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    "localId": "72736342",
    "label": "Press and Radio Conference with General Nathan F. Twining, Air Force Chief of Staff",
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    "title": "Press and Radio Conference with General Nathan F. Twining, Air Force Chief of Staff",
    "description": "This is an interview with General Twining, Air Force Chief of Staff, about a United States Air Force delegation visit to the Soviet Union.",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/72736342",
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        "Alphabetical Subject Files"
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    "ocrText": "THE WHITE HOUSE\nGETTYSBURG\nPRESS AND RADIO CONFERENCE --\nWITH GENERAL NATHAN F. TWINING, AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF\nThursday, July 5, 1956, 1.50 p.m., e.d.s.t.\nMR. HAGERTY: Two things before we start. Let us have\nthe usual agreement that as long as we are here, nobody tries\nto telephone out or move copy, except the photographers can\nDwight\nshoot a plate out.\nand\nThe group -- I think you know all the group here with\nme. Of course, General Twining, Secretary Quarles, and\nLieutenant General Frank F. Everest, who is Deputy Chief of\nStaff for Operations of the Air Force and who accompanied General\nTwining to Moscow.\nSecretary Wilson, Admiral Radford, Governor Adams,\nJerry Persons, myself and these other three gentlemen were with\nthe President for an hour and 20 minutes. They met in his den\nat his home -- his farm at Gettysburg. And General Twining\nreported to the President on his trip to Moscow.\nThere are several other things that I have to tell you\nbefore we start this. General Twining is going to testify before\nthe Congress, and consequently there are some matters that he\ncannot tell you at this time, but he has to make a report, first,\nto Congress. Since he came here, however, to report to the\nPresident, I told him of your interest in meeting with him\nbriefly and he said that he would come down and make a brief\nreport to you on the trip. But he still has to testify before\nthe House -- before the Senate, I believe, the Senate Committee --\nand he has to make a fuller report and more in detail to them\nprior -- to them, rather than he can to you today. Maybe when\nthat report is finished to the Congress, then he may also be able\nto talk a little more freely on some of these other matters, but\nhe has to report there first.\nSo now, without any further ---\nQ. Jim, may I interrupt just a second -- is that\nbefore the Symington Committee, or Appropriations, or what?\nMR. HAGERTY: Either Armed Services or the Symington\nCommittee, he does not know which.\nQ. That is the Subcommittee of the Armed Services?\nMR. HAGERTY: That's right, or it may be the full\nArmed Services Committee.\nSo now, if I may, I would like to turn this over to\nGeneral Twining, who will give you a brief report of his visit.\nGENERAL TWINING: As I told the press yesterday when I\nlanded at the airport, that there are no experts on the Soviet\nUnion or the Soviet Air Force. And after our short, well-\ncontrolled, directed trip over there of eight days, me and my\ngroup are certainly not qualified as any kind of expert.\nI do want to say that the trip was very profitable.\nWe got quite a bit out of it. The Soviet people treated us very\nfine and entertained us wherever we went very lavishly.\nBut you must remember that on a trip of this nature,\nthey showed us just what they wanted us to see. Nothing else.\nAnd I repeat again, it was very tightly controlled.\n2 (7/5 1.50 p.m.)\nI think one of the important features of the trip was\nthe fact that we had a chance to meet the senior Air Force\nleaders as well as some of the senior Army leaders. And after\nmany conversations at different times with these people, we got\na pretty good feel of things in general. But nothing, of course,\nspecific. They answered some of our questions, but not too many.\nAnd though the trip did not fulfill all the expectations\nin the way of what we saw that I would like, I still want to\nrepeat we did or we did see (sic), and what we got out of it was\nwell worth the trip.