Congress wreaked a lot of costly mischief when, out of solicitude for the individual armed services, it flawed 1947's defense unification act with service-independence safeguards that fostered disunity and snarled Defense Department lines of authority. Last week, with rumblings overseas sharply reminding the lawmakers of the nation's need for military efficiency, the Senate took a long step toward undoing the mischief. Texas' Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson called to the floor the President's defense reorganization bill (TIME, April 14), and the Senate unanimously passed it, heavily rephrased but scarcely damaged in substance. By imposing more command unity on the sprawling...
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