Evening star., 1922-08-20
THE ARMY

Approximately one out of every
seven officers now holding active COM
| missions in the Army must, under
the present law. either retire. resign
or be discharged from the service
prior to January 1. 1923.
The latest figures showing reduc-
ton in actual strength indicate that
ISIS officers are scheduled for elimi-
nation by a board Of general officers
now meeting daily at the War De-
partment. From the total indicated
500 promotion list officers in the
grade from colonel to first lieutenant
| may be retained until absorbed or
recommissioned in the next lower
grade, which leaves a minimum re-
duction of 1.716 that must be effected
this year. 1t is anticipated that
| when the reduction is accomplished d
reassignment will be made of off,
GERS to branch and arms of service
and to the various organizations Of
the Army in accordance with the re-
duced number.
Reports indicate that the general
! board, which must by December. Is
finish the work of indicating what
special attention to physical dts
qualification. officers in touch with
| the boards delicate work of deter
| mination state that its efforts are
far from pleasant. They point out
the difficulty of the board being
obliged to eliminate efficient officers
from the Army who in many cases
won their commissions during the
world war.
The loss of trained officers. it is
said, will be seriously felt in the
! line, where reglmental officers have.
through hard work and study during
the past two years. been brought to
| a high grade Of efficiency.
With the present shortage in the
Army of second lieutenants, almost
| equal in number to the trained OFF,
GERS who under the recent act OF
| it appears somewhat inconsistent
that the Army is faced with the ne
i cessity of commissioning In the near
future a large number Of untried
| juniors to take the place OF spe--
| cially selected officers who IN time OF
war demonstrated their ability and
were carefully selected as commits
| stoned ofhcers, mainly in the grades
| Of lieutenant and captain, by Gen.
Pershing's board.
! A1foA1p 10 CESUS Svhs
Orders Rye been issued for the
| United States Army airship CO to
be placed in the best possible con.
dition for q transcontinental night
| from Langley Field, Va, to Ross
Field, Calf, early in September.
| The crew Of the ship has been ofn-
| cially designated by the chief OF air
services and are: Maj. H; A; Strauss.
chief officer; Capt. G. w. McEntire'
| Lieut.. o. A. Anderson. Lieut.. u. l..
Hutchins; Master Sergt. w. e. F1tcn,
] engineer. and Stan Sergt. J. L. AL
I brecht. engineer. -
| 1t is contemplated that the C.I IN
| it's flight across the continent Will ny
| over Washington, D. C., with stops
at Scott Field. Brooks Field ana
The purpose. of the fight is to es-
| tablish a transcontinental airship
route, to photograph an airway and
at the same time to, provide practice
for the aeronauts in long-dfstance
cross-country flights. No attempt
] will be made to establish any record
| for speed or endurance.
No greater altitude than $500 feet
| can be reached by the.-C-2, which Is
propelled by two H. wright
motors. Its estimated speed is sixty.
| five miles per hour. The ship Is ~
feet long. 81 feet wide and 81 feet