M. E. F.?

President Manuel Avila Camacho last week told his people and the world that the Mexican Army is "ready to function wherever circumstances may dictate--here on our territory . . . and even away from our territory if for justified motives our allies ask it of us."

Observers of Mexican military maneuvers had just seen some 15,000 troops go through their paces with modern weapons (some made in Mexico, some supplied by the U.S.), a small air force (with more trainers than combat craft on view), motorized infantry and cavalry battalions. The troops were disciplined and tidy in olive drab, with French-style tin hats or square, peaked fatigue caps with back-flaps reminiscent of France's Foreign Legion.

The 15,000 in the maneuvers were probably all that Mexico could put on a foreign battlefield (some 11,000 Mexicans are already serving in the U.S. Army). Their actual chances of going abroad were probably less than their readiness to go --as the Brazilians have already learned, the Allied staffs are not anxious to fit small, national units into global plans. President Avila Camacho is evidently aware of the difficulties. Last week, in proffering an M.E.F., he made one stipulation: that it serve under Mexican command, under the Mexican flag.

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