Evening star., 1925-03-22
ARMY.

provided Tor the junior officers OF the
Air Service. Maj. Gen. Mason NJ.
Patrick, chief of the Air Service, has
submitted three plans to the War
| Department which would revise the
promotion list. They are as follows:
L. Constructive service for officers
| with more than three months service
before they were commissioned with
the idea of placing them on the same
| footing that officers are who were
| commissioned from the training
| camps.
2. Distribution throughout the pro-
motion list of captains and lieutenants
of the Air Service between the high
! est captain and lieutenant who were
| commissioned from the training
! camps and the bottom of the list of
| lieutenants from the training camps.
| This should be arranged as the ratio
of the Air Service officers in these
| grades bear to the total number of
! officers involved.
3. A separate promotion list for the
Air Service with proper provision
for promotion based upon the length
| of service, giving due recognition to the
! risk involved in flying and likewise
! with appropriate provision for the
! separation Of these officers from
! the service by retirement. 1t is
| also recommended that provision
! be made for the transfer of Air Service
| officers to other branches when their
usefulness TO the Air Service Is i'm
| paired. although not to a degree which
1 would prevent their rendering efficient
service in other capacities.
Though this would accelerate promo
tions, it is pointed out by regular Off
GERS on duty in the department, that
such plans would meet with strong
opposition throughout the Army. The
prospect of slow promotions among the
| junior officers throughout the service
| is very depressing. Even in certain
Air Service quarters 1t is insisted that
| the first plan of Gen. Patrick's would
provide only temporary relief, the sec
| ond recommendation is somewhat in
volved, while the third one would
i encounter serious objections from
| among the older officers, as 1t is a
| known fact that even a temporary
! separation from the line of the Army
| would not be countenanced by them.
| Since the enactment OF the appro-
prtations act of June 80, 1922, one of
| the provisions Of which provided for
| the reduction in the strength OF the
| warrant officers Of the Army from
| 1,120, the then existing strength OF
! this class. to 500, there have been 139
| separations from the service, which
| includes retirements, designations and
| deaths. At the present time there are
| SIS warrant officers and 95 band
| leaders. or a total strength of SS1.
| The act prescribed that this surplus
| in the warrant officer grade would be
| absorbed by retirements, deaths and
! resignations and that with the ex-
ception of band leaders for author
| ized bands, no appointments would be
| made until the total number is re-
duced to 500.
The number Of retirements since
| July 1, 1924, up to the present time
total 13. This figure, augmented by
! the number of deaths and designations
| from the service, will bring the total
| yearly separations to about so. From
these figures It can be seen that, pro-
viding no further legislation is
passed by the Congress to rem edy
| this situation. that about seven years
| will elapse before any appointments
| in the warrant officer grade will be
| made.
Investigatiye and experime ental
| work seeking to determine whether
| extraction difficulties in the model
1903 rifle could be lessened or elimi-
mated by modification of the chamber
| dimensions has been carried on by
4
| years. The net conclusion deduced
! therefrom is that no change should
! be made in the present standard
: chamber. After extended tests of
rifles having various chamber dimen-
sions, the office OF the Chief of Infan-
try, War Department, reported that
the reliability of the model 1903 rife
has been so eminently satisfactory to
the Infantry arm for a period of IS
t. ha1 dA
sirable to change from a standard OF
known excellence to a chamber Of
rather untried qualities.
An order has been placed with the
ordnance officer at Edgewood Arsenal
for the assent bling of the three-inch
trench mortar experimental smoke
shell for a service test. These smoke
shells will be made up using the
newly developed metal carton for con-
tanning the phosphorus. The Chem
ical Warfare Service has been re-
quested to carry out the loading Of
these containers at Edgewood Ar
senal.
An improved type of shipping con-
tainers for high explosives Is being
developed by the Picatinny Arsenal
A number of these will be filled and
trial shipment overseas made as a
practical test of seryiceability.
quirements of the specifications, in
cluding the most severe stability re-
quirements. is now being produced In
the experimental plant at Picatinny
| Arsenal, as a result of studies made
| at that arsenal on methods of manu-
facture and impurities in tetryl.
Instructions for classifying salvage,
| issued under Circular Letter No. 16
\ ,s,A1
! Army divides all salvage material
| into two classes, /. e., Glass C and
Glass D.
Glass c will include all articles con-
| demned as unfit for Army use and
which need minor or major repairs.
| Glass D will include all material that
| has deteriorated to such a condition
! that 1t cannot be used In that condi-
tion for any purpose and may be
properly called scrap or rags. In
structions are also given with respect
/ to sorting, and a. standard classif1ca-
| tion list is furnished for the guidance
of Army personnel engaged in this
| work.
| Col ]. B. Mitchell, C. A. c., chief of
| the training section, office OF the
| Chief of Coast Artillery, left Wash
| ington last Thursday for ten-week
| inspection trip of Coast Artillery ac-
| tivities, which will take him as far
| West as the Hawaiian Islands. Dur
| ing his inspection tour In the islands
| Col. Mitchell will observe q five-day
| maneuver, beginning April % and
| concluding April 30.
! Approval was given last week by
the War and Navy Departments Of
the entire plan for the organization
| of the Army Navy and Marine Corps
| Country Club Of Washington. Sup
port was also pledged by officers OF