\nWe only went out of Moscow on one occasion, and that\nwas to Stalingrad. That is where the great battle for the city of\nStalingrad was fought and that you know about. And here we were\nparticularly impressed with the very, very cordial friendship\nof all the people on the streets. It was quite a thing to see.\nAnd they crowded around the restaurant where we spent about\ntwo hours and doing a little toasting off and on, and they\nwaited out there -- thousands of them. There was no mistake,\nthe look on their faces and the friendship that they had for\nthe American people. That was quite impressive to me. In\nMoscow, too, they were very friendly, but this was exceptional.\nWe had with us down in Stalingrad the two heroes in\nthat battle, an Air Force man and a ground man. The Air Force\nman was Marshal Rudenko, and the ground force commander was\nGeneral Malinin, and they took me with them in their private\nairplane down there.\nDwight\nThe\nQ. General, could you spell those names for us?\nGENERAL TWINING: R-U-D-E-N-K-0. He is a Marshal of\nthe Soviet Air Force. And Malinin -- M-A-L-I-N-I-N, and he is\nthe General of the Armies. That's his title.\nThese two officers were great pals. You could see\nthat. That had kind of kept them together, one the Air man,\nand one the Ground man, not only in Stalingrad but they went\ninto weather (?) fronts where they continued to fight side by\nside. Quite a successful team, apparently.\nStalingrad, as you know, was completely eliminated\nfrom the map. And they are now rebuilding that city, and it's\na terrific project. They have the master plan there and they\nshowed it to us, and they have already started building. They\nexpect to have a very beautiful city there some day. It's also\nquite an industrial area. We saw the industrial plant going up --\na big one -- power development, and so on.\nWe got to do very little -- three days we had to call\noff our trip at the end. We were invited to go to Kiev and\nLeningrad for two days. But we weren't able to do that. We had\nto get back here. We were to have had one more day in Moscow\nand we had, of course, to cancel that.\nThey had -- as I say, the hotel accommodations, food\nand everything were -- couldn't ask for any more.\nQuite a shock to me was the -- I talked to one\nnewspaper man over there -- you all know him -- I won't mention\nhis name -- he was quite shocked when he found that vodka cost\n$9.00 a pint.\nI know the schedule of what we saw has been published,\nbut I might talk about it a little bit.\nThe first day we had the air show, and I think, really,\nwhat struck me as best about the air show was a glider exposition.\nThey towed a glider across the field at about five to six thousand\nfeet. The glider was cut loose from the airplane, and then did a\nseries of maneuvers. Did two outside loops in a glider --\n3 (7/5 1.50 p.m.)\nand did some barrel rolls and other fancy turns, but the two\noutside loops were quite effective.\nThen they had some women pilots put on a show. And\nthe women did very fine. They were in propeller type aircraft\nbut they did very fine formation flying and some stunt flying.\nAnd I asked the Marshal one day -- they used women pilots in\nthe war as combat pilots, you know. Actually combat pilots in\nfighter and bomber aircraft. And I asked him how were the\nwomen, were they good pilots in a combat way? And he said the\nwomen were excellent pilots and they had great courage. That\ndoesn't mean that the men didn't have great courage, but he\naccentuated that the women did have great courage -- the\nwomen pilots -- in the war.\nthe\nLibrary\nThen they flew by, after that phase, a series of\naircraft -- there were three new ones -- four new ones shown.\nThe three delta-wing fighters -- and the fourth one was a\nground assault type aircraft like our C123, and it was powered\nwith turbo-prop type of engines. Looked like a pretty good\nairplane.\nIt was misting and raining and the ceiling was fairly\nlow at times. And so the show probably would have been a little\nmore extensive, had the weather been really clear. But we saw\nenough to see they are very skillful pilots. Good pilots.\nThen they demonstrated their parachute work, which\nwas very fine. They expected to finish this up with a great big\nparachute drop from about 15 airplanes. They had to call this\noff, the big drop, because the wind picked up to about 20 knots\nand it certainly would have been foolish to jump that many men\nwith the wind like that. But the first people that came over,\nI would say about 50 different parachute drops, and demonstrated\ntheir techniques; and we did see that.