Evening star., 1941-04-20
New National Guard
Aero Squadron
Here Is Recognized
Full Complement
OF Officers Expected
By End of July

Having been fully recognized by
the War Department as a conStl-
tuted unit of the District National
Guard, the 121st Observation Squad
ron has settled down to get fully
organized, so that it might answer
promptly any induction call which
the Army might issue. In view OF
the fact that it might be well into
June before all of the officer per-
sonnel are available, it is expected
that it might not expect induction
for the year of field training before
July.
Following their formal recognition,
Tuesday night was selected as the
regular drill period for the local
outfit, which will be quartered in the
main armory in the old National
Hotel Building Quarters have been
assigned to it and on inclement
nights it will be able to use the small
drill hall But on other nights, IL
might be expected that 1t would
work in the Mall, where the old
units used to take their outdoor
drill work prior to the time that
they were inducted into the Fed
eral service.
The outfit now has a complement
of Ill enlisted men and p officers.
But it was said that only four OF
the officers are now serving with
the outfit in the preliminary drill
work. The others are attending the
service schools for periods OF IN
tensive training.
While it will be several months
before the hangar and training quar-
ters are completed at Beltsville, Nd,
it was said that arrangements nave
been made to provide flying training
and technical ground instruction for
the men on drill nights and pos
sibly on week ends at the Naval Air
Station and Boiling Field. At pres
| ent the unit does not have any
/ planes of its own, although some
| of the officers are qualified to fly.
Their own equipment is not eX-
pected to be issued until they get
into their proposed new hangar
which is to be built with funds
! prOVlQeQ Dy w. Z. -.
This lack of equipment also is
expected to delay the time when
they NAV go into the field. Famil-
iarity with their own equipment per-
haps is considered necessary before
they are taken out for operations
with the troops. AS the unit is a
part of the 29th National Guard
Division, composed of units Of the
militia from this city and Maryland
and Virginia, it is expected that
when ordered into the field it will
be assigned to a station sufficiently
near to Fort Meade, so that 1t can
operate in divisional operations with
the troops there. Although officers
are without information and were
not in a position to discuss the
problem, the belief was expressed
that the permanent station Of the
new unit at BeltSville might be suf-
ficiently close to the divisional op-
erations as to permit the outfit to
base at its home station.
The organization of this outfit
/ provides practically the only Ma
tional Guard activity still left in
the city and the only armory being
operated is the main armory. OF
| course, the civilian force is still
working in trying to bring up to
date the records of the men who
we're ordered into the service and
to answer the many inquiries which
are constantly coming in for service
records.
The War Department is still pom
dering the question as to whether
/ it will keep the militia units in the
field for more than the year orig
inally planned, but, of course, it
was explained, this will be deter
mined largely in the light Of the
conditions as they develop overseas.
1t is expected that when the local
units do return to the city they will
find quarters considerably better
than National Guard units here
have had for more than quarter
of century. Their new building,
with all of it's fittings, is expected
to be completed, and during the
interim what activities are left here
are expected to remain in the pres
ent quarters, unless the Government
finds space so scarce that it will
move some of its Offices into the
present armory which is not all
being used at the present time.
However, officers of the Guard de-
clare that it is most unsatisfactory