Technology and power

Media

Part of Philippine Armed Forces Journal

Title: Technology and power
Language: English
Source: Philippine Armed Forces Journal Volume IX (No. 6) April 1956
Year: 1956
Rights
Fulltext: live today in a state of ween our chosen way of life and conccn1 over the multifarious prob- Communism. !ems that confront the country. In a Whether the international situalarger sense we live in an era which tion will aggravate into a shooting may prove in the near future to be war today or tomorrow or in' <the next either the prelude to the millenium few years, our country can have no or the prelude to man's reversion to better way of preparing itself for the dark ages. The cont•·adictions peace, if peace there be, or wa1·, if between man's desire for peace and war must come, than by intensifying ·~ man's continuous production of wea- the training of our youth to meet the pons for war find expression in the responsibilities of a sovereign councold conflict that today is raging bet- try. -Technical Men Needed Considering the tremendous natural If war should come, technical men wealth lying dormant in our country, will be of great assistance in produc- there is no danger whatsoever of an ing the materials of war that will be over-supply of technical men. This necessary. If peace should continue, is a field in which we have barely the same technical men could h<!lp scratched the surface. produce the wealth that will bring Now there are those of course who ('~ prosperity and happiness to our argue that this country is basically people. an agricultural country. Let us not The Philippines has always been in concern ourselves with that controvgreat need of foreign know-how. We ersy. The training of technical men h!lve. always hired experts in all would not wait for the decision as to '* branches of knowledge from electro- whether or not the Philippinea will nics engineers to fishing expe1ts. continue to be an agricultural counConsidered a basically agricultural country, Philippines in mOdern age q:znnot ignore her great need for technological activities for production of peacetime and wartime materials notably those needed for an adequate air power Gr•ally in nud of technicol men, Phi/ippiner con loh c11e from mony llchnoloeicollr od•oM•d co11ntries whose citizens •hown in photo, con prod11ce the moteriol• of wor. PHIUPPINES ARMED FORCES JOURNAL ""~ ~ tt-r or bec:ome an industrial country. single agency whic:h c:an co"solidate It will take a long time before we and give unified direction and intecan produce the number of qualified gration of both military and civilian technical men needed to man our ex- efforts at tec:hnological researches isting industries. It will take still a and developments. The decision to longer time to train the numbe'r we locate in the Philippines the $20,000,shall need if we are to embark upon 000.00 Nuclear Research Center for an intense program of industrializa Asia makes it even more imperative tion suc:h as the present program of that we put together the loose ends our government seems to indicate. of our technological effort so that we Nuclear Power may better absorb the benefits that Only recently in Congress, Speak· will come out of this Nucleal' Reer Jose B. Lau1·el, Jr. presented a sea1·ch Center. Bill appropriating P2,000,000.00 for Already in the United States and the establishment of an industrial re- probably in Russia and other big search center in this country. It is powers, the atom is being harnessed my fervent hope that some day this for big peacetime uses. We hear" now center d realized, and all the other radiation is today ·being used to aid governm~:nt agencies of technical re- in the c:ure of cance1·, and now rascarc:h like the Institute of Science dioisotopes arc utilized for diagnosi!< and Technology will be fused into a ancl for therapy. The atom is now mu<t dri•• to hov• 1imilor lo~orr to in1ur• the country'• ••curily. b~?ing utilized for improving farm ai1·borne or waU!r borne, can be uncrops that will be better able to re- dertakcn without first insuring air sist drought and diseases. There are superiority. And no defense against now ~ans among great powers to use such forms of invasion can be effecthe atom to generate electricity and tive without insuring security of the later to run ships, lO<:omotives, cars, skies under which defenders must .. \.. buses and trucks. All these possible fight. peacetime uses of the atom open In an is1and country like the Phiwhole new fields to technologists in lippines, the need for air power for this country. defensive purposes beeomes more For Air Power compelling. The immediate potential It has been said that there is no enemy of this country is not a mari need to develop a strong Philippine time power. The real threat to the Ail· Fo1·ce. This is a thinking which country stems from a potential enemy is an inertia of the techniques (lf with a