\nThey brought the helicopters in as part of this show.\nI think there were -- they brought in 35 helicopters in close\nformation, setting them all down as one airplane on the field\nand took their men out of those and their equipment along with\nthem. They brought four of the great big helicopters, just\nlike our Piasecki that has two engines. And their flying in\nthat was very good.\nWe saw complete, from start to finish, the construction\nof a jet engine -- was an engine that they got from the British\nback -- the Nene engine. Not a modern engine by any shape or\nmanner of means, but we could see how the factory operated, what\nthe techniques were, and so on, and how they carried on their\nproduction. And the end product was very good.\nAnd then we saw the plant that makes the IL-14. That\nis a new propeller transport aircraft, somewhere between our\nDC-3 and the Convair of ours. That is the airplane we flew to\nStalingrad in.\nAnd we went to their engineering school and was very\nmuch impressed with that. A fine school. They train the boys\non the technology and engineering. They go to that school\nfive years, and then they go back to the service.\nAnd we saw their air academy. That is where --\ndifferent from the technical phase. They train them in another\nschool -- the tactics and technique of combat -- up to a certain\nage. Not a senior school by any means, but boys about the age\nof 24 to 30, and they seem to know what they are doing in both\nthese schools. Have a good course. They balance the practical\nwith the theory pretty well.\n4 (7/5 1.50 p.m.)\nAnd we ended up our stay there by visiting the\nMausoleum, followed by the Ballet. And the Ballet was very\ninteresting to all of us -- never seen one like that before.\nQ. General, are you ready for questions?\nGENERAL TWINING: Oh Yes -- I might say that there is\nno question that they have great ambitions and are working with\ngreat effort to be a great industrial nation. There is no\nquestion about that.\nQ. General, I am a little confused. On the one hand\nyou say your trip was very profitable, very much worth while.\nOn the other hand, you say that you didn't see the things you\nwould like to have seen, it was very tightly controlled. Did\nthis trip confirm your earlier judgment that the Russians are\nrapidly catching up with us in air power?\nGENERAL TWINING: That is what I have said before I\nwent over on the trip, and I would still say it. But I would\nlike to say here that Mr. Hagerty has said we have got --\n148/mg\nI have got to go and report to the Congress on this -- on the\nresults of this trip, and I would like to leave anything in\nSHA\nthe way of an evaluation in detail until after that. There is\nno mystery connected with this thing at all. It is just a\nquestion of how to handle it.\nQ. General, I believe you have told Congress before,\nthough, that you feel there is a grave danger of Russia catching\nup with us and perhaps surpassing us in the near future\nin air power. Is that still the feeling now?\nGENERAL TWINING: I can tell you, we have got to keep\nworking, that's all.\nQ. General, we are grateful to you for seeing us,\nbut I think all that you have told us has been reported by the\nnewspaper men who were in Russia with you at the time -- I mean\nthe travelog stuff\nGENERAL TWINING: That is about right -- that's right.\nQ. Could you give us a general appraisal of the\nRussian air strength as it appeared to you?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, I can tell you what I have said\nbefore, that they have got a very competent, well-equipped Air\nForce. And I would like to leave that, as Mr. Hagerty said at\nthe beginning, to my report to the Congress.\nQ. General, did you see any of their work with ICBM,\nor did they tell you anything of the progress they are making with\nintercontinental ballistic missiles?\nGENERAL TWINING: Nothing. Nothing at all.\nQ. General, at your conference with the President\nthis morning and Defense Secretary Wilson, did you decide or\ndid Mr. Wilson decide, after hearing you, how he is going to\nspend the $900 million voted for the Air Force by the Congress?