Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-26
sf3AaVIATION
BY JOSEPH s. EDGERToN.

past year and the threatened
resignation from the service of
one OF the best flyers the Army or
this country ever has developed,
legislation which would 60 long
way toward correcting the faulty
promotion system of the corps
and so relieving the conditions
which result in these designations,
remains in dusty pigeonholes at
the Capitol.
What the present promotion
system is doing to the Army Air
Corps is illustrated by the fact
that the corps today has only
three colonies whereas, under the
peace-time strength authorized by
Congress there should be II ON
GERS Of this grade. There is also
an acute shortage of officers in
the rank of major and in many
cases the commands which should
be filled by captains and majors
are held by first and second
lieutenantS.
DOOlittIe's Resignation Feared
The most serious loss by resig-
nation suffered by the Air Corps
in many years is feared as a re-
suit Of the ,aff1liation of Lieut..
James II. Doolittle, now on leave,
with commercial aviation interests.
Lieut.. Doolittle, it is understood,
has submitted his resignation to
the War Department with the
understanding that it is not to be
acted upon during his leave and
that it may be Withdrawn in case
he Is not satisfied with the career
which has been opened for him
in private life.
There are no better flyers than
Jimmy" Doolittle. It is an axiom
In the Air Corps that If you ask
any Army pilot: who, next to
yourself, is the best pilot in the
Arrny?" he will reply, without a
moments hesitation: Jimmy
Doolittle."
Doolittle has just completed an
assignment by the Army to duty
with the Daniel GuggenheiYn
Fund for the Promotion of Aero
nautics, which has closed its books
after q distinguished term of
service to aviation. While with
the GuggenheimS, Doolittle was
in charge of experimental work
in developing the art of blind
flying" as q means Of cOnQuering
the menace of fog and low clouds.
Outstanding Experiment.
One of the outstanding achieve
mentS of 1929 was Doolittle'S feat
Of taking on, flying q course, re-
turning to his starting point and
landing without a glimpse of the
ground or anything but the in
strument board Of his plane. This
is but one Of many achievements
Of Lieut.. Doolittle which have won
him international fame and which
have made him one of the most
respected and admired officers in
the Nations military service.
Army pilots here declare that
Doolittle is the only offlcer in the
Air Corps whose appointment to
with the undivided approval of
the pilots Throughout the service.
While this may be regarded by
some as laying it on a little
thick" 1t is illustrative of the
esteem in which he is held.
Despite his universally recog-
nized ability and personal popu-
Iarity, Doolittle holds the rank of
first lieutenant, though he has
been in the. Air Corps since No
vember, 1917, and has held his
present, rank since July /, 1920.
There are ATS first lieutenants
shove him on the promotion list
of the Army. OF these, only 103
are Air Corps officers. OF the 103
Air Corps officers ahead of him
on the list only half were flying
officers when Doolittle entered the
service.
No Promotion Near.
As it will require about IS
months, in the normal course of
events, for these 275 officers to
reach the rank of captain, it will
be about April, 1881, before Lieut..
Doolittle could hope for promo
ton out of the rank he has filled
50 ably for 10 years.
This is not an unusual case. It
Is merely typical of affairs in the
Air Corps. Other famous pilots
AdCC bI1C St1k1lC o1SLOuA
ton. It is not to be wondered
that they are tempted to put
aside their chosen careers in the
face of such circumstances to turn
to commercial aviation, which
holds more promise of normal
advancement.
Not only are promotions in the
Air Corps slow, with relation to
the number of vacancies created
within the corps, but there is less
opportunity for the Air Corps
offlcer to reach the Army's high
est permanent ranks than for
officers in any other branch, with
the; possible exception Of the
Medical Corps, according to Air
Corps officers.
While it is possible for the able
Infantry, Cavalry or Artillery
officer to become a general officer,
with a permanent commission as
general of the line, this rank
virtually is denied the Air Corps
oficer because of the highly spe-
cialized character of his service.
Air Corps commanders, it was
pointed out. hold the rank of
major or brigadier general on a
temporary status only, reverting
at the close of their terms of
service to their permanent ranks
of colonel or lieutenant colonel