El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-06-30
AIR SERVICE BADLY DIS0RGANIZED.
TESTIMONY REVEALS At INQUIRY
Plenty of Material Left Over From the War; But It Is
Scattered; Gen. Mitchell Points Out Need of Air
craft to Assist Army and Navy in Coast Defence
and Pleads for Separate Aero Department.
b. DAVID LAWRENCE.

aerhe one on paper is 4 projects
we have no service squadron
sfNou mean / suppose. general.
the outlfres- remarked senator
sheppard. and then senator New
interrupted with the comment
that "a paper squadron would not
be very fOrmidable-1
Here is the thing continued Gen
Mitchell by way Of explanation: The
army is being demobiifzed and the
great question is TO get back on a
voluntary basis. We have now about
5000 men who have enlisted for the
new army. These men have to be as
signed and trained"
we were getting a good air service
developed during the war" said sena-
tor Charles S Thomas of Colorado.
De HaFiland Only Plane.
The material Is being saved" eN-
planned Gen Mitchell. The only thing
we have in this country in the way OF
airplanes is the De Haviland plane
with the Liberty motor For work IN
this country and in Mexico we can
use Il until we get something better"
rs il desirable to get something
better2"
yes; just as soon as we can get t.
Nov, other branches OF the army. -
insisted senator WadsWorth. have
managed to survive the process OF de-
mobilization, such as the infantry
regiments artillery regiments and
cavalry regiments. Why could you
not have managed the same way with
the airplane squadrons27
In the first place. senator re-
piled Gen. Mitchell. when you bring
them back 10 the United States
I'VE have no organization then3
interrupted senator New
The necessities for demobiliza-
ton" was the answer. were so great
that these men had to be gotten rid
Of, that is to say. the personnel. be-
fore new ones were organized That
is the only way we can account Tor
it. This question came up before
came back, but every effort is now
being made to get the personnel and
organize them according TO the pro-
ject which has been submitted"
Depends On Schools.
what would you do asked sena-
tor Wadsworth. ST you got an order
to put q squadron in the seryieeZ
..If II was for the Mexican service,
we would go to the schools that are
down in that neighborhood and take
anything we could get-it would De
something similar to what the SQUAD.
ron was that was sent there before
do YOU mean to say we nave not
so far as possessing means Of fight
ing the air-that. that is all We could
..The personnel which has been
trained as a result Of the war rs
largely scattered throughout the
country
Little announcement Given.
I'VE have a wonderful basis OF per-
sonnet returning from Europe rur
thew had TO 20 home-the great ma
5oritv of them would not stay IN the
sss-vica because il looked like hope
less future for them. as very little
encoura cement for an air service OF
any Importance in the near future was
held out.
Gen. Mitchell discussed in very IN
terestfnz way. Incidentally the use
NJ afrnianes 10 protect the United
states against attack by hostile s-ar-
Il have been inTestIgatiDg the
work along the coast from the
standpoint of coast defence We
can organize aviation 10 be used
nraiust an attacking navy IN
onbfnntfcn with our land de-
fences so that their chance OF