Evening star., 1925-10-06
MITCHELL CHARGES
DENIED BY NAVAL
AIRMAN IN PROBE
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Continued from First Page)
teamwork separate promotion list
would make further dissa tisfa ction in
the Navy by giving preferred treat
ment to aviators. who already receive
; special consideration. 1t is undesir-
| able to have a separate corps and un-
necessary to have promotion. Some
| officers speak OF being naval avtators
first and naval officers second. and
this. l think. Ia disloyal to the mother
| service"
! Lieut.. Dillon the next witness. told
the board that naval aviators are
| laborine under what they believe to he
| pre- ejudice due to conservatism and
| lack of faith "by the old order" The
| depa rtment. he said. has made recon-
menda tons ito take away part Of our
uniform Is. our wings. We are
proud of our wings. They are the
insignia of the fraternity Of the air.
and we worked hard To earn them.
! He told Senator Rins ham in reply to
question on this subject. that the
! Bureau Of Navigat ton had indorsed
the abolition OF the wings on the
ground that they are badges" and
! ii is not necessary to indicate an
| n
the boa rd of reported movement in
I the depa rtment To take away the
| flying pay of na val aviators. and
| Lieut.. Dillon said. lin view OF the
fact our casualties are greater, we
cannot understan nd this
FavOr~ Separation.
The witness indorsed the separate
| air corps idea provided naval aviators
| pf RI nf
| riers. I'VE never will develop the
ma yimum efficiency in naval aviation
under the present nagement." he
declared. We are no better off now
AS regards personnel. than we We're
four wears ago. In that time we
gained only II officers. The Naval
Air Service should have it's own au-
tonomnus orga niZation. Changes to.
ward this end should he made by law
instead Of departmental regulation tn
| avoid this whole question coming UP
time and again Right now we are
wasting much time in preparing dope
! for different committees on the air
craft problem. II must he settled hy
law once and for All. My recommen-
dation to straighten out the present
dissa atisfaction would he to allow MS
to have onr own budget. our own per
! sonne1. control over operations. con-
| troll over training and a separate pro-
| motion list"
| Lieut.. Comdr. Mitscher who learned
to NY in 1918 and has about 1000
hours in the air. declared any sys-
TEN which would assure pArmanen
| duty and promotion in aviation. with
| privilege to command carriers, would
| have his hearty Endorsement.
Says Experience Is Vital.
/ Aviation fs 40 important. he de-
| clared. that II must he a special duty
| and cannot he handled by inexperi-
| enced men. While admitting that
there Is much diAsa tisfaction in naval
! aviation. Comdr Mitscher said h.
| never heard the question of promotion
as being the cause.
Lieut.. Comdr. Davis irdorsed the
views of his colleagues who had tes-
| tffied previously on the cause and cure
| for the present ills. Chairman Dwight
| Morrow said today the hoard would
| finish itA taking Of testimony OF nava
| avistors and officers tomorrow eve
| ming and would adjourn to enable
three or four members to attend the
races in New York the latter part Of
| this week. He said Admiral Moffett
| chief of naval aviation. probably
would he given an opportunity to tes-
tify tomorrow.
NUdlteHkeS SUDOTOlOHIeA.
Capt Yarnell. who as a non.fyine
| officer has been in command of an
| air station for * months. challenged
, any naval aviator who served un-
der me to cite specific instances when
he had been HANDICAPPED in his opera
| tiOns or the development Of aviat tion
has suffered through any act OF
| mine"
| The witness declared that most OF
the units of naval aviation have been
| in comma nd OF non-hyink oficers for
the past seven years and flights have
been made to Panama. Cuba. and
other long dista nces The dema nd by
naval aviators that carriers he com.
ma nded by flying officers met with
his approval. Capt. Yarnell said, IT
the naval aviator Ia qualified in sea
duty"
Sees Branch Most Vital.
F.! ViaualizinS that naval aviation will
very soon be the most important arm,
Of the feet, Cant. Emory Scott Land
| chief of the materials division Of the
| Bureau OF Aeronautics, told the hoard
late yesterday afternoon that II fur
ther visualize that in the near future
it will dominate other features in the
/ Navy, ultimately heinz the ma iof
branch. and will become the fighting
line of the Navy. These ideas are not
visionary. AS Is evidenced by the re
markable dAvlopmnt Of aviation dur
ing the past few years.
Capt. Land, who erldeavored to quail
ify as an airplane pilot, but was re
jActed on account OF age succeeded
In winning his observers wings ir
1922. He said he concentrated his
efforts on getting young naval con
structors qualified in 1922 and 1929
but last year the policy was cha ng ed
| so that naval constructors. who take
the course at Pensacola. are not desig
| mated as naval aviators Ind are no,
permitted to wear wings. Capt Lane
Is a member of the Construction
| Corps.
The witness indorsed the "Whitine
plan" a. presented to the board "a rlie,
in the day by Comdr. Kenneth Whit
ing. This plan would give a nava
officer permanent duty in aviation
after a proba tionary service. but not
until he could qualify to command
carriers and tenders. In lieu of the
whiting plan" Capt. Land favored
flight line" in the Navy.
| Work Is Specialized.
mo matter what the decision may
be with regard TO flying" he told the
board. II believe a very large ma
jority. with any real knowledge of