\nGENERAL TWINING: That was not brought up during my\ndiscussion with Mr. Wilson since I have been back. We have not\ndiscussed that at all.\nQ. General, on the basis of what you saw in Moscow,\ndo you think you could use this extra $900 million for more\nB-52s?\nGENERAL TWINING: You can always use money, but how\nyou use it is something else.\n5 (7/5 1.50 p.m.)\nQ. General, from reading the papers while you were\nin Russia and since you have been back, do you feel that there\nis any conflict between the testimony of the Air Force Generals\nand that of the Secretary of Defense before the Symington\nCommittee?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, I have been completely out of\ntouch with those hearings and I don't think there is any\nconflict, No. There may be some difference of judgment on\nwhat's what, but I think that is normal and should be the case.\nQ. General, General Curtis LeMay testified that at\nthe rate things are going, within two or four years Russia will\nsurpass us in the field of heavy bombers. Do you agree with\nGeneral LeMay?\nGENERAL TWINING: Numbers of heavy bombers don't mean\ntoo much to me. You want enough heavy bombers, or light bombers,\nor medium bombers, whatever it is, to do the job. Russia has\na job to do. And we have a job to do. I think if we go ahead\non the programs that we have got outlined by the Air Force,\n1431mg\nwe will have an adequate program to do the job.\nThe\nQ. Does that include using this extra money that has\nbeen voted, when you say \"go ahead\"?\nGENERAL TWINING: No. I didn't include that extra\nmoney at all that you are talking about. I don't know what\nit's for, or where it's going, or anything as yet.\nQ. Do these programs you mention include the five or\nsix hundred B-52s that are now under schedule, or the larger\nnumber that you have recommended? As I understand it, you have\nrecommended about two or three hundred more B-52s to be produced\nthan now scheduled?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, we certainly want -- don't\nwant to build up to 500 B-52s and then call up and close that\nplant up out there. Naturally, that schedule will taper off\nand we will certainly have more than 500.\nQ. General, two questions. Did you bring back any\npersonal messages from top Russians to the President; and two,\nare we now prepared to reciprocate and invite some of the top\nRussian Generals over here?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, I brought back, Yes, personal\nmessages -- tell him \"hello\" -- wish him health -- soon return\nto the office -- I have had that from two of those leaders.\nQ. Can you tell us who, General?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, Mr. Khrushchev himself, and\nMarshal Zhukov. He is very much interested in the President's\nhealth.\nQ. No more than that, though?\nGENERAL TWINING: No.\nQ. How about the reciprocity?\nGENERAL TWINING: With regard to the reciprocity --\nin other words, with the return trip by perhaps the Russians\nand some other people over there, you all know what the\nPresident had said when this thing came up, that sure, that\nwhen the time came to do something like this, we would certainly\nreciprocate; but certainly we would reciprocate on the same kind\nof general pattern that they showed us.\n6 (7/5 1.50 p.m.)\nQ. General, could I ask my question again -- what\nwas the President's reaction to your report of an hour and\n20 minutes this morning?\nMR. HAGERTY: I think I can probably answer that\nbetter, if I may?\nQ. It's General Twining's press conference and I\nwould like to ---\nMR. HAGERTY: Yes, but I think I can -- I think the\nPresident was considerably interested in the report of\nGeneral Twining and was greatly interested in the -- in some\nphases of the report that we cannot discuss, quite frankly.\nBut all in all, he was considerably interested in the hour and\na half -- hour and 20 minute report that General Twining made.\nAnd again, if I may just say this: the General,\nhaving to go up to Congress -- go up on the Hill -- the General\nis in a little funny spot here. He would like to do more, but\nwe cannot tell you more at the present time until he talks to\nthe Committees of Congress, which is a perfectly normal thing\nDwight\nand I think you have to understand that.