Evening star., 1925-11-11


would not be followed by the Navy
/ since their planes We're needed for
| scouting purposes and there were no
| other ships available.
In time of war, the landing of an
| enemy ar force on Molakin Island, if
| uninterrupted" Maj. Brandt declared,
| would have resulted in the capture
| Of Pearl Harbor."
| In response to questions by Repre-
| sentative Reid, the witness said that
! the conditions simulated wartime
| tactics, except that loaded guns were
| not used. He said that the two air
| forces We're trained along two differ
ent lines of thought and that as a
result they had divergent ideas, which
! made necessary some sort Of unified
! command, so that the maneuVers
could be co-ordinated. lie said there
| was no such command. and there was
/ no one to compel Admiral Mcdonald
! 10 give any orders he didn't want
| to-
! Maj. Brandt expressed the opinion
that the enemy air base was discov-
cred in time to discommOde seriously
| the opposing air forces in landing
| planes. The newspapers, he admit
| ted, with the exception of one, re
! ported that the island had been cap
tured. No conclusive decision from
Z ~ -
out on this point, he declared.
Grilled on Policies.
Maj. Brandt was questioned closely
| regarding the air policies of the Gen
eral Staff. of which he is member
| He said that occasionally he had had
! air service papers referred to him,
| but not often" He said that ques-
| tons of policy on air matters had not
Z hoo I, a1.,, Il.
| his services had been limited to sup
! ply matters"
| The witness said that proposed
| tests of anti-aircraft guns al Homo
| lulu had been called off on the urgent
| recommendation of Maj. Gen. Patrick,
| chief of the Air Service. The grounds
| given by Gen. >Patrick We're that 1t
would be absurd to try to test con-
| Clusively the effectiveness of anti
| aircraft gunfire under the conditions
proposed at that time, and would give
| the bulk of Navy officers present an
| erroneous idea Of the efficiency of
| these guns.
Maj. Brandt pointed out that the
gunners would have known the alti-
tude and speed Of the target at which
| they We're shooting and declared this
| would not have constituted a test at
| all.
ne NljltSS Silu liltl, lollON lllS
! the Hawaiian maneuvers, he report
ed to the commander of the Hawaiian
! department, to the chief of staff and
to the chief of the Air Service that
the air personnel taking part had
been insufficient.
Didn't you report to them that the
air personnel was only so per cent suf-
ficient?" asked Representative Reid.
/ Corps $50 Per Cent"
| Col. Moreland Immediately objected
| TO the question. so the witness then
i was asked what he had reported. He
! replied that he, had said that the per
| Sonnel was about 80 per cent Suffi-
| cient and that it had been necessary
! to take from their regular duties the
| commanding officers. the adjutant. the
| communication officer, the engineer of
ficer. the ordnance officer and other
| officers in order to provide pilots for
| all the planes at hand.
Maj. Brandt was questioned regard
! ing Gen. Mitchell's report on the
| Hawaiian maneuvers, and was asked
| the substance of the Endorsement on
the report. He, replied that the recon-
me,ndations were based upon Gen.
i Mitchell's personal opinion, and that
! therefore no opinion would be given
| by the general staff. He answered in
, Reid asked him if it were not a pre-
sumption that the assistant chief of
| the Air Service was appointed because
y, he was especially efficient in his work
| Asked if he would present to the
| court the report and its Endorsement
he said that he didht know if he could
or not that some parts of it might be
secret and deal with the strategic
situation in the Pacific.
Sees Service Failing.
He then was asked if he was ia
miliar with the Lassiter board report
and after replying in the affirmative
was questioned as to whether it had
ever been carried out, and he replied
| Not in any detail
"Is the Air Service receiving a
maximum development under the
present administration? asked Mr.
Reid.
NO, as matter of fact. it has more
than ever deteriorated," was his reply
He testified that the War Depart
ment had gone on record regarding
the Lassiter report before the Nor
row board.
Further questioning by Represent
ative Reid developed from the wit
ness that the Army had lost most OF
it's best pilots because of designations
to give a reason the prosecution OBJ
jected, and the defense counsel with :
drew the question. He was then led
into a discussion of the conditions OF
flying fields at the present time. He
testified that with the exception OF
two they were in a bad shape. Most
of them, he said, were built in wal
times, and under ordinary circum
stances would last but one year. II
they want to use them, they would
have to be rebuilt within a short time
he said.
He then was asked about specific
fields and said they We're inactive and
| in the case of Miller Field on Staten
| Island, said the Air Service had nc
unit to put there. He said that there
were no air units in Alaska and he
had never heard of any officers of
the air department making a trip
there or adjacent islands to make a
study for defense and offense plans.
Cites Budget Reduction.
Then getting down to the question
| of the estimates for the Air Service
| he said that the War Department cut
down the recommendations for 1925
about % per cent, for 1926, so per
cent Asked how much this was in
money he said that in 1925 the esti-
| .AR
NIM1