The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-11-02
PERSH|NG WOULD
ELIMINATE DEAD
TIMBER" OFFICERS
GENERAL WOULD HAVE EX.SERV.
ICE MEN ALLOWED TO ENTER
VOLUNTEER RESERVE UNITS
READY FOR INSTANT CALL
WOULD KEEP NATIONAL GUARD
AS PART OF TRAINING SERVICE.

Washington, oct. illumination of
dead timber" among army officers was
suggested by General Pershing before
the senate and house military commit
tees today as one Of the steps advisable
IN peace time reorganization o. the mil
itary establishment. In nearly every
grade, the general said, there were u
few officers who had passed the stage
Of usefulness and should be replaced.
In reducing the army from 500 900
to 300. 900 men, the general said only
very small reduction could be made in
the number OF staff officers.
I'VE had $50 on our staff in France,
for an army Of 1000 900 men" he
said. we should have needed the same
, number for half as many"
Chairman Wadsworth said some re.
cent promotions had created 80 colonels
for IL cavalry regiments. General
Pershing said his scheme would prevent
that.
Staff officers have been able to come
to congress" General PershinE added
and get promotions, to the exclusion
Of promotions for officers OF the actual
fighting arms
When the proposed consolidation of
the chemical warfare service with the
engineer corps was taken up, com
nittee asked if use Of poison gas should
DO eliminated
I'D be glad to see that General
Pershing returned, but somebody else
might use it and leave us in the lurch
would continue preparation for chemi.
cal warfare"
/ The national guard performed ex.
| cellent service in the war, considering
/ its limited opportunity for training. "
said General Pershing. Its officers
and men had the feeling, and quite
properly so, that they had not had com
| plete support from the regular army"
/ Men who have served in the present
war should be allowed to enter voluu-
/ teer reserve organizations, General
| Pershing said. ~ would classify and
assign them to service" he said with
divisional units complete by localities.
| ready for instant call National guard
divisions should be utilized in the same
manner as far as possible" he added.
General Pershing was asked to ex.
plain exactly what his theory was for
utilizing the national guard in connect
ton with the military establishment.
Il think it would be wise to take all
troops that have seen war service in
national guard units and induct them
| into the federal reserve units" he ans.
wered. 'The national guard could be
kept as part Of the training service.
you will always have 43 different
units TO deal with in connection with
the national guard The states have
. control over the guard, hut the federal
government has some authority to en-
force regulations over 1t. If no system
Of military training was adopted we
shall have 10 fall back upon the nation
al guard, but | should hate to see it,
Several committee members came to
the defense of the guard system and its
officers.
This law provides that every man
trained shall be automatically called
into service in case of war" said Rep
resentative Miller, republican, of Wash
ington. what are your views as to
that?'
General Pershing said he would favor
passing the trained men into reserve
organizations and calling them into
service automatically when their unit
was needed.
You wouldn't have 4 select service
draft, them" Representative Miller pur.
sued
Il think the other would be the better
plan said General Pershng
One year enlistments in the regular
army, General Pershing said, should be
continued and men enlisting for that
period should be exempted from univer.
sal training.