Ill-Starred?

War Secretary Stimson spoke out last week in favor of legislation to create a new, five-star rank in the U.S. Army. (The Senate has already passed a bill creating such a rank for the Navy.) The Army, like the Navy, thought it was time. U.S. generals are diffident about it, but they would like to break through the traditional ceiling of four stars--not for the extra glitter but for practical reasons.

The biggest Army in U.S. history long ago outgrew its traditional setup. As the growth of the service has created new and bigger jobs, the old system of rank has not kept up with the procession. Normally a major general (two stars) commands a division; a lieutenant general (three stars) commands a corps, which is a group of divisions. Groups of corps are formed into armies and now armies into army groups.

Logically the bosses of army groups in Western Europe (Bradley and Devers), whose armies are commanded by two and three-star generals (Patch, Patton, Hodges, Simpson), should wear four stars. But this would rank them with General Dwight Eisenhower, boss of land, sea and air forces combined. Furthermore, the man who bosses Eisenhower, George Marshall, wears only four stars himself.

A similar situation cramps the Navy high command, where Halsey in the Pacific answers to Nimitz, who answers to King, who wears no more than the four stars they wear--the same number as Leahy, the President's personal Chief of Staff, and Stark and Ingersoll in Europe and the Atlantic.

Five for Four. There is another reason for the change. In almost all the other armies and navies of the world there is a rank equivalent to five American stars. When U.S. and British officers confer, the American is inevitably outstarred--and sensitive about it. In Europe Field Marshal Montgomery outranks General Eisenhower, who commands him.

The legislation sets up only four five-star officers. The four: Marshall and King, certainly; Arnold and Leahy, probably. This would leave Eisenhower and Nimitz still under-starred. This moderate inflation would not make everybody happy, but it would help.

What to call the new rank? Stimson generously left that up to Congress. "General of the Armies" is held sacred to ailing, 84-year-old John J. Pershing, for whom the title was created by special Act. "Marshal" is a title to which George Marshall might personally object. "Admiral of the Fleet" might do for a five-star sailor.

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