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STRATEGIST HOLDS MITCHELL ERRED Wash [[or Nash]], Star - 12/7/25 Navy Office Declares Danger of Aerial Attack Is Remote. The Navy Department, through one of its experts on strategy and tactics, launched a comprehensive attack against Col. William Mitchell's contention that it would be possible for an Asiatic power to send an attacking air force against the United Sates without assistance on the ground, before the Mitchell court-martial today. The spokesman for the Navy on this particular point of the San Antonio statement by the accused and which the prosecution now is offering testimony in rebuttal, was Lieut. Comdr. H. H. Frost of the bureau of navigation and characterized by Maj. Allen W. Gullion, assistant trial judge advocate, as "as the young Mahan of the Navy." The outstanding declaration by the young officer on the feasibility of an Asiatic air attack was that until a Pacific power possesses a naval strength three times greater than that of the United States "there is no reason to believe that we will be attacked by an air force." Outlines Difficulties. To make such an invasion through the Aleutian Islands and Alaska would require preparations for their reception either by sending naval vessels or by the combined force of naval and military arms, explained Comdr. Frost. "Without the use of Russian or Canadian territory," he added, "it would be impossible for an Asiatic power to fly over and attack us even with superiority on land and sea. If they had this superiority the best thing to do would be to box up their airplanes, land them at Prince Ruppert, then ship them to the interior of Canada by rail and operate against this country." Under cross-examination the witness who wore a pair of gold aviator's wings, declared he was no aviation expert, and after Representative Frank R. Reid, chief defense counsel, had asked several questions he turned to the court and said: "The witness has admitted he is no expert on aviation, and on that basis I have no further cross-examination." Cites Weather Obstacle. Comdr. Frost, with the assistance of several publications of the Navy hydrographic office on the coastal and weather conditions around Siberia, Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands, drew a picture of wretched flying conditions almost the year round. While admitting that the Army world fliers had negotiated the Pacific flight, and further stating he believed they would accomplish this, nevertheless, Comdr. Frost said, it was done with much difficulty, owing to the perrenial bad weather. Comdr. Frost was in command of the destroyer Ford at the furthermost end of Kurile Islands, north of Japan, when the world flyers made their Pacific flight. His destroyer was the first evidence the airmen had that they were in Asia. In further support of his argument that weather conditions would play an outstanding part in preventing an Asiatic power to land an air force in this country, he quoted form the report made by Capt. St. Clair Streett, leader of the New York to Nome, Alaska, flight of 1919. Weather Reported Bad. The weather conditions around Nome are "distinctly unfavorable for flying the year round," the witness read from the report. He added as his own comment this statement: "Should an enemy attempt to fly over from Asia, he would not be able to wire ahead for weather information." An Asiatic power planning to attack the United States by air, the witness declared in his discussion on the feasibility of the subject, would have three routes to choose from. The first would be a non-stop flight from the northernmost Kurile Island to the Aleutian Island of Attu; the second, to proceed from the Kurile point via Petropavlosk and thereby avoid the non-stop flight, while the third alternative would be along the Siberian coast and across the Bering Straight. After reciting these routes the witness gave a lengthy discussion on weather conditions along them, which in effect, was they are perpetually habited by ice, snow, hail, and rain. Would Welcome Move. The witness also said that if an attacking power from Asia decided to use its fleet in conjunction with the air force, it would be resisted by the American fleet operating from Oahu, Hawaii. "If we were at war with an Asiatic power," commented Comdr. Frost, "We would desire nothing more than that their navy attack Nome, Alaska." Mr. Reid submitted the witness to his usual strategical cross-examination in an effort to break down his rebuttal testimony but made little headway. When he laid particular stress on aviation matters in this problem Maj. Gullion came to his witness' defense by declaring that he was not an expert on aeronautics, although he had qualified a naval aviator and had had 100 hours in the air. It was here that Mr. Reid ceased his cross-examination. Burgess Is Heard. The other witness at the morning session was Charles P. Burgess of the Bureau of Aeronautics, a civilian engineer and a designer of the Shenandoah. Under cross-examination he admitted he personally opposed the reduction of safety valves in the Shenandoah from 18 to 8, but declared this change was not responsible for the dirigible's loss. He attributed the disaster to a squall, whose acro-dynamic forces brought the ship in two. His own personal opinion on the construction of a dirigible to withstand such a storm was that it could be built. The court recessed at noon until 3 o'clock in order to allow Mr. Reid to attend the opening session of Congress. In requesting the