Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-02-12
Officers Seen
Lacking in
Combat Skill
Less Than I0in Each 100
in Army 3 Years
BY HUGH =. JOHNSON

"a Gently. on good authority, in
our army now building there are
less than 10 officers among
every 100 who were i'm the army
three years.
As that army rapidly multi
plies on present plans TO three,
four or even 10000 900 men, that
percentage will decline until we
have one officer-to 100.
OF course, these are shocking
danger signs. No parent wants
TO trust the care and leadership
of a son 10 arbitrary command
in life and death struggle 10
a man whose only outward sign
of competence is piece of metal
insignia on his collar.
1t is true that all this is not
as bad as il sounds, Thousands
of these military commissions
arc not in combat groups at all.
They are various kinds of Spo-
CialiSts - engineers, doctors and
technicianS where the basic pro-
feSSional training may be eX-
pected 10 be as good or even
better than the regular army.
Under our army theory and
- system all these men are
supposed 10 be under military
law and command This. ac-
Cording 10 tradition carries the
uniform and the soldiers oath
and obligation.
! have no late trustworthy
breakdown of the figures show
ing the percentage of this group,
but the fact remains that. among
combat troops, II is low and will
go lower 10 an almost absurd
degree.
Also some of these mon have
rudlmen tary reserve training
and AT least know what a sol
der looks like but the men re-
naming in these reserves are
dwindling daily.
Intensive training Of hundreds
Of thousands or at least Il mini
mum of combat officers seems
10 be subject which in the
jam and rush Of building the
worlds greatest army. is not
getting the attention IT deserves.
MUCH more could he done.
A'I Indeed. IN the training of
air-fghterS. miracles have been
done and are being done daily.
The lob is a little different.
The end 10 be gained is far
more specialized and the basic
training need not be as broad.
The training Of line officers will
take more time.
In the meanwhile. a rather
vicious practice is going on. Men
come 10 Washington who don't
know squads west" but. by
reason Of business experience. or
special standing. apply for
a m V administrative Jobs by
the dozens.
I'VE DON'T want 10 pull an
w army administrator. trained
also as a soldier ont Of our
Scant reserve of soldiers. But.
IN the Washington hierarchy Of
rank and also ont in the field.
this fellow suddenly appears in
majors or lieutenant colonel ;
uniform
There he stays for the dura-
ton and sometimes longer.
This may happen although he
never saw days service.
There are regular field sol
dierS who have served nearly 10
years and are only captains.
They viii remain below the
one-day m j or or lieutenant
colonel in rank as long As this
war lasts unless they are by
good luck and opportunity. Sc
lected for efficiency.
After the World War. officers
Of such short service remained
as hump in the promotion
list 10 Stym Ic promotion for
many years. II forced arm V
morale down 10 Us lowest ehb
right up 10 the day this war
began
These arc lessons Of expert
enCe Like 50 many others IN
industrial and man-power mob
ilizatlon they ought not 10 be
allowed TO happen again.
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