\nand\nQ. General Twining, the Russians have invited all of\nour Chiefs of Staff to go to their country. Do you think it\nwould be worth their while, do you think it would be profitable\nfor the other Chiefs of Staff to go over there?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, it depends on, of course,\nwhat they would be shown.\nQ. Well, on the basis of what you were shown?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, I can -- all I can say is,\nit was worth while for me to go, and I think probably it would be\nfor them.\nQ. General Twining, as Chief of Staff of the Air Force,\nif this reciprocation were shown to the Russians, are there\nsome things that we have in the Air Force that you would rather\nnot show them?\nGENERAL TWINING: Definitely.\nQ. General, you have said that although this was a\ntightly controlled visit of yourself there, it was immensely\nworth while to you. When we reciprocate, and we will also give\nthem a tightly controlled look at our air power, I assume, from\nwhat too? you have said, will it be tremendously worth while to them,\nGENERAL TWINING: I should think it would be worth\nwhile to them.\nQ. General, do we know enough about the Russian Air\nForce to really evaluate it?\nGENERAL TWINING: I think we do, Yes.\nQ. Would you, sir -- would you care to evaluate it?\nGENERAL TWINING: Not at this time, No.\nQ. Mr. Hagerty, it was announced that Mr. Wilson was\nto be at this press conference. Was there any particular reason\nfor his failure to show up?\nMR. HAGERTY: Well, in the first place, it was not\nannounced that Mr. Wilson was going to be at this press conference.\nIt was announced that if it was held it would be General\nTwining's and only General Twining's press conference. Mr. Wilson\nand Admiral Radford had to go back to Washington.\n7 (7/5 1.50 p.m.)\nQ. General, did you get a look at the Soviets'\nBison bombers or hear anything about it that would give you\na basis for telling us how it compares with our best long\nrange bomber?\nGENERAL TWINING: We got a good look at it. We had\na chance to see it close up. None of us got in it. We saw\nit fly by, and we also saw it on the ground from about 20 or 30\nfeet.\nQ. Were you allowed inside any Soviet airplane?\nGENERAL TWINING: Went in two aircraft, the IL-14\nthat we flew to Stalingrad in, and the TU-104 -- that is their\nnew twin-engine transport jet aircraft. The same one that flew\nto England.\nQ. How do you explain the fact that they showed you\nmostly defensive aircraft and hardly any offensive aircraft?\nGENERAL TWINING: I think that was part of the program\nto show defensive rather than offensive strength. In other\nwords, they are building transports and defensive armament\nand not vaunting the offensive element of their force.\nQ. General, would it be correct to say, on the basis\nof what you saw in Moscow, that you see no reason for increasing\nour Air Force beyond present plans?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, I have said initially the\nDwight\nAir Force programs that the Air Force has recommended are, in\nmy mind, satisfactory -- at this time.\nQ. General Twining, does that include expanding the\nStrategic Air Command's heavy wing ---\nGENERAL TWINING: That is not in the program as yet.\nQ. INAUDIBLE\nGENERAL TWINING: That is not for this year.\nQ. General, do you consider our B-52 intercontinental\nbomber as good as or superior to anything you saw that the\nRussians have?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, I think now we are getting back\ninto the evaluation. I would like to answer the question, but I\nthink that is one we ought to hold.\nQ. General, do you feel that the members of Congress\nin voting this $800 or $900 million extra money -- do you think\nthey are unnecessarily alarmed over our situation?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, I wouldn't want to comment on\nwhat our Congress does. That's their business.\nQ. General, do you think it is necessary for us to\nhave as big an Air Force as Russia has?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, each one has a different job\nto do. We build the force we want to do our job with. Let him\nbuild the force he wants to build. But make sure we have enough\nto do what we think we should do. I think that's our job.\nQ. General, do you think your trip over there and the\nforthcoming Russian trip here will put forward President\nEisenhower's open skies armaments inspection proposal?