El Nuevo mexicano., 1919-07-31
What Kind of Air
Service Is This

VI AitcH HtIttmDtf ~ Tue uIuI III
service, as II wag created for the bmer
gency Of the wal, Will cease TO exist
What remains VIII be such ofganizq
tiop as has been developed In tht
regular army, and which amounts. &c
cording to a statement OF Senator
WadswQrth, chairman Of the senate
military affairs committee, 10 prael
ticaily nothing al all. The entire a.
ing corps. almost without exception
was made ID Of national army men
Who are to nc released by the war de
partment within the next two mouths,
notwithstanding that many OF them,
according to Senator Wadsw0rih,
want to remain in the service.
This action of the war depnrtihent
Is surprising m view Of the situation
IN Mexico and e0f our former expert
ence in sending an expeditionary force
across the border without adequate
air support. But this is not the only
surprising thing about the condition IN
which the, air snFvice viii be left by
the breakup OF the emergency organ
ization. At the moment when this is
taking place congress is appropriating
25 million dollars In the Army Bill
10 rair service. The House fixed the
amount at Is millions. which was In.
creased by the Senate to AS millions.
The rs millions stand as the result
|of a conference compromise.
While the amount is not great,
compared to the expenditures we be-
came accustomed to in the war, It
would seem ii should provide a con-
q "a ~ AIa| .Nrnt..rT FA4. o1at.I QItI4A
operations-it being remembered that
the War Department already has the
equipment. There are now, accord
ing to figures given in the Senate,
ttFee thousand plans in storage.
About an equal number have been
sold at prices ranging as low as 10
per cent OF their actual cost.
But we learn from senator Wads.
worth that this rs million dollars will
not be added to the small number
q dozen is the highest estimate the
military committee chairman would
L,ake-noW contained In the regular
army Organization. What, then, Is the
20 million dollars to go for? The
answer is, for Administrative work. II
seems Incredible, but here are Sena-
v Wy duMUll III . MQlQ6 uHlG VII
not be a single emergency officer in
the army after September 30 because
Of the limited appropriation made.
This will have the effect Of cutting
down the number OF the officers iii
the air service 10 232. All or these
will be needed for administrative du.
ties, SO in effect we will have no
fliers at all. There's may be ten or a
dozen in the regular army who can
be spared from administrative work
for flying but that is ALL
For rs million dollars then we are
to get twelve fiiers and 232 admits
officers, or deskmen. These
are not flying desks either, but the
ordinary kind that stand on the floor
That Is, IN round figures. twenty
desks and twenty administrative OF
ficers to each plane and each filler.
And even these twelve filters are not
regular filters. They, too, are admin
.Istrative officers, but might OCCASION
ally be spared for flying duty in a
pinch.
The ordinary lRyman Will find II
bard to understand what there Is to
administer In a flying service that
doesn't fly. The army's three thous
Ind planes are In storage, They
night require a night watchman, but
Of such administration
which ought tn--be had for some
hing less than rs million dollars
hat other Administrative duties does
heir care demandg These planes
'Vst more money than can readily be
'eckoned. At least a billion dollars.
they are now laid UP in a she'd
that have not been sold at ire
pendous loss and the men trained
o fly them, at further huge cost,
been discharged. The army is, or
. about to be. without any air SCR .
ice at all at a time when %interyen-
ion In Mexico, perhaps on an extend
ID scale, is openly discussed as a
possibility. Twelve fliers-who
you'd leave the administrative force J
.r~ippled-and 232 other administra-
i've officers who would have to do
heir Own work and thai of the twelve (,
Ire all the army would have for air !,
upp0rt The other 1888 planes which !
mo- fliers would remain in the
he'd. !
Is this the kind OF an air service !
America is to get out OF its var ex-
'enditure and its war lessons? An
administrative service m~erely--witlF .
lut fliers-7nt a cost OF rs million dol
AIRS and its planes kept in a wareT
Ipuse, 4,