Evening star., 1926-08-22

naval staff equalization of promotion
| law which fixes the rank and date Of
| commission upon the transfer OF a
line officer to staff corps. the prt-
mary purpose Of which is to insure
| that an officer transferring to stan
| corps will not lose precedence and will
become eligible for promotion to the
higher ranks not later than the date
of promotion to his line classmate
who stood next senior to him at the
| time of transfer. In the past an Off
GER transferring to the Supply Corps
lost his precedence because OF the fact
that he could only accomplish the
transfer in the rank of ensign. his
| commission bearing later date than
his line commission. The act of March
4, 1918, provided that officers commits
stoned on or after that date should
take precedence with all other officers
according to dates Of commission,
while the act of August 29, 1916. pre-
scrtbed that staff corps officers be-
come eligible for promotion up to and
including the rank of lieutenant COM
mander with those line officers with,
or next after, whom they take pre-
cedence. Though. not operating to
correct the precedence of officers
transferred to the Supply Corps prior
to its enactment. the act of June 10,
1926. will prevent loss of rank. 1t Is
pointed out when such transfers may
hereafter be made.
In view of the doubtful views held
in the Bureau of Navigation relative
to the procedure to be followed under
the new law with respect to transfers
to the Construction and Civil Engi-
neer Corps, an opinion has been Sc
cured from the Judge Advocate Cen
eral. Transfer without loss of pre-.
cedence to those corps In the lowest
rank, that Of lieutenant 0unior grade).
when their classmates were promoted
to that rank has been the policy of
the Navy Department in dealing with
those line ensigns undergoing instruc-
ton for the Construction Corps or
Civil Engineer Corps. The new law,
which prescribes that transfer be
made in the rank held eat time of
transfer, eliminates entirely the prior
procedure, and this, together with the
fact that the rank of ensign Is non
existent in the Construction corps or
the Civil Engineer Corps, was the
cause of the question being brought
up as to how those ensigns of the
1928 Naval Academy class undergoing
instruction fer those corps might pe
transferred.
In his opinion, the judge advocate
general of the Navy held that ensigns
NAV not be transferred to the Stan
Corps with the rank of lieutenant Ou-
nior grade); that they may be so trans.
ferred only in the rank of ensign and
shall retain the date Of rank held at
the time of transfer. That provision
Of the act of June 10. 1926, Admiral
Campbell held, establishes the rank
of ensign in the Construction and
Civil Engineer Corps for the purpose
of transfers of this nature, and. ac-
cordingly. line ensigns to be so trans
ferred will be commissioned assistant
naval constructors or assistant civil
engineers with the rank OF ensign
Later they will be promoted to the
rank of lieutenant Gunior grade) from
the dates stated in the commissions
! in that rank Of their line classmates.
Comdr. Holden c. Richardson &C..
| c., head Of the design section OF the
Bureau of Aeronautics, has recently
been promoted to the rank of captain.
| Capt. Richardson has been on duty In
| the bureau since October. 1928. and
| has accomplished work of the very
| highest importance to the Navy De-
partment during his tour of duty in
| this CITY, He is not only regarded as
| the foremost authority in the country
| and abroad on the design of floats
and hulls, but he did much in pioneer
| ing the way in the development of
| catapults. and the present highly de-
veloped catapult is, to large extent,
| the result of his efforts.
| Lieut.. Comdr Homer c. Wick, COM
manding officer of the Naval Air Sta
! ton, Anacostia, D. c., was designated
| by the Navy Department this week
as the officer in charge of the 1926
United States Schneider cup racing
team. simultaneously with this an
nouncement, five officers were ordered
| to report to Comdr Wick for duty in
connection with the races. They are
Lieuts. G. T. Cuddihy, Anacostia Air
| Station, and F. II. Conant. I'd, on
| duty in the Bureau of AeronauticS:
Lieut.. (junior grade) J. J. Lenhart, on
duty with the scouting fleet; Lieut..
| w. G. Tomlinson, on duty at the
| Naval All Station, and First Lieut..
, H. J. Norton, L. S. NJ. c., who has
been on duty with the 1st Aviation
| Group, Marine Barracks, at Quantico,
Va. Decision has not yet been def.
nitely made whether or not Lieut..
Cuddihy will participate in the races
as a pilot or whether he will act as
| executive officer of the American rae
| ing team under Comdr. Wick. Three
planes of the R3C2 Navy racing type
| have been entered and three pilots
| from the above list of officers will be
| selected to fly them at the races,
which will be held at Hampton Roads,
| Va, October "a.
Qualification was expressed by the
Navy Department authorities this
week over the fact that cooperation
between the Los Angeles and radio
stations along the Eastern coast was
| almost perfect in celebrating radio
sets. These stations have been cali
brated from the seaward, but were
not accurate from other directions.
| Several commercial air lines have been
anxious to take advantage Of bear
| ings from compass stations, and, since