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, that's a little out of my field\nand getting into politics, and I think I had better lay off that\none.\n8 (7/5 1.50 p.m.)\nQ. General, you mentioned the fact that you did\nbring some messages back to the President. Can you give us\nyour estimation or opinion on how the Russian leaders feel\nabout the President? Do you think they are -- really sincerely\nthink as highly of him as we have been led to believe, anyhow?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, from what I heard, they think\nhe is pretty top.\nQ. General, could you clarify the situation --\nare the Russian Air Force leaders coming over here, and if so,\nwhich ones are being invited?\nGENERAL TWINING: I can't go that far. I don't know\nwhat it will be on any of the details. That is a question that\nhas to be decided by the\n---\nQ. Will they be invited?\nGENERAL TWINING: I should imagine sometime, Yes.\nQ. There was a report while you were over there that\nthe Russians promised to show us more on another trip if we\nwould show them more when they came over here. Is there any\ndisposition to do that at all?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, I don't know what their plans\nwould be.\nQ. You don't plan to show them any more than they\nhave shown you -- you have said that ---\nTHE\nGENERAL TWINING: No. If they come over, I think we\nshould stick to the same procedure, the same type of control\nthat they showed us.\nQ. General, is there any indication that the Russians\nhave adopted any of our air techniques or any of our shapes and\nforms of aircraft or any of our radio equipment, and have improved\non it?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, of course, you all know that\nthey have got an exact duplicate of our B-29. Exact. I saw it\ntake off. You couldn't tell it apart from one of ours out here\nin Omaha somewhere. Certain components we recognize as old\nfriends we saw over there. (laughter)\nQ. When do you testify, General?\nGENERAL TWINING: I didn't get that?\nQ. When do you testify in Congress?\nGENERAL TWINING: Probably in a couple of days, I\nwould say. I must say that the time is not settled by any manner\nof means.\nQ. General, after your visit to the Soviet Union, do\nyou believe that the Soviet leaders really do sincerely want\npeace -- lasting peace?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, I want to say again that --\nthe fellow said that -- nobody's an expert -- just varying\ndegrees of ignorance about Russia. And I don't know.\nQ. General, what can you say about the Russian\ntraining program for their plane crews and their ground crews?\nGENERAL TWINING: Can't comment on it. Don't know\nenough about it. Must be all right.\nQ. INAUDIBLE\n9 (7/5 1.50 p.m.)\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, I think I have testified in\nCongress on that one, that it depends again, actually, numbers\nof aircraft over all, I would say the Soviet Union and the United\nStates are about the same. Overall. It's not numbers now.\nNot the mission of what they are going to do. That is the\ndistinction we must make.\nQ. Was that on jet aircraft, I didn't get the\nquestion?\nGENERAL TWINING: The question was on whether they\nare quantitatively ahead of us in modern jet aircraft. I\nwould say that when you put it just that definite, that numbers-\nwise they probably are ahead of us in jet aircraft. Numbers-wise.\na\nWhat did you mean by your previous reply\nwhen you said that numbers-total we are equal? Previously,\nbefore/Corddry amplified his question, you said that the over-\nMr.\nall number of planes total, United States and Russia, are the\nsame.\nGENERAL TWINING: I am adding the Air Force, the Navy,\nthe Marine Corps, the Coast Guard -- everything we've got.\nYou add it all up ---\nQ. And non-jet planes?\nGENERAL TWINING:\n---\nnumbers them about, I would say --\nwe are talking about the United States Air Force that is --\nwe have a particular job to do, you know. Now you are talking\nabout another problem.\nQ. Well, General, the one word he added in his\n1481MG\nDEPARTMENT\nquestion was \"modern.\" Is it that they are ahead of us in\nThe\nmodern aircraft?\nGENERAL TWINING: No. No, they are not.