Evening star., 1948-02-22

| we should make professional mill
tary service more attractive by
better pay and other conditions, he
had in mind particularly the officers
corps.
The fact is that despite drastic
depreciation in the purchasing
power of the dollar, the base pay
of officers in the armed forces has
not been increased since l945.
| A major in the Army and a
lieutenant commander in the Navy
with IL years service receive base
pay OF S79 a week, out of which he
must pay Federal and State income
taxes. If he is married, as is gen.
orally the case, he receives an adj
ditional $4,000 a week as rent allow
ance and subsistence for himself,
wife and children A man, "a or IS
years old, can figure, all told, on
S., ,356.40 annually.
Graduates of universities and
colleges of the same standing as
Annapolis and West Point can look
forward to much better situation
in civilian life than in the armed
services, even if they start after
graduation at less pay than sec
ond lieutenant in the Army and an
ensign in the Navy.
The consequence of this condi-
ton has been that many of the
abler young officers, from whose
ranks our future top military and
naval leaders would have to come,
have resigned from both services.
Outside of a few who either
have private incomes or are so i'm
bued with military spirit that they
prefer to live in honorable poverty"
rather than give up their ideals,
only those who are afraid of the
uncertainties of civilian employment
are remaining in the armed forces.
That is definitely detrimental to our
national defense.
Regular officers in the armed
forces are an easy target for attack
Immediately after any war ends.
They are denounced as caste
which is detrimental to the demo-
cratic principles of the United
States.
Poor Appointment System
All this, of course, is poppycock.
Some abuses, it is true, have been
due to a feeling of superiority in
graduates of Annapolis. and West
Point. But such cases are rare.
Much criticism has been heard,
however, about the manner in which
both the Army and Navy receive
their candidates for the military
and naval academies Under the
present system of congressional ap-
pointment the academies do not get
the best men available.
In order to obtain an appoint
ment an aspirant for the Military
or Naval Academy must apply to his
Senator or Representative. After
using a good deal of pull. in which
the Congressman secretary closely
scrutinizes the vote-pulling power Of
the candidates family and friends,
the applicant is permitted to take
civil service examination to de-
termine his scholastic ability.
In most cases the top man in this
examination is designated for ap-
pointment and then is given strict
mental and physical examinations
for admission to his chosen acad-
emy. But there are many other
cases-too many-in which political
considerations enter the. picture,
There Is absolutely no test to de-
termine whether an applicant is
prompted to seek a commission in
the armed services because he
thinks he would like it, because he
feels he could not do we'll in COM
petitive civilian life, or because his
parents want to give him free
college education. For this reason
the services get a relatively large
number of second-raterS.
In order to remedy this situation
it would be a good thing if Con-
gress were to forgo this type OF
patronage and enact legislation
whereby entrance into the two
academies would be thrown open
to all high school graduates.
The United States is the only
country where members of the Ma
tional Legislature designate future
officers. Every other country has
competitive examinations open to
all who can qualify.
Navy Tried to Break Away
/ There are literally tens of thou
sands of American youngsters who
would like to make the Army or
Navy a lifetime career if they had
the opportunity. But in order to
enter either Annapolis or West Point
youth must, in most cases, have
satisfactory political connections.
The Navy attempted to break
away from this political system.
which by no stretch of the imag-
ination could be called democratic.
The Holloway Act, passed in 1945.
provided that for certain number
of years young men desiring to
enter Annapolis could take an ex-
animation without special appoint
ment by a Congressman. The top
$500 of these are sent to selected
colleges where, besides studying
prescribed courses, they must take
a certain number of hours Of naval
training.
On graduation these men must
serve as ensigns in the Regular
Navy for Is months. At the end
of that time they can remain as
regular line officers or resign, join
ing the Naval Reserve. The Halo
way plan has been so popular that
last year no less than $4,000 young