Evening star., 1923-03-18
BY WILL r. KENNEDY.

| A LTHoUGH the Army, Navy,
| ~ Marine Corps and postal serv-
~ ice are using aviation, and all
though a number Of scientific
branches of the government are lend
ing their assistance to the develop
ment Of aviation, there is no unneces-
sary duplication of activities. accord
ing to a report just made to the gen.
| eral staff by the aeronautical board
Of the Army and Navy.
| This means that there is no actual
duplication as considered by those
who are urging reorganization of
government activities to eliminate
duplication and overlapping of work
in the interests of economy and effici-
| ency Sometimes an apparent dupli-
| cation is In fact real economy.
Rapidly OF Development.
|, There has been more progress in
| aviation in short time. since the be-
ginning Of the war, than in any other
mechanical device ever produced by
| man. 1t is recognized by military
| and naval strategists that aviation
will be a deciding factor in future
warfare. The Army must have con-
| troll of the air service necessary for
operation OF troops in the field, and
| similarly the Navy must have control
of aviation necessary for naval war
fare. 1t was this thought that
fathered the proposal to put bureau
| of aeronautics in the new department
| of defense contemplated by the
| scheme of reorganization recently
submitted by President Harding to
the joint congressional committee on
| reorganization of the administrative
branch of the government.
( The national interests call for
\ speedy development Of commercial
aviation in all parts Of this country,
not only to speed up commerce and
advance civilization, but also to pro-
vide a reservoir on which to draw
| in times of war
The government agencies using
aviation are:
| The Army air service.
| The Navy bureau Of aeronautics,
under which also comes the aviation
work of the Marine Corps.
The air mall service.
| The scientific branches Of the gov
| ernment lending their assistance to
the development Of aviation are:
The national, advisory committee
for aeronautics, an independent estab-
lishment.
The weather bureau. Department OF
Agriculture.
The bureau of standards, Depart.
ment Of Commerce.
The forest products laboratory, De-
partment of Agriculture.
The bureau of mines, Department
Of the Interior.
| The public has come to consider
that other government agencies are
| using airplanes, but this is a mis-
| tiken notion, and here is the expla-
| nation:
The forest fire patrol is operated by
the Army for the forest service.
A boll-weevil patrol along the
Mexican border is just being organ
lied, 70 be operated by the Army.
Other Flying by Army.
The Army also does flying for the
geological survey in an experimental
way. Here has been demonstrated
| tilS Pi dSIiSdpiAlNS " Aapld al4d az u
rate mapmaking by aerial photog-
raphy.
While the coast guard is not off,
cially operating airplanes, yet some
Of its members who were air pilots
during the war do use airplanes ir
connection with their official duties.
Prohibition officers are not using
a regular airpiane scout service, but
occasionally borrow flyers from the
Marine Corps and other military
branches to make special observa.
tions.
Now as regards the functions Of