Evening star., 1926-09-26

! Orders were issued last week to
Capt Walter r. Gherardi detaching
| him from duty as aide to the Secre-
tary of the Navy and ordering him To
duty AT the works Of the Bethlehem
Shipbuilding Go. at Quincy. Mass.
| in connection with the fitting out OF
he new aircraft carrier Lexington. and
to command that vessel when com
missicned He will leave Washington
for his new duty about October j.
Regret was expressed by his many
| friends in Washington over the as
signment of Lieut.. Richard w. Grue-
| lick. who for over two years has been
on duty in the office of naval intelll.
gence in direct charge of the Navy
pressrCom. To the Pittsburgh. whlcn
vessel will leave New York for Asiattc
station on October I. He will leave
Washington within the next few days
to Join his ship. Lieut.. Gruelick VIII
| he relieved by Lieut.. Francis e.. Dene-
| brink. who is nov on duty as eXecu'
tive officer of the Shirk. now on the
west coast. 1t is not expected, how
ever. that the latter officer will assume
/ MS new duties in the naval intelligence
office until about November 10. In the
| mea ntime, Lieut.. Harry r. Thurber.
on duty in that office, Will be IN charge
of the pressroom.
Army.
The War Department has author
| lied designations for air mark Sma n
| ship. qualification for same to he
! awarded badges, the designs for whic n
are now being prepared. The feslg-
nations will he aerial gunner" for
| qualifica ton with aerial machine gun.
and aerial bomber" for qualification
with aerial bombs. Decision has not
| been reached. II was said in the War
Department. on the fun details of the
courses leading to the new desgna-
! tions. However. qualification for
aerial gunner will require diving
fire at ground targets and fire at
towed targets or target gliders de-
scending to earth in spiral glide
after release at high attitudes. The
course for aerial bomber" will con
sist OF high and low altitude bombing
against both moving and stationary
| targets.
Approval has heen given by the War
| Department of the transfer Of the
| headquarters of the 4th Coast Artil-
| lery Corps district from Fort McPher-
son, Ga, to the headquarters Of the
4th Corps area at Atlanta, Ga. The
4th Coast Artillery Corps district COM
priseS the harhor defenses of Charles
ton. the harbor defenses of Key West
and the harbor defenses of Pensa cola .
Col. Clint {. Hearn is in command OF
this artillery district.
SO strong were the protests raised
by the Regular Army against the
threatened discOntinuance Of the re.
fresher course at the Infantry School,
| due to the shortage in the mileage ap.
propriations. that the contempla ted
withdraw wal of this course of instrtc-
tion from the curriculum Of that in
stitution has heen. for the present
abandoned. Brig. Gems. Frank Z. Nc
Coy and Charles -. Rhodes were the
only officers undergoing the i925-26
refresher course at the Infantry
School last year, hut the 1?2S-o7 re-
freSher course. the instruction in
which begins on October l. 1925. will
include eight coonels and one leu
tenant colonel. all Of the infantry. as
follows: Coils. Edward Croft, Thomas 9
w. Darrah. James r. kemper. John
F. Preston, John W. Wright. Andrew
Dougherty. Adolphe n. Husuet Ralph
F.. Ingram and Lieut.. Col. ,Ja mes G.
Hannah. The course concludes De
cemher Is, 1925.
For the purpose of making a ella SSH
fcation of officers under the provi
siOns Of section 24b. act of Congress
| approved June 4. 1920. board of
general officers will meet in the War
Department tomorrow and at such
times thereafter AS the senior mem
her of the board shall prescribe. The
board consists of the following officers:
Mai. Gems. Ernest Kinds and Henson
f. Ely, Brig. Gems. Robert E. Callan
| Hugh A. Drum, William NJ. Cruik
shank and Henry G.. Learnard Mai
Clark Lynn. on duty in the adjutant
generals office. has been detailed az
recorder of the board without vote.
The War Department has emphat
ically denied repeated rumors that a
number Of Army officers Of over 30
years service are to he afforded an
opportunity to retire in the near fu.
ture. Secretary Of War Davis has on
several occa sions reiterated his un.
alterable opposition to 3O-year retire
ments in the Regular Army. especially
when an officer desires his separation
from the active list to accept a lucra
tive position in civil life. Just prior
to the adjournment Of the last Con
gress the administration of the retired
lists Of not only the Regular Army. but
the Navy and Marine Corps as we'll.
became the subject of considera bic
discussion in the lower house Of Con
gress. the one idea in which there was
general agreement heing that the con-
ditions Of retirement for the three
services should he established upon a
uniform basis.
Some favor combining retirement to
disa bilty, which practically comedies
with the policy now in effect In the
War Department. and SO retaining Of
ficers on the active list regardless of
length of service or age. There is
certain amount of opposition to this.
as il would ignore the portunity for
creating vacancies which would stimu-
alton, 1t is contended. overlooks the
fact that officers entered upon the
military service with the impression
that they would he entitled to retire
ment for service or at the age Of 81
years. as we'll as for incapacity.
On the other hand. il is pointed out
the failure of the War Department to
era nj thes 30-year retirement privilege
has had detrimental effect upon the
commissioned personnel of the regu
lar establishment. as those officers
who may desire retirement on this ac-
count are of the opinion that they
have just grievance. In opposition
TO this view congressional critics con.
tend that retirement after 80 years
service of officers who are under so
years of age represents an imitation of
the retired list for individual benefit
and that the approval of all such ap-
plications disregards entirely the in
terests Of the Government 1t is a
certainty that this will he the subject
Of searching investigation at the ap-
proa ching session of Congress, and il
will he watched with extreme interest
by every officer in the Regular Army