• U.S.

NATO: Our Commander Now

3 minute read
TIME

Like eager soldiers at guard mount, Turkey and Greece last week stood at stiff attention, gleaming with spit & polish and full of self-conscious pride, to greet General Dwight Eisenhower. NATO’s Supreme Commander had flown over on a quick trip from France especially to welcome Nations No. 13 & 14 into the European Army.

They were more than promising recruits. Each had shown its willingness to fight Communist aggression abroad by sending troops to Korea. Each had a tough and well-trained army at home. The Turks’ fighting forces, numbering 400,000, include 16 infantry divisions, six armored brigades, eight destroyers, a dozen submarines and a growing air force with fields suitable for jets. The Greeks, with 160,000 men under arms, boast ten divisions in the field and as many more in reserve, a small air force equipped with some jets, and a small but capable navy.

The Will To Fight. At Ankara’s Esenboga military airfield, Ike was welcomed by a surging crowd of photographers, an honor guard of the Turkish army and a corps of diplomats who had braved the razor winds to shake his hand. “Turkey,” he told them, “has proven herself to be a democratic country [with] a very important strategic position in the Atlantic Treaty.”

Two days later, after brisk conferences with Turkey’s ministers and military men and a hasty sightseeing tour, the general left Turkey, deeply impressed “at finding people with a will to fight if they have to.” “We consider him ‘our commander’ now,” said one admiring young Turk.

Unlike the Turks, who number few Communists in their midst, the Greeks welcomed Ike with infinite security precautions. Even the high-ranking officers and officials who met him at Athens airfield were kept to assigned positions. Communist leaflets in the city warned: “Out of here, you butcher Eisenhower! Greek children will not be your victims!” But friendly faces far outnumbered the threats. Next day, King Paul gave Eisenhower the Grand Cross of the Order of the Savior, and his deputy, General Gruenther, the Grand Cross of the Order of George I.*

Use Plain Language. From Greece the general went to Italy, whose leaders were distressed by the reports that Greek and Turkish soldiers did not want to serve under Italy’s General Maurizio de Castiglione, commander of NATO’s southern Europe land forces. Instead, they will probably report directly to the Mediterranean naval commander, U.S. Admiral Robert B. Carney.

“Mick” Carney’s fleet, the warships of four nations, was bobbing in Naples harbor after a week of brisk maneuvers during which former allies and enemies had worked together in smooth efficiency over the western Mediterranean. One incident had marred the maneuvers. When a British commander wanted an Italian commander to stop sending messages in code, he sent word: “Use plain language.” The Italian thought his idiom was being criticized, and froze into sulky silence. Carney ruled that henceforth the proper NATO instruction should be “Do not encode.”

In the same diplomatic way, Ike was expected to soothe Italy’s pique over the loss of Greek and Turkish commands by giving an Italian some other high post.

* Eisenhower got no ribbons from the Turks. Reason: Turkey does not decorate fighting men.

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com