WAR DEPARTMENT
               OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF
                       WASHINGTON
                    
                                        February 18, 1942.
 
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT:
 
     The future effort of the Army is dependent upon shipping.
More shipping than is now in sight is essential if the national
war effort is not to be neutralized to a serious extent. By
December 1942, there will be 1,800,000 troops ready for
overseas service, and by the end of 1943 about three and a 
half million. We are now endeavoring to secure from the War
Shipping Administration an additional eighteen cargo ships
per month for military use, which would permit an overseas 
force of 750,000 by the end of 1942. This number, however,
would be less than half of the troops potentially available.
 
     The present 1943 program for the construction of
10,667,000 dead weight tons will permit an overseas 
fighting force of about one and a half million men by the
end of 1943, again less than half of those to be available.
Furthermore, defense aid requirements will not be met in
full measure and the war production program will, therefore,
be partially ineffective because of lack of ships.
 
     The war effort of the United States, less what can be
done by the Navy, will be measured by what can be
transported overseas in troops and materiel. The conclusion
that the small forces now envisaged are the measure of the
capacity of the country and its military might appears 
unacceptable. Immediate steps are urged to increase the tempo
of the ship building program to a much higher figure.
The maximum possibilities in this regard should be exploited,
in my opinion, and the Army advised accordingly.
 
 
                                   Chief of Staff.