Nebraska Home
Defense Plans
Being Completed
United Press Staff Correspondent
LINCOLN (UP)–A non-salaried committee of Nebraska business and farm leaders rapidly is perfecting an organization capable of handling almost any civilian emergency arising from defense of war.
It's the Nebraska advisory defense committee, created by executive order of Gov. Dwight Griswold last February by authority of the unicameral.
Directed by executive chairman Wade R. Martin, normally superintendent of the state banking department, and executive secretary R. F. Weller, chief of the state motor vehicle division, the 23-man committee has given Nebraska a sound plan for cooperation with the national defense effort.
But the far-sighted committee hasn't stopped with defense. It has laid fundamentals for Nebraska's action in case of war–even invasion.
The groundwork for actual defense centers around three potential organizations necessitating fullest cooperation of Nebraska's citizens: The civilian air-raid warning service, civilian fire-fighting squads and a police mobilization plan.
The air-raid warning service, planned with help of the American Legion, entails use of civilian "spotters" registered from 13 districts in the state. The "spotters" will telephone reports on oncoming planes to the district headquarters, from where they will be relayed to the army air corps headquarters, probably at Fort Crook.
As the organization of a state home guard, made possible by the unicameral, would result in heavy expense, the committee hopes to depend largely upon organized peace officers.
Selected service has thinned the ranks of Nebraska's many volunteer fire departments and even (Turn to Page 8 No. 6)
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Paid for by your tax dollars (Continued from Page 1) larger cities lack proper equipment, leaving the fire protection plan one of the most difficult.
All fire fighting equipment and volunteer workers in each district will be registered, Davis said, with a fire captain in charge. The captain will be able to center his facilities in case of a large conflagration. As fire spotters, Davis plans to enlist shelterbelt employees who work across the state, and the forest service.
The defense committee also has considered evacuation plans, anti-bomb squads, air-raid shelters and other war-time organizations, but has made no direct organization moves.
