The National Geographic Magazine January-December 1953. I-IV [antikvár]

OGRAPH COPYRIGHT, 1952, BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, HINGTON, 0. C, INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT 5 Across the Potomac from Washington i Growing Pains Afflict Arlington County and Alexandria as the Nation's Capital Overflows into Near-by Virginia By Albert W. Atwood The nerve center of our national defense is not in Washington, D. C., as one might gather from newspapers, radio, and television, but across the Potomac River in Virginia. Until recently a nondescript no man's land, the three-mile Virginia strip between Arlington Memorial Bridge and historic Alexandria is now dominated by that incredible building the Pentagon. Symbol and center of our military power, the huge structure is the headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all those branches of the Army, Navy, and Air Force which must be in close touch with one another and with the top command. Unofficial Adjunct to the Capital The average American citizen might well regard the Pentagon as the most important building in the world. Here are devised measures to protect our lives and property from foreign aggressors. At Pentagon desks sit men and women, in and out of uniform, directing activities which take the largest single bite out of the taxpayer's dollar. Military expenditures will account for 67 percent of the $79,067,000,000 to be spent according to the Federal budget for fiscal 1953. Although the Pentagon is not in Washington, it might as well be for all practical purposes. Back in 1791 George Washington chose a plot of land 10 miles square, straddling the Potomac, as a site for a National Capital. But the original Federal City was built entirely on the Maryland side, and in 1846 Congress permitted the Virginia part to retrocede to the State. Today, however, this Virginia strip has become a great, if unofficial, adjunct capital, and into it both the activities and the residents of Washington continue to pour with irresistible force. Heart, hub, and pivot of this new Virginia metropolis is the Pentagon, the world's largest office building, in which 32,000 defense workers find room (pages 12-13). Most of the building is open to the public during normal working hours, but there are some areas which only a selected few may enter. Among these are the headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Research and Development Board. Built in World War II as headquarters for the War Department, the Pentagon was originally dubbed "Somervell's Folly," after Gen. Brehon Somervell, of the Army Engineers, who built it.* But it has proved anything but folly, having saved a vast sum in rent formerly paid for the use of privately owned buildings. Every effort has been made to concentrate related activities and to prevent costly scattering throughout the vast spaces. "Prisoners of the Pentagon" Agreeing that the building, with its air-conditioning and wide corridors, is a comfortable place to work, its occupants nonetheless describe themselves as "prisoners of the Pentagon." This is because it is almost impossible to leave at lunchtime. Restaurants are too far away, and there is danger of losing one's park- * See "Wartime Washington," by William H. Nicholas, National Geographic Magazine, September, 1943. ¦i" I 2 National Geographic Pliotograplier Robert F. Sisson General of the Army Omar N. Bradley Strolls Through His Virginia Garden Arlington County, across the Potomac River from Washington, has developed in the last two decades into a bustling suburban community. Defense headquarters for the Nation, Arlington contains both the Pentagon, where the "top brass" work, and Fort Myer, where many of them live. Here General Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shares his garden at Fort Myer's Quarters 1 with his wife and grandchildren. ing space. Besides, if the worker is not of high official rank, his parking space is at a great distance from the building. To provide close-in parking for 32,000 people working in one building is impossible, and more assignments are made than there are actual spaces. Thus the latecomer gets left, or illegally uses someone else's space. Parking violations run as high as 250 a week. Consequently, many workers arrive before breakfast to assure parking. The building has ample eating facilities, ranging from stand-up snack bars to the private dining room of the Secretary. There are four public cafeterias, two for officers, and dining rooms for top brass and high executives. Many a vacuum jug of coffee is taken from the snack bars to lunchtime conferences of generals and admirals. In summer employees enjoy an open-air cafe in the inner court (page 14). The Pentagon's vast concourse, with its many stores and its changing exhibits, is of un- failing interest to visitors (page 15). Exhibits which have attracted special attention were of jet engines, submarines, photography, handicrafts by enlisted men, and military decorations and medals. Here also is MARS, headquarters of the Army and Air Force Military Affiliate Radio System. This station exists to create interest in radio and to train hams for military communications in the event of war. Floor Plan Easy to Follow There are many jokes about getting lost in the Pentagon's labyrinth of rings, corridors, ramps, and escalators. Actually, a study of the little map handed out at reception desks reveals the building's plan as strikingly simple. The five floors are laid out in five concentric rings, like those of a tree, lettered A, B, C, D, E. Ten numbered corridors, radiating from the inner ring like the spokes of a wheel, intersect the rings. Thus, a visitor looking for room 4D620