Evening star., 1925-10-01
HINES RE|TERATES
STAND ON A|RFO
Address Read to Reserve
Officers Body Favors
One Command.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
KANSAS CITY, October 1.-Reitera-
ton of his belief that the Air Service
is and will always be an auxiliary arm
OF the Army and Navy characterized
an address here today prepared by
Maj. Gen. John l.. Hines, chief OF
staff of the Army. and read by Brig.
Gen. Dennis L. Nolan at the annual
convention of the Reserve Officers
Association of the United States.
I'VE intend in our siX-field Army
plan greatly to increase in case of
emergency. our Air Service, just as
we do our other combat branches, by
means of the National Guard and
Organized Reserve units" Gen. Hines
said. Our Air Service problems are
the concern of the National Guard, as
we'll as of the Organized Reserves. Air
units are essential to reserve units and
must be a part of your organization
Reserve Air Units.
Gen. Hines pointed out that there
are now 545 reserve air units of the
Army with 1850 officers and 600 en-
listed men assigned to them and that
1000 of these officers were trained
last year and l, 400 would be trained
this fiscal year.
ANY proposition looking to separate
these Air Forces from the other re
SS4 We llIlNS Will SitcNLN "iiiiAii'7ii Ni'S
value of the reserves as a combat
team and lead to inefticiency iii bat
tie" Gen. Hines added.
II believe the Air Service to he an
auxiliary army or service, the same
rs the Artillery, Cavalry or Engineers.
Wars, whether on land or sea, will be
won in the future as they have in the
past by the comparatively slow but
Irresistible force which is able to
move from one strategic position to
another, take it, hold it, and move on
to the next. On land this force is the
Infantry; on seat it is the battleships
The Air Service is able to bomb a
position, but they cannot capture it,
let alone hold it. The Air Service has
specific limitations, both from a tacti-
cal sense and from a mechanical
standpoint. Aircraft will always be
dependent on favorable weather condi-
tions. They will always require land
or sea forces for the protection of
their bases.
Service Unexcelled.
IT believe in the maintenance of the
present separate organizations which
should be employed in accordance
with the policies adopted by the War
and Navy departments"
Briefly recounting the exploits of
the Army Air Service, Gen. Hines told
lllS IAeSelNe ollCeIS lie Coulu dSSuie
them that your Air Service, while
handicapped by insufficient equipment
and shortage of personnel, is never
thelesS uneXcelled by any air service
in the world"
Slowness in development of the
national defense system mapped out
in the act of 1920 is almost wholly due
TO lack of funds and not to efficiency
or lack of interest by the War De-
partment in the citizen-soldier ele-
elements of the plan, Brig. Gen. John
Ross Delafield of New York. president
of the association. said here today in
presenting his annual report to the
fourth annual convention of the organ
iZation.
Our experience of the World War"
Gen. Delafield said, showed clearly
that we then had no adequate national
defense, and it was the realization of
that fact that SO aroused the people
and Congress that they passed the
national defense act of 1920.
Need Help of People.
But the act itself will not help
up without the people putting it into
effect. The Government cannot put
into effect. All that the national de-
fense act does is to give US a plan
to defend ourselves, which. if the peo
pie choose, they may voluntarily put
into effect.
THE peculiar position of the re-
serve officers in this great organiZa-
ton is due to the fact that under the
law they are, except when on active
duty, free to do.as any other citizen
would, to express their opinions freely
and to advocate any measures they
may desire. 1t is they, therefore who
are best fitted to present this data
to the people, to stir up the en-
thusiasm and morale required, and to
bring before Congress the information
they desire in order to enable them
TO pass intelligently upon the financial
hnd other questions involved"