Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-12-21
SEPARATE AIR SERVICE
i! HELD NEED OF NATION
Ex-Army Aviator Denies That Naval
Officers Generally Are Opposed
to the Plan.

different branches OF air service CO.
ordinated under one head; its men
sibly demanded by a fleet commander
and some additional qualihcatons NOT
likely to be possessed by any naval
aviator trained merely in naval tac-
tics.
Services Of "Boy COlOnels."
The article of December Z speaks or
"boy colonels' who. in separa.e
service. would become boy generals
These are men who have been nylns
for eight or ten years. One instance
of boy colonel that comes reaolly
to mind is Lieut.. Col II. f. Hartney;
He has been in the war since i','
with the British, wears the II. D -
the medal of the Legion OF Honor. me
italian silver medal of honor. the
croix de guerre with two palms ana
several others; has been cited many
times for bravery; is an ace and com
manded five sQuadrons on the 1ront.
and under his direction such men a.
Rickenbac,ser Macarthur. luke ana
many others were developed. Before
coming into the service he was 4
LAWYER He has a keen and lntell-
gent grasp of all things pertaining 10
organization and aeronautical mat
tiers. Many similar examples occur
readily to the mind.
aviation was commanded at the front
by Brig Gen. William Mitchell and
his present organization OF boy
colonels''-all men of practical knowl-
edge gained from actual flights over
the lines. and now attacked and call
cd disloyal to superiors by naval men
who do not show a regard for fact.
Brig Gen. Mitchell is also spoken
of in a sighting manner by naval OPP
ponents of third branch. The writer
has taken the trouble to look up Gen.
lowing: He is forty years of age;
has been in the military service for
twenty-one years: has gone through
the War College. and. before the war.
was member of the general staff. He
flew on the Mexican border; COM
manded and flew with all the Ameri-
can aviators from Chateau-Thierry to
the Argonne-Meuse. and still flies
every day. weather permitting. in all
types of machines. The writer also
has personal acquaintance with Gen.
Mitchell, and knows him to be a man
of keen perception, of wonderful or
ganiZation ability and thoroughly
qualified in every way to fill his pres
ent position. He also knows that
Gen. Mitchell, in the event of sepa-
rate air service falling to go through;
would not be denoted by the general
staff. In his own heart Gen. Mitchell
has felt that a separate department
was necessary, and has been working
for this measure from a purely UNI
selfish point of view, although re-
memb ering what happened to Gen.
Kenly for advocating the same thing.
Gems. Hoare. Charlton and Lee. who
have represented the British air forces
in America, were all men in the early
thirties.
Error "a to British.
The statement is made that the British
are going to re-separ rate their united air
service This Is absolutely false: no
such steps have been taken or even con-
templated Never since the armistice
has the Royal Air Force been further
from disintegration than at the present
time. In fact. it has acquired more
power, in that Eghter-than-air craft of
the navy has been turned over to its
control
Aviation in this country, at present,
is dropping behind instead of going
ahead. This is easily proven by the
fact that the manufacturers Of air.
planes are going into other lines. Eng
land. on the other hand with a sep
arate department of the air, Is develop
ing many new types of machines and
is SO far ahead of all countries that
there is no comparison. Also, realizing
the Importance OF aviation. they have
stopped construction of three of the
worlds largest battleships of the Hood
type. and are developing airplanes in
stead.
The advantage of co-ordinating land
forces has been recognized for CEN
turtles. The same applies to the navy.
Now comes a totally different element
the air." and it Is easily recognized
that the efforts of all interested in this
new branch should be gathered together
under one head so as to assure the
future Of aviation in the T. S. A.