To ensure congressional approval of proposed DOD budget requests, both President Truman and Secretary Johnson demanded public acquiescence, if not outright support, from the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and other military department commanders when making public statements or testifying before Congress. In 1948, JCS Chief of Staff General Omar Bradley stated that "the Army of 1948 could not fight its way out of a paper bag." Yet the following year, after becoming Chairman of the JCS under Johnson, Bradley reversed course and publicly supported Johnson's decisions, telling Congress that he would be doing a "disservice to the nation" if he asked for a larger military force. General J. Lawton Collins went even further when testifying before a House Appropriations committee, stating that Truman administration reductions in Army force levels made it "more" effective.