by Lynn Smith and Nick Norwood
“It’s not a job, it’s a way of life.”
These are the words of General George S. Patton III on being in the military.
In a press conference before his speech to TCC on November 18, General Patton spoke highly of the Army’s career men who he said weren’t just there for the money; they had to like what they were doing. “There has to be more than pay,” he said, “you have to be interested in your people.”
Patton said, however, that the United States Army was not ready for war with the Soviet Union. He is in favor of reinstatement of the draft, which would, in his opinion, supply the military with the needed amount of men of “the intellectual vein” and increase the total number of men to meet its requirements. “The government will finally throw up their hands and submit to bringing back the draft,” he said.
Patton said he is opposed to women in combat because “a commander on the front has too many things to worry about already without having to worry about women.” He contended that women have special problems and would present other problems for the men.
He said, “I’m opposed to it, because of tradition and because I don’t want to expose our fair sex to the nasty things I’ve seen.” He also said in a Middle East conflict, Arabs might abuse women. He said they have an entirely different view of women, in regard to prisoners of war.
Turning to current events, the General said Reagan’s plan to eliminate certain missiles on both the U.S. and Soviet sides would be great if the U.S. could verify that the Russians do it. On integrity, “They don’t have a very good record,” he said.
He said he thought the AWACS sale was a good move. He stated that Saudi Arabia was trying to be moderate insofar as oil prices were concerned. And he said that it was in our best interests to maintain the supply coming from them.
When asked to comment on the need for the manufacture of nerve gas at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, Patton said, “If the Soviets have it, we have to have it.”
On the Vietnam conflict, he said, “We learned, first of all, the power of the press. We succeeded in alienating them because we didn’t level with them. We failed to acquaint the American people with the overall objective. And we failed to mobilize. Without mobilization, the army was stretched to the maximum.”
When asked to comment on the Russian sub getting caught, Patton said, “I think it’s great. I hope those Swedes took it apart from stem to stern and side to side. I wouldn’t have turned it loose. I’d have hauled it to dry dock and charged admission.”