Evening star., 1921-09-25
Army and Navy News
THE ARMY
By Capt. Arthur G. Duncan, o. r. G.,

/
the rank of major generals much of
the interesting and varied service of
this distinguished officer is brought
| to light. Placed in charge Of the
air service. Of the A. E. F. at the
most critical stage Of the war, Gen.
Patrick demonstrated the same ex-
ceptional ability as an. executive and
[organizer as he has shown in other
important capacities. Charged with
various air service projects in Eng
land, France and italy. together with
/ the training Of niers. the securing
of supplies and machines, the selec-
tibn Of sites for air service uses and
| the supervision Of the fighting Of
American fiers on the. western front.
! the task performed by Gen. Patrick
merited the praise of allied COM
manders, as evidenced by the dis
ltinguished foreign decorations be-
slowed upon, him. -.
| Prior to assignment as commander
of the air service In France. Gen.
Patrick. as chief engineer Of the
8. O. s. and director Of construction
and forestry in the earlier days of
the; war. had under his supervision
construction work Of every descrip-
ton in France and England. This in
cluded the construction Of docks at
! Bordeaux and elsewhere. the vast
| disqualification scheme and the ex-
| tensive storage plants which were
cities in themselves. While serving
Sestry. all air service construction
projects were also under his control
At the time of the armistice Gen.
Patrick had under his control an air
service comprising a pei, personnsi a o o.
and about 400 balloons secured from
the United States and our allies. more
than S02 hangers and $4,000 acres OF
leased lands on which had been con.
structed 100000 square feet OF
achievements was the development OF
| the great air-seryice production CEN
ter at Romorantin, where all arr
| planes and engines received from the
United States were assembled and dis
patched to their destination. and the
aviation acceptance plant at oriy.
where the material from European
| sources were similarly received ana
dispatched. and the organization OF
system of supply which was second
! in magnitude only to that OF the
! iQuartermaster Corps.
/ Prior to the war Gen. Patrick served
on several important assignments as
engineer on river and harbor projects
and as commandant of the engineer
school at Washington barracks. He
did exceptional work as chief en-
gineer of the Army of Cuban occu-
patton, 1s0e-0s, and In the Browns
vile district in 1916.
In a recent communication to men,
bers of the military committee Sec.
retary Weeks stated that in his
opinion "a general revision OF the
national defense act, as amended.
should not be undertaken until time
and experience have demonstrated
more clearly the nature of the amend
ments that will be required" This
is sound advice on the part of the
voice in drawing up the act, which
was performed by the previous ad-
ministration. There is likely to be
found number of necessary amend
ments which time and experience
may find advisable to change. One
at this time would likely lead to
another. The act. drawn under direc-
ton OF the former general stan, met
with little opposition at the time their
recommendations were submitted.
/ Of their advice in the working out
Of the act Any changes made now
might prove a detriment and only re-
act on the present administration. in
stead Of charging or crediting the
resultant effect. 1t is possible that
Secretary Weeks had this point in
view when he worded his recent COM
munication on the subject to the mill
tary committees, or he may. with his
conservative mind, prefer to make a
further and thorough study of the
act before committing himself to any
change In its present form.
|; ChaplaiDs as StaR OMcers.
An important step has been taken
toward closer professional supervision
Of the activities OF chaplains and of
religious work in the Army in the
order Of. Secretary Weeks, directing
Col. Axton. chief of chaplains. to rec
officers in the Philippines. Panama,
Canal Zone and Hawaiian depart
ments, and for the 1st Cavalry Divi-
sion. Chaplains who are assigned to
staff positions will advise. assist and
direct reciprocal interchange among
the chapIains of different faiths. with
a view of guiding and instructing the
/ largest possible number of military
personnel in. spiritual welfare An
other Of their duties will provide for
religious ministration when practica- :
BILE and without expense to the gov
ernment other than local transporta-
tfon. At posts and stations tempo
rarily without chaplains they will be
charged with securing the assistance
Of chaplains of the Officers Reserve
/ Corps. National Guard or volunteer
clergymen residing near the place
where services are required, and to
make such recommendations as may
lbe deemed advisable for the moral and
spiritual welfare and contentment of
the command.
Reduction OF Coast Defenre.
In protection from the air as an off,
set to the reduction of the Coast Artil-
lery Corps personnel, provision is. made
II for the organization of two anti-aircraft
battalions. The second battalion will be
the third is to be organized at San
Francisco The following is the list of
L coast artillery defenses to be placed on
a reduced basis. incident to the reduc-
ton of the Army to 10000 men: Ports
mouth, n. H: New Bedford. Mass. :
Baltimore. Nd: the Potomac. Cape
Fear, N. c.; Charleston. s. c.: Savan-
inah, Ga; Tampa, Fla: Mobile, Ala, and
tthe Columbia.
i Lease Vacant Property.
Immediate steps are being taken to
lease all real estate and storage build
lings not now in use by the Army or
likely to be used in the immediate fu-
real property under their control have
been instructed to Immediately report
| the amount of available acreage. etc,
together with their recommendations