million in cuts to the fiscal year 1950 budget, mainly at the expense of the Army and Navy budgets, which were cut by another $357 million and $376 million respectively. While most of Johnson's cuts came at the expense of the Navy, it was the Army that was affected the most. After a year with Johnson at the helm, the Army had lost 100,000 men and only one of its ten divisions was at full strength. Truman still talked about cutting the defense budget to $9 billion. Unwilling to support further cuts, Symington submitted his resignation in April 1950. On 25 June 1950, the Korean War broke out and the administration was forced to confront the crisis with the forces it had on hand. The Truman administration immediately decided not to use the nuclear arsenal, and sought to check the North Korean advance with conventional forces. The war discredited the proponents of austerity and vindicated the hawks that had called for increased defense spending. As an initial response, Truman called for a naval blockade of North Korea, and was shocked to learn that such a blockade could only be imposed "on paper", since the Navy no longer had the warships with which to carry out his request. Faced with public criticism of his handling of the Korean War, which opened with a series of setbacks and defeats, and wishing to deflect blame from the peacetime defense economy measures he had espoused, Truman decided to ask for Johnson's resignation on 19 September 1950. Truman decided he needed a Secretary of Defense that had the confidence of all three services, preferably one with significant military experience, and nominated George Marshall. Matthews resigned on 31 July 1951, and became the United States Ambassador to Ireland. The Korean War compelled a reluctant Truman to loosen the purse strings. The administration did not decide between military and civilian spending; it found that it could afford both. No solution for interservice rivalry or any process for the resolution of competing budgetary claims emerged. Rivalry between the services was not ended; what ended was competition over a zero-sum budget. Defense outlays quadrupled between 1950 and 1953. In fiscal year 1951, the Army had double the manpower called for in Johnson's budget; the Navy increased its carrier force from 15 to 27; and Air Force grew from 48 wings to 87. Fears of inflation proved unfounded; although it