huge air power. The developfighting wars as experienced in the" ment, the1·efore, of an air force in First World War and the early pha · our island country should be the prises of the Second World War. To- mary consideration in insuring the day, ilo offense or defense can be ef- sovereignty of this Republic. All fected without a substantial air cov- other forces earmarked against overt ering force. No invasion, whether aggression must assume a subordinate role. aftet· we are attacked. And it is this It has been claimed that due to tht:' pedod of initial efiemy attack that operations of the Mutual Defense poses the gravest danger to our Jives Treaty between the United States and properties. and the Philippines, the United Sta ·American Air Force units that we tes will shoulder the resJTonsibility of can count upon are stationed here to air defense of the country. 1 am protect us during the initial pha.se of ~~:i~~ained to take exception to this ;::rpvt!~~ ~~st~a::!e f~~~u~~~v-~.hil~~ ~ Two Phases of Air Defen!!e pines. U.S. Air Force units in OkiThe phases of air defense of any nawa, Guam, Hawaii and even those country to my mind fall into two ca- in the mainland of the United States tegories: that of the absorption can only come to our succor after phase and secondly, that of the re- the first hour of attack. Even the taliation phase. The absorption U. S. 7th Fleet with all its striking phase is the air defen!;e called for in power is only a retaliatory force with the first hour or the first day against respect to the Philippines because its enemy attack. The retaliation phase primary mission is the dC'rense of comes only after the absorption Taiwan. phase. The two theories find strength ' It is the first hours of enemy at. in the concept that democratic coun- tack that counts. Because of the tries do not precipitate nor start capabilities of modern mass destruc--1 wars. For ..... :u·, in democratic statcll, tion weapons, within the first hOur Ol' as an instrument of offense, is not the first day of enemy incursions, our an accepted pl'inciple. We only hit cities can be laid waste, ouJ· imlu~ Photo illulltott WOt.oblt pion of U.S. for /olol air dtftnst. Poltntial tntmy of tht Philippintl it fi.ewitt an air powtt, neuuitating htt to tndtovot for build-up of the Philippint Air Foret to bt obit to copt with ony oltoc.,ng forct. tries can be razed to the ground, our liation after the initial enemy atcommunication lines can be cut, our tack. But what good is retaliation surface forces ean be immobilized. to us if we shall have been destroyed IndP.ed, life during the first day can first? What good is razing to the be extinguished. We do not have in gt·ound and burning enemy installathe Philippine Air Force nor in the tions if we shall have been burned Air Force of' the United States sta- first? What good is death to the tioned in the Philippines, forces in enemy when we shall die first? We being of sufficient strength to ward must continue to develop our Air off these initial destructive attacks. Force even sufficiently for the t!rst Gen. Lawrence Kuter himself, Com- day of enemy attack. The more Fimanding General, U.S. Far East Air lipino lives and prope1ties we save Forces, recognizes this sad situation. the first day, the more chances we lt is true that there will be the reta- have of sur\'1\·ing the war. • Eu~rnta from nn nddr<'ll delhN<·d l!l' the ~ut.,hor to th~ l{rAdUMPa of the F~~t; In· ~titut~ of T...:hnoloi!Y ondy th;t month. In ••pilt of tht /oct tho/ oir powtt alone con "'"" bt dtcisivt in toto/ wor, 1/tt oir bottle must bt won. In spilt of oil the new dtvelopmenh in tht lit ld of otomic ""'9Y ond tht >'Otiour military opplicotions, tht oirplont continuu to bt tht but mtlhod of pro;tcting tht powtr ol tht otom to tht bottltlield, ond to the heotl of ony Iorge lond· mon notion -General ol the Army Omor N. 8rodley its modest start two his battle won when the bill he and a year ago with a hand- sponsored became Act No. 4194, auful of men and a group of rickety thorizing the creation of an aviation contraptions known as JN-4 biplanes unit which would undertake the misfor instructional purposes, our local sion of reconnaissance support for air arm has grown into a respect- the semi-military organization in its able force which eeleb1oates its 21st peace and order eampaign. It was anniversary on May 2. eallcd the Philippine Constabulary Twenty-one years ago, it will be Air Corps and later renamed the rcealled, the PAF was born after a Philippine Army Air Corps after long verbal dash of the late Pres- the inauguration of the Philippine idcnt Manuel Quezon with lawmak- Commonwealth. ers of the Philippine Legislature. Retrospect Against oppositionists who did not. The toddling local air force ·was then re8.lize the country's need for amidst its training when war clouds an air force, President Quezon saw gathered ove1· the Far East. On Aug