Admiral McIntire summarized the factors that contributed to the speed and effectiveness of early BuMeed planning. He pointed out that the planning was, in the first place, single service planning to meet the specific needs of the Navy, and that these needs were not too difficult to visualize. There were relatively few echelons through which the plans had to pass before reaching the Secretary of the Navy for final decision, and that it was not difficult for the Surgeon General to see the Secretary at any time. Considerably less clearance with the Chief of Naval Operations was necessary than later on. And most important of all, there was at that time no third echelon above all of the services, through which plans had to be cleared and which had the power to stop programs at any stage in their execution. Admiral McIntire summed up this aspect of postwar planning and administration by saying, "When you lengthen the chain of command, you weaken the whole system."
