Evening star., 1927-12-04
Army.

since September 26. has completed 1t
work of designating those officer
who. in the language Of the nationa
defense act, should not be retaine'
in the service" The other members
an this board were Brig, Gems Alnef
! Bowley. Robert +. Callan, KiCll
mond T.. Davis. Edward H. htnS ttI
Hugh A. Drum and Edgar 1. ~
Inns. with Lieut.. Col. Clark lIS M.
G. D.. as recorder. The report ''ia Is,
The board had occasion to eNatiiMtne LA "a
TO the records of no less than I;lvv ;,,i, Jni,
GERS was the source OF collsiu I'm,
speculation in certain qual'e, ,,so. n,
was construed as indicating tha' ~
,,,,,sIoi number of Army officers nao
,nan,, n,,rked for consideration pE !he !he
r1ass t, board. An alternative col.!FFc
t,,,a was that the method OF Wcl'.ns ,
inr those eligible for the conseq que.,,
nf n classification had been uuI li'S
the mast year applied with lhclv'S,, g,
<.icor and specification. From an az
+hentic accounts, however, 1t aipSa.>
that neither consequence heeu o0
cepted as conclusive. = o,,;t;n;s,,,
Tarvinr expressions OF cfltltlNtr =
b.va heen directed against the class
hoard nrocedure which are rtaceaple y
ofscers who have been placed IN ciasS
u ana who regard themselves as en-
titled to entertain grleEaiice 80
for To this group OF olllceie 20 -,
frihuted the revival of the sus It
for the improvement OF the sH He.Sin -
;nd;vidual records which are empioyeu
in the determination oil those NHo, ~
fbe Army commissioned pefsonhel'
..should not be retained in the sefN'
;ce = II is conceded that there are
certain defects which ineVitaolN AT
tach at present to any method nE
which the relative efficiency OF oHl-
cers becomes the subject of report h'
their seniors in the service, and 1t Is
admitted that the possibilities OF IN
Justice and the opportunities Tor Gh
fairness are numerous.
During the 1928 calendar year there
will be 20 retirements on account OF
age among officers of the Regular
ARMY, namely, two major generals,
one brigadier general, eight colonels
and nine lieutenant colonies. They
are. together with the dates on which
they will be retired. as follows: Maj
Gen. J. D. Leitch. March 5. and Err
nest Hinds.. August is; Brig. Gen. I.
G. Donaldson, June 26; Coils. c. l..
Potter, c. E. January "A; Arthur
Thayer, Cavalry. February /; n. III.
Sheen. Quarternaster Corps. May =;
G. H. Preston, Cavalry, May 30; l.. E.
Hanson. Quartermaster Corps, June
II; P. F.. Traub. Cavalry, October Is;
H. NJ. Morrow. J. A. G. D.. October
90: f. V. Smith. Infantry. November
IS: Lieut.. Coils. X. J. Hampton, Quar-
termaster Corps, May 5; G. NJ. New.
ell. F. D.. July Z; s.. s. Underwood,
O. D July 10: J. NJ Hutchinson. Quar-
termaster Corps. July 81: Sherrard
Coleman. Quartermaster Corps, Ar.
gust IL; W. H. Tobin, Quartermaster
Corps. September is: f. H. Andres.
Infantry. October /; G.. f. Lowell cav
airy, October /. and T. J. Rogers.
Infantry. October 26.
Col. James B. Mitchell who has
been in charge of the training sec.
tion Of the office of the chief of Coast
Artillery. will so to the Coast Artillery
School at Fort Monroe. Va. in Feb.
ruary ito undergo three-month
refresher course, upon the compile
tion of which it is expected he will
be assigned to a foreign garrison
Upon the completion of his present
course at the Army War College next
June Col. Harry L. Steel will prob
ably be designated to succeed Col.
Mitchell in the Coast Artillery office.
Orders have been issued to Lieut.. Col.
Joseph o. Mauborgne, formerly in
charge of the engineering and re.
search division of the Office of the
chief signal officer of the Army. as.
signing him to duty as signal officer
OF the Panama Canal Department.
Maj. Raymond E. McQuillin, who ar
rived in Washington last week from
duty with the Cavalry Board at Fort
Riley. Kan. will assume charge Of
the plans and training section of the
ofi1ce Of the chief of Cavalry. First
Lieut.. Arthur /. Ennis reported for
duty last week in the office of the
chief of Air Corps, where he has been
assigned to the information division.
Navy.
1t is estimated by the Bureau of
Navigation that approximately 142
members of the 1928 graduating class
OF the Naval Academy will be com.
mlssioned in the line of the Navy and
that this small number will not off.
set the normal line attrition. AS a
consequence, the 1928 distribution
fgures, which fix the allowed number
OF officers in each grade. will show a
smaller allowance in each grade than
Is now the case. Figures prepared in
the Navy Department show that attri.
ton in the line since last June has
been at the rate of 81 per cent. and
IL that rate is continued until June.
1928. the line strength, before the ad.
dltlon of the graduating class. will be
5.22S. This number will be increa sed
upon graduation to approxima tely
$50, which will become the distri.
button number Applying the per.
centage fixed by law. the allowed mum.
Der of lieutenant commanders and
heutenants will be 752 and 1.745. re.
spectiVely, as compared with the
present allowance of 761 and 1866.
Thus. there can be no promotions
TO lieutenant commander in June. and
that additional promotions TO that
grade after the distribution will not
be permitted until nine officers have
left the grade by promotion or for
other reasons. With respect TO the
grade of lieutenant, it is assumed that
some ~ vacancies now exist because
there are no officers eligible for pro.
motion at this time, due to the require.
ment or ) years service as lieutenant
Ounior grade). Probably 80 additional
vacancies in the lieutenant grade, ii is
estimated. will occur prior to June.
Therefore, about SO members of the
1922 Naval Academy class will make
their numbers for promotion next
June. and promotions during the re
fl1ainder of the year will avera &c
ABOUT seven per month This esti
mate Indicates that June staff corps
promotions in the non-selective ranks
20
Gunior grade) in the CONSTRUCTION
Corps and one in the Civil Engineer
Corps. Promotions to the rank OF
Lieutenant in the Medical. Dental and
Chaplains Corps will not occur unit
the junior officers of the 1922 Nava
Academy class become eligible for tha,
grade. which will probab blv be in 1910
1t was learned last week that the
Navy Department will in all proba.
bility propose bill providing for the
rf ,l,s sAF.