Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-03-13
McKeIwoy
Continued From First Pape.)

MCNelWoy
Continued From First Page.)
the States by feat in transports
ton unparalleled even by their a.
sembly, with all their equipment,
what were then the theaters of wa
Every day we see new statements
the number of men being sent HON
the number to be sent home befo,
April l or June l. But not enoug
attention is being paid to the cond
lions created along the lines of com
munication and in the occupatio
forces by this feverish exodus.
! There are complaints now ovt
the breakdown of airmail servic
between the United States and il
armed forces in the Pacific an
Japan, Korea and China. Why ha
it broken down? Because the al
forces lack the men to maintain an
service the aircraft. Why are me-
not being trained to replace tn
skilled mechanics who were brough
home on points? Because there ar
no instructors. Why are there n
instructors? Because they had tn
points to come home.
There is an airfield on Guam use,
by the Army's Air Transport Com
mand. In the middle of January i
was stated by some 1900 officer
and men and there were 10 fight
daily leaving for the United States
Today there are on this same fiels
48 enlisted men and 10 officers
There are two flights daily to tn,
United States when the planes cal
be serviced and maintained. Whe,
anything happens to an airplan,
that requires even nominal repairs
the flights are Cancelled. There ar
not enough people, with the knowl
edge, to do the work.
The seriousness of this situatio,
is not the inconvenience to pas
sengers, who wait until another air
craft is available. It is not merel,
the loss OF quick mail service TO
soldiers who still regard mai
from home as the No. 1 essentia
to morale. The seriousness of tn,
situation lies in the breakdown O
air communications between tn,
mainland and our outposts in tn,
Pacific. The situation found on tn,
airfield in Guam is duplicated or
other airfields on other Pacifi,
islands.
Pilots Exceed Enlisted Men.
Nor is the breakdown confined
merely to the transportation service
The tactical air force assigned tt
the armies of occupation in Japar
and Korea has suffered the same
sort of disintegration. On many
fields there are more officer pilot.
than there are enlisted men and the
pilots are driving trucks, servicins
planes, performing clerical work Of
all sorts and even policing the field
The officers accept the jobs anc
perform them with good grace, fol-
no good officer resents putting his
hand to any job that must be done
But the pilots were trained to fly
airplanes. They are not being used
for the jobs they were trained to do
They are not given airplanes to fly
Confined to airfields In the United
States, such conditions might be re.
garded as insignificant-nerely tn.
low point in the curve of change.
over from war to peace. But in the
armies of occupation they are dis.
graceful and dangerous.
I was unable to verify personally
the stories Of great increase ir
operational accidents - accepted a,
true by those who repeat them-ths
answer being that operations hac
been curtailed and the ratio of acct.
dents to operations had not materi.
ally increased. But was also told OF
excellent authority that shoule
there be an emergency requiring
the use of our tactical air force II
Japan or Korea, we would be more
unprepared-seven months after vic.
tory!-than we were at Pearl Har-
Dor.
There are scores Of airplanes on
an airfield near Seoul, in Korea
which is about Is miles south Of the
38th parallel, dividing Northern and
Southern Korea between the Rus
sian and American occupational
forces. There was one mechanic
on that airfield familiar with pur-
suit planes. Not many of the air
planes on the field at Seoul are In
flying condition.
The LIST Cavalry Division, now
occupying Tokyo, is some 2,400 men
under strength. As one Of its Of
dcers remarked: 1--WE have no razor
blade problem in this outfit" The
division has had turnover in ex-
cess Of 100 per cent, In officers and
men, since it landed in Japan and
the requirements are. for the most
part, youngsters Of 10 and 20. Thi,
division, incidentally, had beer
stripped of about 50 per cent OF its
combat veterans while training fol
its assignment to lead one of the
projected assaults on Kyushu.
Lack Of Discipline Blamed.
There are men wearing technical
sergeants' chevrons, in the armies
Of occupation, who have been In
uniform less than a year. A young
ster operating an X-ray machine
in an Army hospital near Tokyo
had been transferred from the In
fantry . few days before and given
brief instruction in what to do
not why. Many Of the insignificant
incidents" between individual SOL