Evening star., 1938-02-27


veteran enlisted men Of the District
National Guard that advancing years
had wiped them out Of the possibility
Of obtaining commissions in the organ
ization has whetted the desire Of a
number of them which has furnished
the guard with a problem.
With the considerable increase In
personnel, which has resulted in the
formation Of a number OF additional
units calling for more officers, the
veterans have observed that the
younger men have been taking the
opportunities and getting ahead of
them. The result has been that some
Of these veterans have applied for
permission to take examinations for
promotion to the commissioned grades,
but when their records were examined,
1t was found that they were in many
cases two and three years beyond the
maximum for the appointment of
second lieutenants, which is the rank
in which they would first have to get
into the commissioned line. Other
wise, their records have been of the
finest. and most of them are nom
commissioned officers on whose shoul-
ders rests much Of the weight of
carrying out details in connection with
the training and drilling of the outfit.
Col John w. Oehmann. command
ing the local militia, has the applica-
tions under consideration, and has not
determined just what will be done in
the particular cases, but it was said
at guard headquarters many of them
would make very fine commissioned
officers, and an asset to the local
militia in that capacity. But Col.
Oehmann is faced with the fact that
the War Department in the past few
years has consistently refused to issue
waivers in such cases. This is due to
the fact that there has been consider
able criticism, particularly in Congress,
that many commissioned grades, and
particularly those in the lower COM
mands. are filled with officers who are
considered too old for that grade. The
company officers, it was asserted,
should be very young and active, as
they bear the brunt of the heavy work
in time of field operations. whether In
training or under war conditions.
Inquiries having been sent out to
a number of officers on the Guard
inactive lists as to what their plans
are for taking some of the extension
courses provided by the War Depart
ment for militia officers during the
coming year, it was said, has served to
stir number of them to action 1t
was indicated some of these, although
not required to drill. have failed to
keep up their military instruction
through the medium Of the corre-
spondence The inference was that
officers who did not keep up their
military instruction. even though on
the Reserve list. might not be de-
sirable personnel to remain on the
available list in the event of the de-
velopment Of An emergency.
A number have written into head
quarters announcing their plans to
at least complete the minimum re-
quirements for the year in such studies.
Company c, 12lst Engineers. has in
augurated a recruiting campaign,
which will extend until April 30 Each
squad has been designated as team,
and the one bringing in the most men
by the end of the period will be given
a dinner ''or its equivalent" The
money for the dinner or for any other
purpose elected by the winning squad
is to be provided by the company
officers. Already the squad led by
Corpl L. H. Boetler has brought in
three recruits and is leading at this
time.
The following rifle qualifications of
the members of the 121st Regiment of
Engineers were announced last week:
Headquarters and Service Com
pany: Expert rifiemen-Pvts. Clare H.
Armstrong. Raymond Davis, jr.: Jack
E. Dove, Willard c. Jensen and Rob-
ert L Mattingly. Sharpshooter-Pvt.
Merrill A. Turner. Marksmen-First
1t. Joseph F. Fitzgerald. Pvts. John
F. Bradbury, Thomas Davis, Francis
H. Geduldig. Jerry Himmelfarb, Harold
V. Hull, Warren w. Ireland, Robert
H. Lewis, John w. MAYHEM, Phillip
j. Montague, Walter NJ Norris. Ed
ward H. Stasiunas and Harmon C.
Welch
Company A: Expert rifemen-Staff
Sergt W. E. Jessop. Sharpshooter-
First 1t. P. c. Conlyn. Sergts. C. NJ
Deaver and L. E. Schneider, Pvts. A.
B. Bwynn and S. S. Stephenson. jr.
Marksmen-Corpl j. D. Colman. Pvts.