Editing National Security Act of 1947 (section)

=== The Eberstadt Report ===
On June 19, 1945, the Department of the Navy began its own investigation. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal requested an objective investigation of the postwar reorganization by his friend [[Ferdinand_Eberstadt_(policy_advisor)|Ferdinand Eberstadt]], the former chairman of the Army-Navy Munitions Board and former vice chair of the War Production Board. By late September, Eberstadt had finished his report, and Forrestal forwarded it to the chairman of the Naval Affairs Committee, David Walsh. The 200 page report's key recommendations included the following:<ref name="OSDHistVol1" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Eberstadt |first1=Ferdinand |title=Report, to the Honorable James Forrestal, “Unification of the War and Navy Departments and Postwar Organization for National Security,” (henceforth, Eberstadt Report), “Introduction” and “Conclusions and Recommendations,” page 1-14, 22 October 1945 |url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/28646-document-2-report-honorable-james-forrestal-unification-war-and-navy-departments-and |website=National Security Archive |publisher=U.S. Senate, 79th Congress, 1st session, Committee on Naval Affairs |access-date=28 July 2024}}</ref>

* Making the Joint Chiefs of Staff permanent.
* Creating an independent air force, but also letting the Army and Navy retain air forces.
* Reorganizing the military into three departments: War, Navy, and Air. Each would be led by a cabinet-rank secretary.
* Changing the administrative structures of the departments to mirror each other as much as possible.
* Creating a National Security Council.
* Creating a National Security Resources Board.
* Creating a Joint Munitions Board.
* Creating a Central Intelligence Agency.
* Creating a Joint Military Education and Training Board.
* Creating a civilian scientific research and development agency, and creating assistant secretaries for research and development in each of the services.
* Reviewing the many other joint boards and committees from World War 2 to determine which should be continued, combined, or dissolved.
* Maintaining close working relations with Congress.
* Appointing a commission to conduct analysis of the overall national security situation before making further changes.