Evening star., 1925-09-22
AIR POLICY CHANGE
=: ASKED BY PATRICK
Army Flying Chief Backs
Col. MitchelPs Idea for
J. Unified Service.

MAI. Gen. Mason NJ. Patrick chief
or the Army Air Service and the first
"Thcer of that arm to appear before
the aviation board of inquiry. told
the members of President Coolidge :
investigating committee in unmis-
taxable language late yesterday tha,
there Is "a real need" for changes IN
the administration of the air services
AS board members and spectators
easped In surprise. the calm ia ced
chief OF the Army Air Service frank
" told the investigators that the War
department had treated tho Air SerV,
Ice like stepchild." that the gen
efal officers under whom it was
obliged to operate were graduates of
nearly obsolete school of warfare
ana that sooner or later the Nation
would have to come to unification
OF all air services under "a minister
of defense"
Generals i'm Planes.
Gen. Patrick predicted that in the
next war the general officers of the
arnpfes would even be Obliged to di-
rect their soldiers from airplanes. He
said, in fact, that the Air Service is
working out such a program despite
the fact that the present officers OF
the Army insist upon regarding the
afrplane As an auxiliary to the
ground soldier instead of realizing
that the soldier is no longer potent
without the airplane.
Less than two hours before. Acting
Secretary Dwight F. Davis had told
the board that there is not now.
never was and never will be any
'muzzling of Army officers" He or
dered all officers to testify freely and
frankly. and Gen. Patrick seemed to
take the fullest advantage of that
carte blanc. He never raised his
voice. made no gesture toward sensa-
tionalism. but every man and woman
IN the room felt the singing rebuke
Of his words.
He told how the recommendations
of the Air Service had either been
ignored or refused he told how the
officers Of the Air Service had been
6iscriminated against in the matter of
promotion. and he told how the gen
eral staff of the Army had utterly
failed to comprehend the importance
Of aviation to realize the ground sol
diers' utter dependence on it in mod
ern warfare. And then. almost auda-
ciously, he tried to find an excuse for
them.
Cavalry Useless.
The cavalry. once the eyes of the
Army" has virtually been rendered
useless for reconnaissance, he said the
airplane. carrying powerful bombs.
can reach out further and more ac-
Curately than a semi-blind artillery.
and q squadron of aviators can pene
trate far deeper into enemy territory.
with machine guns, grenades and ga
bombs, than any infantry brigade
ever dared go.
1T is only humanity natural, there
FORE" Gen. Patrick calmly asserted,
that this new weapon. which as
tiy-if hat
belonged to the older arms of the
service. should not prove so welcome.
] cannot but say that the Army Air
Service has been treated more like
stepchild than a regular member of
the family.
There is a real need for changes
now. Not a change simply for the
sake OF a change. But a change that
would give us greater autonomy, a
position at least equal to that of the
Marine Corps. I am a firm believer In
the national defense act. under which
the fighting services would be under
the jurisdiction of minister of de-
fense. That. however, can wait for
the future
Need Flying Leaders.
The present pressing need. Gen.
Patrick said. is sufficient autonomy
for the Air Service to be developed
would rob the Army or Navy of uni
fed command on the field He al
ways pointed to the ready, efficient
Marine Corps as an example of how
an auxiliary service can expand and
improve itself when given absolute
freedom and vet be ready to fight un-
der common leader when the battle
nears.
Gen. Patrick, who occupied the
of La
the Air Service s needing larger ap
preparations and he revealed that he
has asked s25,0o0.000 for the fiscal
year 1927 He requested the same
amount last year. he said, but re-
ceived only SIC, $50 900. The present
policy Of the Air Service, he said,
needs some congressional revision.
particularly in regard TO the require.
ment that contracts be let by com
petitive bidding.
Expanding his views as to his de-
partment of ma tional defense Gen. Pat
rick said that under it the naval air
force would be assigned to the Navy
and land air force to the Army, and
in addition there would be the pursuit
and combat divisions to operate over
the enemy line. far in advance of
water and land forces. He also urged
a separate budget for the air service
Force Too Small.
Cen Patrick told the board that
the present air force was too small.
On June 20, 1925, he said. there We're
9O4 officers, 103 flying cadets and
s.6o1 enlisted men. The Air Service
had either in commission or reserve
396 planes, ready for war duty, he
said. and 900 others which would be
of no use in an emergency. About
40. which are absolutely obsolete. he
added. have to be used at times un-
der the present arrangement.
Gen. Patrick said the light, fast
plane probably would be preferable
to a heavy, armored one 90 per cent
of the time. He declared that 1000
pound bomb was estimated to be of
sufficient power TO use against most
targets the air arm would he called
to bomb. but that the largest battle
ships. "if battleships are still in use
may make it necessary to carry larger
bombs.
COntradicts Chiefs.
Preceding Gen. Patrick on the
stand were Mai. Gen. John l.. Hines
and Brig Gen. Hugh Drum. chief and
assistant chief of staff. respectively.
Gen. Patrick's testimony was in di
rect contradiction to theirs. Gen.
Hines had frankly said the Air Serv-
ice always will he an auxiliary service
and will never defeat an enemy in it
self" Gen. Patrick turned the same
statement the other way and declared
the Infantry and Artillery would never