The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-10-19
TEST APPROVED
 FOR WAR GAME TO TAKEHAWAN'
Entire Battle Fleet Will
 Form Enemy COntin- ', gent In Problem
:, fRx Associatail Prsssl

s.s WASHINGTON, Oct. 1s.-Secre- ,. .staries Weeks and Wilbur have given official approval to- the problem 2 which is to form the basis of the joint s army and navy maneuvers next spring ss off Hawaii. I$
 Foreign custom, details of the test are kept secret, but it is known that i an important feature will be the hy- pothetical possession of the islands by ! an enemy force, inecessitating cam paign of election. The entire United States battle fleet, ,, with it's train and convoy, strength ened by the battleship Wyoming, the squadron of light cruisers and the sey- i, seral divisions of submarines to be trans ferred from the Atlantic for the cruise to Australia, will form the naval con :, tingent.
 . The regular army garrison of the is- lands and the organization of the Ha- waiian naval district will represent the "enemy" for the purposes of the problem and will be assigned the mis- mission of defending their position against the fleet. q
 To Test Qualifications
 li., The rnaneuvers will furnish an op- portunity for testing the Qualifications of the islands, and will be of the same nature as the joint operations con ducted last year in the Panama canal zone region, where the problem involved : the passage of the Pacific fleet into the Atlantic against 'enemy" opposition. $ The Hawaiian problem is the last ot "a three-phase war game developed by the army and navy with a view to ]: furnishing a definite foundation upon ,s which could be erected a modern plan for national defense From the data obtained strategists of both services are { expected to draw conclusions which would hold good at least through the ,ieriod covered by the Washington arms conference treaties.
 In each of the three phases an enemy force was assumed to have proceeded at least 5000 miles, and the attack under way was conceived to be directed initially at the Panama canal with the purpose of isolating some portion of the American naval forces.
 Enemy" Makes Getaway
 The first problem in 1923, compris- ing the defense of the canal against a surprise attack from the Pacific, re- suited in the ''enemy" eluding the scout screen III the 18clIIC. A FSCUHHcuud- ton for strengthened cruiser forces for the fleet and of adequate defense for the canal came from the joint board.
 Defense of the Caribbean" ( com prised the second phase of the stra- tegtic triology, the "enemy" force being assumed to have acquired base in the West Indies, and again the assault was successful in theory.
 Next years part in the major prob lem contemplates in its opening phases nattempt by nenemy force to cap ture the Hawaiian group for use as a base in an attack on the canal and subsequently, on the west coast of the United States. With the battle fleet in the role of enemy, the defenes of the islands by the army units will be aided by whatever naval craft are available ip the 14th district and by submarines and mine squadron supposed toe hG within emergency steamins distance al the outbreak of hostilities. After the Hawaiian maneuvers the, battle fleet is to proceed on its cruise to Aus. tralia. ss-