The Washington herald., 1917-05-03
Army and Navy News
Best service Column In City.

Cornell, Illinois, Ohio, California, and
Texas universities and the Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology have been
designated by the War Department as
training schools for prospective army
aviatoTS The students will have two or
three months instruction In physics, me-
chanics and military drill, which will De-
gin in six weeks.
Some of the 60o0 applicants for the
army aviation corps will be selected Tor
assignments to the university after pre-
liminary physical and mental examina-
tons. Meanwhile each of the universities
will send three members of its faculty
to study practical aviation problems at
the Canadian training school, connected
with the University of Toronto.
The War Department intends to send
practical aviators to each training school
to assist the three faculty members in
directing the courses, although the pres
ent intention is not to use the univer-
sity campuses as aviation fields. Actual
flying training will be given TO the stu
dents at the army's aviation camps. All
the schools chosen already have military
instruction.
Other schools probably will be chosen
later for similar training centers. Ohio
State University, at Columbus. has made
tentative arrangements TO use a string
Of ten aviation fields being established
between Columbus and Dayton by an
aeroplane company in Dayton. The two
cities would be the terminals Of a regu-
lar flying course, with the training fields
at Dayton.
There Is an urgent need for men be-
tween the ages of g and A to accept
commissions as officers in the conscrip-
ton army, it was announced yesterday
by the Military Training Camps Associa-
ton. which is acting as civilian assistant
to the regular army in obtaining officers
to go to Plattsburg on May Is. To date
few among applicants. 1t was pointed
out that few men below the age Of 25
make good officers.
1t was announced that to date 1000
men had been accepted from New York
and Long Island to go to Plattsburg.
One thousand men have been certified
from the northern counties Of New York
and Pennsylvania for the training camp
at Madison Barracks in the western part
of New York State. From the southern
tier OF counties of New York and Penn
sylvania 1900 men have been accepted
for training at Fort Niagara, near Nj
agara Falls.
New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and
West Virginia have contributed 1,S5o men
for training at Fort Myer, Va, and $50
men have been certified from North and
South Carolina and Tennessee for in
struction at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga, Geor-
gia, Alabama and Florida have 1,35O men
ready for the camp at Fort Mcpherson,
Ga. ""'
Fifty thousand four hundred and fifty
men will be New York's quota Of the first
force of 100000 that the government will
raise under the selective draft system.
In addition the State of New York s
being called upon to raise 1925 men as
its quota of the force OF 1S3 SOS needed on
April to raise the regular army to full
war strength. New York will also pro-
vide approximately 5000 men to bring its
National Guard organization to the full
war strength contemplated by the gov
ernment and is expected to raise 10 per
cent of the Marine Corps and 10 per cent
of the navy.
The schemes of the War Department
contemplate the raising Of about ,O0O. 900
men in addition to those already in the
regular army and the National Guard
On the basis of its population, as COM
pared with the total population Of the
continental United States in 1910. when
the latest Federal census was taken. the
State of New York would raise 1909 per
cent of each armed force raised BY the
Federal government. This is the relation
that the population of New York, which
was 9,113,614 in 1910. bore to the popula-
tion of the entire country, which was
81. .972, ,266 On this basis of arriving at the
States quota New York State would fur
rish approximately 10000 Of the force of
l, 100000 men to be raised during the first
year for the army.