recess, Mr. Reid said the Speaker had granted him permission to return to the court. THE EVENING SUN, BALTIMORE, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1925. With The Flyers News Of Military, Naval and Commercial Aviation. By WILLIAM D. TIPTON. The fact that the Mitchell trial is gradually evacuating the front pages of the newspapers is ample proof that public interest as interpreted by news editors is with Colonel Mitchell and his defense only so long as he is throwing hot shot in the camp of his opponents. Now that the trained [[?]] of the general staff are holding [[? elight]] and the Mitchell defense is under fire, at times suffering from direct hits the leads of the various [[news]] [[stories]] are usually built about [[some]] of [[? more]] non-essential, but [[sensational]] [[features]] of a day's proceedings. As an example, note the prominence [[given]] the aside remark by the bored and annoyed General King, member of the august court, who for the instant spoke his mind. "This is damned rot and ought to be stopped," has been taken by many observers to indicate the general frame of mind of the members of the court. With army traditions as a precedent, their decision must have been made before proceedings started, and while the astute and at times armor-piercing offensive defensive elaborated by Congressman Frank R. Reid and his assistant, Lieut. Clayton L. Bissell, stands at present as a defense per se, in the minds of this court it really is in mitigation of sentence, although no definite ruling has been made. Lieutenant Clayton Knows The Game. In the matter of the cleverness of Colonel Mitchell's defense, the public has been inclined to believe that the clever lawyer, Mr. Reid, is the main-spring. As a matter of fact, the man behind the guns is Lieut. Clayton L. Bissell, a war-time ace, with several decorations, who was a lawyer prior to entering the army. He served as Colonel Mitchell's assistant when the colonel was Assistant Chief of Air Service and accompanied him on one of his European tours of inspection. "Bis" knows the Air Service, its personnel and its functions inside out, and when a witness is desired to back up this or that public statement of the colonel's, he knows who and where he is and just exactly what he may be counted on to say. Prior to Lieutenant Bissell's assignment to this case, Mr. Reid was getting nowhere rapidly with his witnesses. When they arrived he could not talk their language and consequently could not make the best of their stories. Of course, this is to be expected for the Congressman, although he passed through one Congressional investigation as a member of the Lampert committee, does not know military aviation thoroughly nor the men who direct it. Lieutenant Bissell was the man for the job. No better choice in the whole service could have been found. He is entirely loyal to Colonel Mitchell and his policies and knows them almost as well as does the colonel. With Bissell to dig up damaging testimony, and Reid to handle it at the trial [[table]], a smooth working combination was made. Both have worked untiringly in the case; in fact, Mr. Reid has been known to fall asleep while examining witnesses late at night in preparation for the next day's proceedings. Public Interest Fast Dying Out. Meanwhile the public is fast tiring of the continuity of the trial. Even in the provinces, those who read the daily papers have asked one when the trial was going to end, for they were tired of it. Peculiarly, this dimunition of the interest came when the Mitchell defense rested its case. The fact is that this lack of interest is grounded on certain basic facts-namely, that after four investigations of aviation, nearly everything imaginable has been said. What comes out daily is mere repetition of news which the public has read in accounts of the Curry bill hearings, the Lampert committee proceedings and those of the President's Air Board, and lately of the Shenandoah court and the Mitchell trial. The interest is awakened only when a public idol is about to quartered and drawn, and when this idol gets from beneath and becomes the upper dog, the pendulum of public interest approaches the middle of its return swing. As a matter of fact, some people particularly concerned with the outcome of the whole aviation question, remembering our great American public's fetish for under dogs, have come to fear that before long the so-called opponents of aviation may be so placed on the defensive and thus become the public's under dog. This, they say, may put the War and Navy departments where aviation is today. These people fear a picture such as this. Here are two patriotic departments of the Government, guided by officers of international repute, being continually harassed by a group of young aviators who for the moment have the public eye. These departments are being made mad houses simply because of selfish demands of these youngsters for more rank and greater freedom from the irking regulations of the army and navy. Such a situation, say some observers, may soon come about if this continual hammer-and-tongs game of lambasting the departments does not soon come to an end with some decision, by which all parties will abide, so that instead of this long-drawn-out fight which is separating elements of national defense into rival camps, glaring at one another, we may have cooperation and a return to normalcy.
Transcription Notes:
The article from the Evening Sun, Baltimore is torn slightly and there is a section that is illegible.