\nQ. General, I am confused again, in answer to that\nquestion\nGENERAL TWINING: You are getting into a very, very\ndifficult and complicated problem, and we can't solve it by\nquestions and answers, I can assure you.\nQ. Well, it's difficult to write about, too, unless\nwe are clear on just what you meant. Now the question was, does\nRussia surpass us in modern jet military aircraft?\nGENERAL TWINING: I said initially I wasn't going into\nthat specific problem.\nQ. I would like to know what your answer meant?\nI think you said, \"Yes they were,\" and yet I want to write an\nintelligent story about it.\nGENERAL TWINING: If I said they were ahead of us in\nmodern aircraft, I was wrong. I will take that back and say they\nare not.\nQ. They are ahead of us ---\nGENERAL TWINING: Over-all.\nQ. Over-all.\nQ. Well, General, you said, I believe, that you think\nin numbers alone they lead us in jet aircraft. Is that correct?\nGENERAL TWINING: When did I say that?\n10 (7/5 1.50 p.m.)\nQ. I believe you said it in answer to the original\nquestion over here that over-all they were ahead of us and in\njet aircraft\nGENERAL TWINING: What are we talking about?\nThe United States Air Force, or the United States of America\nAir Force? The whole business, I say, we are about even. When\nyou talk about the United States Air Force and the USSR, then\nthey are, numbers-wise, ahead of us, Yes. But our Air Force\nalone -- you add all the Navy ships, the Marine Corps, Coast\nGuard, Army -- you add them all up, then it's about even, see?\nQ. General, are they building new planes faster than\nwe are?\nGENERAL TWINING: Are they building faster?\nQ. Yes.\nGENERAL TWINING: I can't answer that.\nQ. General, are you satisfied with this over-all\nbalance, \"about even\"? Is that what you want?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, I feel that, we go ahead with\nour programs and keep out in front, in the technical fields,\nlike I have said many times before, keep our plants turning over,\nI think this country is going to be in good shape.\nQ. Do you think we are now out in front, General?\nGENERAL TWINING: I think I have said most -- I would\nlike to answer all these questions and will be much freer to,\nafter I get through with this Committee, I assure you. There\nis no mystery connected with this trip at all. They opened a\n0\ndoor just a little crack, you see -- just a little. And you\nDwight\nlooked in the crack. But just what lies in those rooms, we\nThe\ndon't know. So there is no mystery connected with the trip at\nall, but it's just that I have got to go to the Congress and make\na more or less detailed report to them. That is why I can't\nanswer your questions with more intelligence, maybe, or forth-\nrightness, than I would like to.\nQ. General, when you were just asked, do you think\nwe that? are out in front, did I understand you declined to answer\nGENERAL TWINING: Which question? I didn't catch\nthat?\nQ. The last question was -- you said if we stay out\nin front we will be in good shape. Then a reporter said, do you\nthink we are out in front? And I didn't hear you answer that.\nPerhaps you declined to answer?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, I think I can say this --\nI will say this: qualitatively we are out in front. No\nquestion about that.\nQ. Is there now any question about our staying out in\nfront over the next four years?\nkeep working.\nGENERAL TWINING: Not that I see, No. Keep -- just\nQ. You don't believe, as some other high-ranking\nofficers have testified, that there is a grave danger of Russia\nsurpassing us before 1960, say -- I believe that was the word\nthey used -- qualitatively as well as in quantity?\n11 (7/5 1.50 p.m.)\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, if we go to sleep and don't\nkeep working, that could happen, certainly. There is no\nquestion, those people are on the move.\nQ. General, how do you feel about flights of civilian\nUnited States citizens into the Soviet Union, such as Bill Lear\ndid a couple of weeks ago?\nGENERAL TWINING: Well, Mr. Lear got his passport\nand visas -- American citizen -- taking a trip -- and he went\non in there. That's all I know. What he had in the airplane,\nI don't know that. What he did with it, I don't know that\neither. But I reported that -- ordered investigation --\nthat's not true.