Evening star., 1919-12-28

The text of the letters to Secre-
tary of the Navy Daniels from
Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo, Vice
miral Benton c. Decker and Capt.
r De L. Hasbrouck dealing with
the tentative list of decorations to
naval officers follows:
Rear Admiral Mayo's Letter.
A careful examination of the
list of officers to whom have been
awarded the distinguished service
medal and the Navy cross, shows
that in many cases the recommen-
dations of the commandments
United States feet, were not carried
out
1t is apparent that there has
been a misconception of the nature
of the responsibility of the duties
of various officers and of the value
of their services in bringing about
ultimate victory.
All recommendations for awards
which originated with or were
passed upon by the commander-in-
chief. United States fleet, were
carefully considered in order to es-
tablish a uniform standard of ree
sponsibility and distinction upon
which might be based the COM
.
recommendation.
No one not intimately connected
with the operations of the fleet is
so well qualified to establish the
relative Importance of the services
performed by subordinates as is
the immediate commander.
Leaving aside whatever other
omissions exist, it is desired to
emphasize the omission of awards
fN Nf hn -foff NJ hn
commandments United States
fleet, except the award of the Navy
cross to the chief of staff.
The awards as published indi-
cate failure to appreciate the
valuable services performed by the
stats of the comrnander-in-ch
and of the several other feet
forces. An admirars success in a
position of great responsibility is
always dependent to large ex-
tent upon the loyalty. initiative
and efficiency of the members of
his staff
The omission Of recognition of
the value of the duty performed by
these officers in the planning and
supervision of the training and
military operations of the fleet, due
to the efficacy of which duty the
efficient manning Of transports,
cargo and naval vessels was pos
sible, and by virtue of which sue
cess upon the sea was assured, Gre
ateS the impression that such duty
is of minor Importance and not to
be considered or compared with
duty such as the command of
single ship.
tai to the development of the Navy
as fighting machine The ship is
but an element of the force or
fleet which, without plans for its
enective use in coordinate opera
tions with other vessels and types
of vessels. is of little value.
In all armies and in most navies
the Importance of staff duty is
recognized by the selection and de-
tail for such duty of the most eff
ficient and able officers in the serv-
ice.
Efficient staff work is abso-
l4teiy indispensable to the conduct
OF high command. Officers who
stand out pre-eminently in their
services to the fleet, the Navy and
the country. as did the officers of
my staff, whom l had the privilege
OF recommending for awards. can
not be considered as less worthy
OF distinction than those officers
VINO had occasion to display their
ABILITY in more conspicuous en-
ployment.
II is possible that the value of
the services of many officers of INV
recent command have been over
looked, due to the short statement
OF 1acts in their citation. 1t may be
mat L tailed to realize that the
Nalue OF their services would not
pc SO apparent to others as to me.
and consequently their citations
lacked full emphasis. The benefit
ana advantage, of their marked
anlaty were SO well known to me
equally we'll known to those who
would make the ultimate decision
as to the awards. s7F =
wish again to place on record
the extremely important and valu-
able services rendered by certain
members of my late staff, whose
names were included in my recon-
rangements made for organising
and administering the fleet and for
training the personnel to meet the
rapid expansion due to mobiIiza-
tlon; in the development of efficient
means and improved methods of
operating the feet both tactically
ana strategically. and in the ap-
ministration of the fleet of the in
formation and experience gained
py them during two trips Of in
Spectlon and observation through
the theater of operations, during
winch trips they were in actual
contact with active operations and
wartime administration.
In fact, it is the opinion of manv
officers of high rank that the ac-
complishments in regard to i'm
provements in the operations and
aom1nlstration of the feet made
curing the war, which were SO
largely due to the valuable sery-
ices OF my staff. are of lasting i'm
portance and of the greatest bene-
NJ 10 the future efficiency to the
Meet The remarkable DEVELOPMENT
particularly in tactics has been
mentioned in the recent report of
the Secretary of the NAVY. This
oevelopment was the result of the
efilcient work of my staff.
1he recognition of officers serv-
ices In war forms a very important
ana valuable part of an officers
record, upon which may well rest
ms future assignment to duty and
ms selection to higher rank. A re-
view and reconsideration of meri-
torlous cases are earnestly recon-
mended. H. MAYO
lice Admiral Hilary p. Jones' Lette,
According to the list Of awards,
as published in the Army and
Navy Register of 13 December.
which has just come to nv no.
tice. 1 am to be awarded the Navy
cross. II this list is correct
and I assume that it isl desire
TO bring to the attention of the
department the following:
My services during the war be-
gan April. 1917. and are set
forth below. as follows:
Commander first squadron. pa
troll force, afioat
Commander first division, cruiser
force (raider guard). afloat.
Commander Newport News di-
vision. cruiser and transport force.
afoat.
Administrator of harbor float
ing equipment in Hampton roads
district.
As commander Newport News d.
vision of the cruiser and trans