Conant Suggested Security Study, Writer Says in Current 'Reporter'

The suggestion for General Eisenhower's commission to study long-range national security problems came from President Conant, Lloyd H. Norman states in the current issue of "The Reporter."

Conant advised Eisenhower in 1946 to release a few of his "brightest young officers" and authorize them "to go anywhere, talk to anyone, and read anything that struck their fancy," Norman says. This three-man commission, the Advanced Study Group, was formed in March 1947.

After three years, the group compiled a lengthy report. The document especially emphasized the need for a positive philosophy of freedom and democracy, as well as a definite foreign policy program.

The work of the original commission was turned over to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1949, and the three officers were returned to routine military missions.

Norman concludes that although the group's report is now locked in a Pentago file, the ideas stemming from Conant's suggestion are evident in the "cool sense" of many generals at Congressional committee meetings.