Trigger automatic Congressional rant
Mac had his hand in this, but the primary culprit was the US Congress which was happily slashing the Army and Navy budgets, and forcing a defacto policy of global disengagement. Mac could have resolve problems like regional intelligence, training, and some equipment readiness. But, themishing third of each combat formation, and general lack of logistics support ran back to Capitol Hill. Exactly one US Army formation overseas was at full strength Triest US Army Troops. (TRUST) formed around the 351st Regimental Combat Team. The rest of the US Army formations in Europe varied from 75% to 50% strength. The war plan (DROP SHOT) at this time centered on a rush to the coast or Spain and evacuation. While the USAF sent its single wing of B36 on Atom bomb missions to Moscow.
The 8th Army formations arriving in Korean June and July were seldom even 2/3 strength. Task Force Smith, the first US Army formation to fight the NKPA arrived was on paper a infantry battalion. It lacked a complete rifle company. The other two companies were short a rifle platoon each, so the battalion had on hand four of its nine rifle platoons. The squads in those were understrength as well. Most of the support weapons were present, but the section strength for each was about 50%. Two 4.2: mortars were attached. Also a battery of 105mm Howitzers. The howitzers had all been condemned as unsafe for worn barrels, but had not been scheduled for rebuild and new barrels. No tanks were attached or present. The AT capability consisted of some old 2.75" caliber Bazookas and either two or four (I can't recall which) 75mm caliber recoiless rifles. This was typical of the 24th Inf Div that was the first sizable formation to move to Korea.
Truman was a big part of this.
"""After a series of conflicts with Defense Secretary
James V. Forrestal over defense budget cutbacks, Truman asked for Forrestal's resignation, replacing him with Johnson early in 1949. (Johnson was his chief fundraiser, Truman had trouble finding money)*.
According to historian
Walter LaFeber, Truman was known to approach defense budgetary requests in the abstract, without regard to defense response requirements in the event of conflicts with potential enemies.
Truman would begin by subtracting from total receipts the amount needed for domestic needs and recurrent operating costs, with any surplus going to the defense budget for that year. From the beginning, Johnson and Truman assumed that the United States' monopoly on the atomic bomb was adequate protection against any and all external threats."""
*
https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/oral-histories/larkin - See paragraph 39 & 40
"The curious thing, you'll remember, is that Truman had a very difficult time getting anybody to raise funds, to be his campaign treasurer, and he finally got Louis Johnson. And Louis Johnson did quite a good job under the most adverse circumstances. The money was just not forthcoming. Truman was deemed to have lost completely, So Louis Johnson by taking on that unpleasant and difficult job, became the great hero when Truman won.
Truman owed him quite a political debt and Mr. Johnson was not above trying to collect it either. I think I knew Louis Johnson well, and worked for him, and had a considerable amount of respect for him, but I dare say there was some element of push on his part to get the reward for the work he did in the campaign.
HESS: Had you ever heard anything about a possible agreement between Mr. Truman and Louis Johnson that if he took that job he would be rewarded?
LARKIN: No, I never heard that; but what I did hear, as a matter of fact, from a lot of my associates and people who worked with Forrestal, when he did in fact resign and when Louis Johnson was named Secretary of Defense right after him--and here is the circumstantial inference that is drawn all the time--was that this was the payoff. He forced the payoff, and Truman was cold blooded enough to bounce Forrestal and pay off Johnson for the work he did in raising the money for him. Quite a few people were, therefore, very annoyed at Mr. Johnson when he came in, and there was a certain amount of hostility to him among the staff, because they felt he had kind of gotten Forrestal, you s
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