\nQ. General, if I might go back again to the\n$900 million, if that was not discussed this morning with\nDefense Secretary Wilson and President Eisenhower, when will\nit be, sir?\nMR. HAGERTY: It was not discussed. This was a report\non his trip.\nOkay?\nQ. General, you just made the remark that we will be\nall right if we don't go to sleep and if we keep moving. That\nseems to collide with this decision of the Pentagon not to use\nmoney that Congress has voted to keep us moving?\nMR. HAGERTY: There is no such decision, Eddie.\nWhoever said there was such a decision?\nbe used.\nQ. There has been no announcement that the money will\nMR. HAGERTY: All right -- why don't you read Mr.\nWilson's testimony?\n0. Library 841\nQ. I would like to ask the General if he thinks we\nshould use that money?\nGENERAL TWINING: I have been out of the country.\nI don't know what it's for, or what it's all about. I haven't\nany idea. I haven't had a chance to even read about it.\nQ. I would like to ask Secretary Hagerty if the\nmoney will be used, since I was wrong in my statement?\nMR. HAGERTY: You were wrong on your statement, Eddie.\nThere has been no announcement whatsoever. And you said that\nthere was.\nQ. Well, I was under that impression.\nMR. HAGERTY: I think you are wrong on it.\nQ. Jim, I believe Mr. Wilson told the Senate\nCommittee that he would not make any attempt to spend that\nmoney until after he had talked with General Twining. He has\nnow done so, but this money did not come up.\nMR. HAGERTY: No, he has not talked to General Twining.\nThis was a report on General Twining's trip.\nQ. Well Mr. Secretary, at least no announcement has\nbeen made that any decision has been reached to spend the money ---\nMR. HAGERTY: Now you are trying to work it around\nanother way.\nQ. Darn right I am.\n12 (7/5 1.50 p.m.)\nMR. HAGERTY: Your statement that you made was not\ncorrect.\nQ. I accept your correction.\nQ. Could Secretary Quarles enlighten us on this?\nSECRETARY QUARLES: Well, I would like to try to.\nThe Congress has voted the extra appropriation and the Air Force\nfirst consulted with General Twining and the Air Staff and then\nrecommending to the Secretary of Defense, and through channels\nto the Congress, will study the -- our problems of funding\nthe program in the year ahead. We will make recommendations\nfor the use of the funds normally appropriated and for such part\nof the additional funds as seem wise to us to carry out the\nprogram and the intent of the Congress as expressed in the\nlegislation.\nJust when the additional monies would be recommended\nto be spent as compared with the budgets -- the President's\noriginal budget as voted by the Congress, I think we are not,\nat this time, in a position to say.\nI think Mr. Wilson made it very clear that we have\nevery intent of studying this thing objectively and carefully\nas soon as we can now get at it in carrying out the legislative\nprogram and appropriation.\nQ. I would like to ask this question of General\nTwining. He may already have answered it in part. But there\nhave been many reports that there is disagreement between you\nand Secretary Wilson, and I believe you, in testimony before the\nCongress, have taken an opposite viewpoint from the Secretary\nas to the strength of our air power. Are you now satisfied\nthat this country is doing all that it should do in the matter\nof our Air Force?\nDwight\nThe\nGENERAL TWINING: I think, if the programs that the\nAir Force recommended are carried out, I think that we will have\nthe Air Force we should have for this country, at this time, today.\nQ. General, could I ask you this question about the\nPresident's reaction? Would you say, in a word, that he was\nalarmed by your report?\nGENERAL TWINING: No.\nQ. Could you characterize his reaction to your report?\nGENERAL TWINING: Here we go right back. If I do that,\nI naturally would have to go back into an evaluation, and\ngentlemen, I would really like to hold that over for the Congress.\nQ. General, you say if the Air Force programs that\nare recommended are carried out, will be all right. Well now,\nare those programs, the ones which are now -- are all of those\nprograms now in the Defense budget?\nGENERAL TWINING: For 1957? Yes. I think the record\nis clear how I stood on the 1957 budget. Very clear.\nQ. Thank you, sir.\nEND"
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