Evening star., 1923-12-23

on July /, 1924. this surplus OF men
in the eastern corps areas who nave
completed the course at the nnance
school will be sent to the western
corps areas, where their services are
urgently needed in the admlnlstra-
tion of finance department matters
of these areas. 1t is stated that this
is the only way in which all of the
corps areas will have their proper
proportion of finance school graduates
stationed within their areas.
The fifth course for Navy line off,
GERS in chemical warfare will begin
on January 3, 1924, at Edgewood ar
Senal and conclude February 16. AL
though the Navy Department has not
as yet announced the names OF those
officers who will take this instruc-
ton. it is expected that about thirty
naval officers will be ordered to at
tend this course.
Eighteen ordnance reserve officers
recently completed a course in pro-
curement training at Frankford arse
nal and Rock Island arsenal, under
funds allotted to the assistantssecre-
tary of war. Those who were giyer
this instruction at Frankford arsenal
are Capts. Earl S. Areford. Henry B.
Reardon. First Lteuts. Edward
Florcyk, John Cetrule, Douglas L.
Rehlander, l.. A. Haskett and John o.
Brennan, Second Lieuts. w. ]. Ettle-
man, r. J. Jenkins and Alonzo b.
Woodruff
The officers attending the Rock
Island class We're Capt. Leslie S.
Solar: First Lieuts. James W. Fraser,
Hollis 5. Beattey. Ernest B. Probyn.
Albert w. Hanrick and +. H. Boeck !;
Second Lieuts. Walter c. Lawson and
Richard P. Jones.
A similar course will be held in
May at the above named arsenals for
ordance reserve officers assigned to
procurement districts. 1t Is expected
that about ten officers will undergo
this instruction at each or these
points.
Ordnance officers in the I'd Corps
Area are making arrangements with
the commanding officer at Raritan
arsenal for a three-day course of in
struction February 10, IL and L.
which will be for reserve officers who
desire a brief period Of instruction in
the duties of an ordnance officer.
During this same period last year, g
two-d day course was held which was
highly satisfactory, and the course
this year will be available for offi-
GERS desiring this training on an in
active duty status. Those officers
who desire to enroll for this course
should communicate with Capt. J. B.
Fidler, headquarters 18th Army Corps,
SO Whitehall street. New York.
Brig Gen. ]. w. Joyes. chief of the
technical staff ordnance department,
VIII NlSSt the teCnnlcdi Sbdil dl VI
Benning to discuss development prof.
ects with the infantry board.
NAVY.
Publication of the text of the pro-
posed bill to "equalize promotion OF
officers of the Staff Corps of the Navy
with officers of the line" has created
intense interest through all branches
of the service For the past week it
has been one of the absorbing topics
of conversation and the sentiment for
and against is fast crystallizlns.
The principal opposition TO the
measure is found in the Construction
Corps though there are individual Of
GERS among the engineers and In the
line who are outspoken against It.
The bill has the support of the Sec
retary and the department.
The objections to the bill were sum-
married. in this column last week.
The following statement gives in de-
tail the viewpoint of the officers who,
after comprehensive study OF the
bills provisions, strongly favor it:
The proposed plan for promotion
of the officer personnel in the Navy
is founded on the broad and funda-
mental principles of justice and
equality. 1t insures the same promo
tion or the same opportunity for pro-
motion for equal length of service TO
all officers of the Navy
THE vexed. question of relative
rank and of rank necessary for ad-
ministrative purposes. of which the
Navy has heard SO much, will abso-
lutely disappear when all officers who
are promoted in due course find that
they are always in the same relative
position in the Navy: that is. that
they are junior to officers to whom
they were junior when they entered
the service, and that they are senior
to officers to whom they were senior
wheS they entered. the service.
The difference in rank between
officers of equal length of service in
the various staff corps and the line
is marked. This is particularly true
of the Medical Corps. officers in the
Civil Engineer Corps who were ap-
pointed in 1907, have been promoted
to commander officers of the Con-
struction Corps who graduated from
the Naval Academy in 1912 are COM
manders. while medical officers. many
of whom are among the best men
in the corps and would undoubtedly
be selected for promotion without a
question and who rank with line
officers who entered the Naval Acad-
emy in 1899. are still lieutenant COM
manders and many of them cannot be
promoted for years.
THE Junior commander of the line
was appointed to the Naval Academy
in 1903 and was selected to the rank
five in 1923. His running mate in
the Medical Corps will not be COM
mander under present law in fifteen
years.
Is such that by 1888 only sixteen COM
manders can be promoted to captain
and only nineteen liuetenant command
ers can be promoted to commander in
The junior captain in the Medical
Corps. whose running mate is now
an admiral. can be promoted to ad-
miral in 1881 and retires in 1888 at
the age of sixty-four years. The
junior commander, whose running
four on the list; only sixteen can be
promoted in ten years. leaving him
eighteen on the list at the age of
ffty-seven. The Junior lieutenant
now commander, is eighty-seven
on the list; only nineteen can be
promoted in ten years. leaving him
sixty-eight on the list at the age Of
commanders have been promoted to
captain and seven lieutenant COM
manders have been promoted to COM
mander in the same time.
Certain duties, such as the senior
medical officer of the larger battle
mander. A medical officer. who was
appointed to the Medical Corps in
1905, has completed three cruises and
during the war was in commands of
one of the hospital ships, since which
time he has been operating surgeon
in one of our largest hospitals, when
ordered to sea a few months ago, had
to be sent to one of the oldest bat
tleships, as he did not have the
necessary rank for duty on one of
the largest ships. At the same time
the fleet gunnery officer on duty on
the flagship is two years his junior,
but 1876 numbers ahead in the next
higher grade.
This situation is large factor
in causing the shortage of medical
officers In the Navy. AS a result Of an
intensive effort in recruiting, in which