Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1925-09-11
Friday Acknowledgements II, 1925
Dirlgible Disaster Due To Stupidity

Predicting that he would be placed under
military arrest because of his assertion,
Col. William Mitchell. air officer Of the 9th
Corps Area and former assistant chief Of
the Air Service. last Saturday at San
Antonio issued a statement denouncing
the War and Navy Departments in con-
nection with the disaster to the Shenan-
doah and the loss of the PN-9. No. 1. on
the attempted hop to Honolulu.
The statement, Col. Mitchell said. was
issued after mature deliberation and after
a sufficient time has elapsed since the ter
rible accidents to our naval aircraft to find
out what happened"
"These accidents are the direct result Of
incompetency, criminal negligence and al
most reasonable administration OF the
national defense by the War and Navy
Departments" he wrote.
Charging that both departments have
gone to the utmost lengths to keep down
development Of aviation, and to main
tain aeronautics as a part Of the two
departments. Col. Mitchell said all avia-
ton policies are directed by n-fying
officers who know nothing about flying
and that lives Of airmen are being used
merely as pawns in their hands"
The airmen themselves" he continued,
ARE bluffed and bulldozed so that they
daren't tell the truth. knowing full well
than will he daD,;u If ,ho;s f,,..,.o oo.oo,o
sent to the most out-of-the-way places to
prevent their telling the truth and de-
prived Of all chances for advancement
unless they subscribe to the dictates of
their Notifying bureaucratic superiors
THE conduct of the War and Navy
Departments has been so disgusting in the
last few years as to make any self-respect-
ing officer ashamed of the cloth he wears"
Col. Mitchell declares that the determi-
nation Of the members of the flying service
to place the issues "squarely up to Con-
eress and the people" dates from the
killing of Lieut. Pierson and Capt. Skeel
in the dilapidated racing airplanes during
last October aerial meet"
This was caused, he said, "by an ar
raneement between the Army and Navy
that the Navy should take the race one
year and the Army should take il the
next year, thereby equslizine propaganda.
not service"
The recent maneuvers of the feet in
the Pacific are declared to have been
nothing more than parade of our Navy"
reported to have cost from $5O.000.000
to $80.000.000, which demonstrated the
futility Of surface vessels. He declares
that in war the feet steaming to the
Philippines would have been constantly be-
set by submarines and that "if any vessels
survived the submarine attacks, crossed
the ocean and came within hundreds of
miles of the hostile coast they would be
sent TO the bottom forthwith by airplanes."
Regarding the Hawaiian seaplane flight.
the colonel declared:
Next, to get publicity and make noise
about what it is doing with aircraft, this
so-called Hawaiian flight was arranged for
Even il il had been made successfully to
Honolulu. il would have meant little either
commercially or strategically, compared to
what flight to Europe or Asia would
Three airplanes were built to participate
in it. These showed nothing novel in de-
sign and were uniried for this kind of
work. One never got away from the Pa
cific coast. and one few miles out and was
forced to land in the water. and one was
host on account Of being out Of gas. some
where in the high seas.
Patrol vessels were stationed every
200 miles, distance entirely too far apart
for an experimental flight Of this kind with
such primitive flying machines as the
PN-9s are. Double or triple this number
Of vessels should have been there. In fact,
the whole Pacific feet should have been
employed there instead Of joy-ridine around
the Antipodes."
He asked. why, II they expected torun
short Of fuel. as indeed they might did
they not make arrangements for refueline
the airplane while it was in the arr" and
why a crew OF five was carried when the
weight Of one or two could have been re-
placed by additional fuel.