Evening star., 1925-12-06

Medical Detach- S1s$&@ Ri ~
ment of the l21st
regiment of En- - = - ,
neerS. Lieut.. J. &. Jensen.
w h II Lieut..
Jensen is transferred to the ordnance
department of the militia it will leave
another vacancy in the commissioned
personnel of the 121st Regiment of
Engineers and it is expected that eX-
aminations will be held soon to fill
this and other vacancies. a board
Of examination already has been ap-
pointed to examine applicants for
commissions for the purpose of OBJ
tanning list of eligihles from which
selections Will be made for further
examination as vacancies occur in the
grade of second lieutenant.
Lieut.. Jensen Is captain of the Ma
Gonal Guard rifle team and under his
direction it has made excellent show
ings in the various competitions on
the ranges in which it has engaged,
particularly at the National Rifle AS
sociation matches at Camp Perry,
Ohio. where it shot against the expert
teams of the regular service. The
transfer of this officer to the ordnance
department will relieve him of his
engineer duties and give him more
time in which to work for the rifle
practice of the local guard. He is
an expert in ordnance and rifle shoot
ing and has been a member of the
militia for a number of years. during
which he served on practically every
rife team until he reached the detail
OF captain of it.
The high scores which the MEM
bers of the local outfit have made at
their record practice on the local
range at Camp Simms. Congress
Heights. d. c.. is said to be due to
his efficient work toward this end.
Change of the 260th Coast Artillery
from a harbor defense unit to an
anti-aircraft unit, ready to defend the
Capital City against airplane attack
in the event of a clash with for
eign power, has been recommended
TO the local guard by Maj. Gen. +. w.
Coe chief of Coast Artillery. The
proposition has the support of Maj.
w. w. Burns. commanding the local
artillery, but it is understood that
officers at headquarters of the guard
oppose the change for various rea-
sons. among them being the posi-
hility that it may lose some of its
strength should the War Department
fall to make provision for such a large
unit as an anti-aircraft force.
The present Coast Artillery of the
District is assigned, under the War
department general mobilization plan
of 1924, to the harbor defenses of the
Potomac, but these defenSeS, it is
pointed out, are listed for abandon
ment. On the list of changes to the
War Departments 1924 mobilization
plan, as proposed by the Coast Artil-
lery Office of the department, 1t was
recommended that the local regiment
e be assigned to the harbor defenses Of
the Chesapeake Bay. If this change
iSr II to Il ln Il y,a1
sonnel required to man the armament
in the harbor defenSeS of the CheSa
peake Bay can be met by increasing
The firing batteries of the 622d Coast
Artillery from seven to twelve.
1t is particularly appropriate. ac-
Cording to Gen. Coe, that a National
Guard anti-aircraft regiment should
be allotted to the National Capital.
In case of hostilities with any foreign
power there would be an immediate
demand for protection against a pos
Sible air raid on the National Capital;
hence the Importance of providing now
the nucleus for the anti-aircraft
defense.
In the reorganization of the regi
ment it was recommended that for
!. the present the regiment consist of a
headquarters, headquarters battery
and combat train and two battalionS,
the first battalion to consist of one
searchlight battery and two gun bat
teries and the second battalion to con-
SiSt of two machinegun batteries.
Five firing batteries and a headquar-
terS battery now are authorized.
Gen. Coe writes that the command
ing officer of the 26Oth District of CO.
lumbia Artillery has advised that he
concurS in the recommendations and
states that he is confident that he can
complete the organization. At the
present time only two batteries of ar
tillery have been Federally recognized.
AS a basis for the fear that the
transfer of the local Coast Artillery
from a coast battery to an antiair
unit, officials of the guard point out
that the National Guard of the United
States is not Vet 100000 strong,
whereas the Militia Bureaus allot-
ments of militia war strength is
5000. Even on the latter basis, the
guard for the country as whole has
three regiments of anti-aircraft troops
in excess of the allowance.
Capt. Sidney Morgan relinquished
his command of the Headquarters and
Service Company of the 121st Regi-
ment of Engineers Tuesday and re-
ported to Maj. Gen. Anton Stephan,
commanding the local guard and the
29th National Guard Division, as one
of his aides-de-camp. This leaves the
Headquarters and Service Company in
command of the next senior officer.
Lieut.. Goodwin =. Dunn.
One of the duties of Capt. Morgan
AS aid to Gen. Stephan will be to
handle the publicity for the guard as
a whole during the armory training
period, but. of course, during periods
of active service in the field he will
perform his duties as aid. He is one
of the popular officers of the guard,
Aone Of the rifle-shootins enthusiasts
and most popular in the unit, and his
comrades express themselves as much
pleased over his obtaining the new
assignment.
His transfer to the divisional staff
leaves a vacancy in the Engineer
Corps, which is to be filled by eXami-
nation. 1t is not known yet who will
he the new commanding officer of the
Headquarters and Service Company.
1t is possible that Lieut.. Dunn may
be assigned to it, or it may be filled
by transfer of any of the captains of
the line companies of the regiment.
First Lieut.. Robert G.. MacCartee,
adtutant of the 121St Regiment of