Evening star., 1941-08-19

De transferred from a snip 10 ndEdI
aviation. He feels that he might
be of more use In the air than on
the ocean, since he has been flying
his own plane for eight years, or
ever since he was 16 years old. He
is better than country hand with
a plane, too. He holds a transport
license, and you don't get one OF
those simply by learning how to cir
Gle over your best girls house and
dipping a wing and waving hand
kerchief.
The lieutenant thought 1t would be
a very simple procedure to get
switched to aviation. After all, he
had seen posters and read publicity
urging young men to join up and
learn TO fly. If the Government
needed raw recruits, he figured. it
really would appreciate fellow who
had had hundreds of hours in the
air.
X II
So he dropped line to the Bu-
reau of Navigation, which handles
Navy personnel, and told of his de-
sire and his qualifications. He ex-
planned that he thought he would
be more useful as flyer, that he was
graduate of Yale, that he had had
four years of naval r. o. r. c., and
was well versed in navigation and
radio and all those things.
Apparently the boys in Washing
ton haven't changed their formula
involving transfers since the first
nice red-taped one was drawn up
in Commodore Perry's time. I saw
the leutenant's first answer and 1t
read something like this:
Yours Of the umpty-umph re-
ceived. 1t is regretted that there
are no mechanics whereby officers
OF the Naval Reserve Force can
take aviation training. In order to
accomplish your request it will be
necessary for you to resign your
commission and enlist as an appren-
tice seaman. If found qualified YOU
will be appointed as an aviation
cadet and"
This puzzled the lieutenant. He
couldn't figure out why the Gov
ernment should want to spend the
time and money to teach him things
he already knew. Neither could he
figure out why Washington, with a
complete file on him, should treat
him as If he were some unknown,
unqualified volunteer, just arriving
at a recruiting base.
But the lieutenant wasn't down.
hearted. Bewildered, yes, but still
there was the chance that there had
been mistake. So he wrote again.
This time the correspondence was
very helpful. 1t said, in effect, that
if he still wanted to be an aviator
that the first thing he would have
to do, after resigning his commits
O3OA4S nOd4a bE W cCC q OONlO1 dllu
pass a physical examination. Ap-
parently the fact that he already
was an officer, on active duty on the
Atlantic, didn't prove that he was
sound. The Government very help
fully recommended a doctor in Nor
folk for him to see. The doctor, in
cidentally, is one of the leading
obstetricians in the city.
X y xx
Oh, yes, the lieutenant was fur
nished a form for the doctor to fill
out after the examination. One of
the questions the Government
wanted the doctor to answer was
whether or not he considered the
lieutenant "Officer Material"
The lieutenant had just received
this second batch of correspondence
when I talked to him and he was
in a sort of a daze. suspect that
one of the reasons he showed me
the letters were because he could
scarcely believe his own eyes. AS
he threShed around In his own red
tape bindings, as enmeshed in them
as a founder In net. you could
almost hear him mumbling:
II know how to fly but they want
to teach me from the ground up.
I am an officer but they want me to
start all over as an apprentice sea-
man. I am an officer now but they
want q doctor to pass on me to see
If I am potential Officer Material
They ask me 10000 questions about
my early life and education, and
they have a file on me right In the
building they are writing from. They
need flyers but they don't want a
volunteer who can fiy."
There Is something comforting in
the neutenants plight, though. The
national emergency can't be too
dire when Washington has time for
such goings-on as this.
Distributed By McNausht Syndicate, Ine.)