, we must increase the number of slots in civil technical institutions for Air Force officers. I want this type of technical education to be given the highest priority in our civil educational program and the percentage of slots in this respect to be radically increased, effective as early as possible. THOMAS D. WHITE Chief of Staff cc: Under Secretary of the Air Force Dr. Perkins General LeMay General Schriever Classification cancelled by The CHAIRMAN. Now, you wish to explain the order? I would first like to call attention to the date: 14 April 1960. I would ask the committee to recall the environment at that time in which there were many proposals for reorganization of the entire space environment, even one to create an organization paralleling the Atomic Energy Commission, for example. This memorandum, I am quite frank to say, was a sermon from the Chief of Staff to his staff. At about that time I think it was Mr. Horner, who had been in NASA, reported to me that there was a feeling on the part of some people in NASA that the numbers of Air Force officers assigned for duty were inadequate, and that they had had some difficulty, on a lower level, getting the right people in the right slots over there. The sole purpose of this memorandum—and I think I stated it very clearly-is that I want to make it crystal clear that the policy is we will cooperate with NASA-and to the very limit of our ability and even beyond, to the extent of some risk to our own programs. The Air Force will cooperate and will support all reasonable key personnel requests made on it by NASA. I want to make it clear that it was my policy that the best people in the Air Force would go to NASA if they wanted them, and I am happy to say at the last count there are 77 Air Force officers in NASA and if they need more we will support them. There are a number |