DearTIME-Reader:

AT his press conference a fortnight ago, President Eisenhower was closely questioned by reporters on a vital subject: Is the U.S. military establishment strong enough? The President sought to strike a note of caution--and balance--in his replies. Any appraisal of our military strength, he said, must take into account all its elements. And, said the President, with an emphasis that was noteworthy in any Army man, let us not overlook the Navy. "No one," he said, "has talked about that."

This week TIME does. While congressional committee rooms were thronged with witnesses and spectators. TIME'S editors were completing a searching examination of the "new" Navy, its boss, Arleigh ("31-knot") Burke, and the Navy's role in the atomic age.

The editorial task force assigned to this job was, it turned out, an integrated one--World War II veterans of all three services. But it was primarily a Navy show. Of the 22 reporters, researchers, writers and editors in twelve TIME Inc. bureaus at home and abroad who worked directly on the story and color layout, nine were former officers and enlisted men of the Navy and Marine Corps. The roster: Edward Cerf, Louis Banks, Champ Clark. Cranston Jones, Alvin Josephy, Tom Lambert, Curtis Prendergast, Robert Ajemian and Clay Blair.

The color section represents but a handful of the 1,000 color shots taken by Photographer Laurence Lowry with the close support of the Navy. The picture project was supervised by Contributing Editor Jones (Lieut.. U.S.N.R.), who served throughout World War II as a gunnery officer in the Caribbean and Pacific areas, was mustered out as skipper of the Destroyer Escort Crouter. Contributing Editor Clark (Pfc., U.S.M.C.), who wrote the cover story, was a Japanese-language interpreter in the Far East during World War II.

When all the facts on military power are in, the President said at his press conference, the public will feel a "lot better." And I think you will, too, when you have read "The Admiral and the Atom."

Cordially yours,

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