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SAYS AIR SERVICE
FAILED ON MANUAL
Mash Star 2/8/25
Couldn't Revise Book When
Mitchell Was Assistant
Chief, Says Baer.

Testimony that the Army Air Serv-
ice in 1923, at the time Brig. Gen. 
William Mitchell was assistant chief,
admitted to the War Department it 
was not able to write a training man-
ual on Air Service tactics to replace 
one in existence, which then was de-
clared to be unsound, was given the 
Mitchell court-martial this afternoon
by Lieut Col. Joseph A. Baer of the 
troop training section, Army general
staff. 
The Air Service manual had been 
prepared in 1921, Col. Baer said, and
two years ago it was desired to revise
it. The Air Service, he said was re-
quested to prepare a new manual, and
it sent word back to the War Depart-
ment it was unable to do so.

Funds Held Insufficient.
The other outstanding testimony of the afternoon session was by Lieut. Col. H. E. Bullis, also of the general staff, who was brought to the stand to "clarify" the situation regarding Air Service Reserves, which the defense had emphasized was deplorable. Col. Bullis declared the lack of more adequate training was due to insufficient funds, and he cited statistics to show it cost the Government $42.88 per flying hour for a reserve officer in the JN training type plane. To give the reserves a thorough training on this basis, he said, it would cost more than $8,500,000 per year. Estimates for Air Service Reserves for the next fiscal year, he added, were $220,000 as the Budget Bureau had finally passed on them.

Air Branch Opposed.
Maj. Gen. Hanson Ely, commandant of the Army War College and the first of a long list of high ranking Army officers the prosecution has called in rebuttal before the court-martial, this morning made a picturesque and vigorous defense of the War Department's attitude toward aviation in general. While praising the air arm in the highest of terms, and declaring an Air Board to be "extremely important" in the scheme of national defense, Gen. Ely looked with disfavor on an independent Air Board of a united Army and Navy Air Department.
Maj. Gen. Robert H. Allen, chief of Infantry, followed Gen. Ely on the stand. He testified that at the Leavenworth School more hours were devoted to Air Service operation and training problems than to any other single arm of the military service. He deplored the lack of suitable equipment for the Infantry, and explained that many of his recommendations for improvement in his branch had not been concurred in.
Called to the stand by Col. Sherman Moreland, trial judge advocate, who, after an absence of several weeks from active participation in the proceedings, again took up direct examination of the witness. Gen. Ely detailed to the court the education of Army officers with the view of placing them on the General Staff. He was qualified as an expert on this subject and made a great effort to make clear that when an officer reached the General Staff he has a broad and unbiased knowledge of every arm of the service and acts accordingly.  

Direct Questioning Brief. 
The direct examination of the witness required but a few minutes, during which time Gen. Ely admitted ignorance of "the principle of mob psychology on which the infantry fights." This statement was attributed to the accused, who further was quoted as having said "ground men have to be kicked around and are shot at if they try to run away. Air men must have initiative and they are the greatest individual fighters in the world."
Gen. Ely said he never heard of that theory, but he knows the air men must have initiative. "If he wants to beat it, he can," he continued, "and say something is the matter with his plane. No one can check up on him. The same applies to the cavalry. Both need much discipline."
The ground men of today, Gen. Ely explained, are well disciplined and do not have to be forced to carry out an order. "However" he added, "if he gets in a hole and won't come out and if an officer tries to get him out, he'll get plugged."
The other outstanding point on direct examination occurred when Col. Moreland asked the witness if in his 38 years of special study of discipline he had an opinion on the effect Col. Mitchell's San Antonio  statement had on discipline in the Army. The witness replied he had such an opinion, and when Col. Moreland asked him to state it Representative Frank R. Reid, chief civilian counsel, objected. Col. Blanton Winship, the law member sustained the objection, declaring, "the effect of that question is to ask the witness if the accused is guilty or not guilty of the charges under which he is being tried. That is entering a phase of the court's duty."
Under cross-examination Ge. Ely was given various opportunities of paying tribute to the Air Service. At the same time he made it clear he had a distinct line of demarkation in mind when discussing aviation. He declared much of the talk about future aeronautical enterprises is "theory, guesswork and imagination."
"Does aviation have an important mission to perform?" asked Mr. Reid. "It always has an important mission," replied the witness.
"Has it always been done well?"

Men Too Independent.
"Well, from our experience, the aviators are a little too independent of the commanding officer. When they go out you can't tell when they will come back. They can be depended on, though."
Mr. Reid read an excerpt of Gen. Ely's testimony before the President's Air Board in which he was quoted as having said it is not necessary for an officer to be a flyer to command air units any more than it is necessary to be a chauffer to order an automobile about.
"Do you believe aviation in time of war is comparable to running an automobile?" asked Mr. Reid.
"That was a general statement," replied the witness, and when Mr. Reid interrupted to press his question Gen. Ely waved him aside, declaring. "Wait until I get through. I'm talking now."
"You'll talk when the court rules" replied Mr. Reid, and President Howze rapped for order.
When peace had been restores Gen. Ely proceeded with this answer to the original question: "An aviator must know a great many other things in time of war beside flying his plane. He has to be a good man. I didn't intend to infer he was equal to a chauffeur."
"Is he absolutely necessary to national defense," asked Mr. Reid.
"I wouldn't state in those trems exactly, but I would say he is very necessary. My idea of an air board is that it not be used absolutely independently of a supreme commander."
"Then you won't want an air board to win a war alone?" asked Mr. Reid.
"I don't think it could win a war alone," replied the witness.
Disagrees With Claims.
Mr. Reid read several statements purporting to have been made by prominent military men throughout the world, in which the part aviation will play in the future was decisive. The witness did not agree with those views, and Mr. Reid then read the following: "The development of the national defense must be supplemented, if not dominated, by aviation."
"Do you believe that?" asked Mr. Reid.
"I believe it must be supplemented," replied Gen. Ely, "but not dominated."
"Do you know who made that statement?" asked Mr. Reid. The witness did not.
"Is it absurd?" asked Mr. Reid.
"Absolutely absurd," replied the witness.
"That statement was made by President Coolidge" and the courtroom roared.
"I don't care whose it is," The general added.
Col. Moreland endeavored to have that portion of the testimony stricken out of the record on the ground that Mr. Reid quoted some one else as having quoted the President on that subject. The entire matter stayed in the record, however.
Gen. Ely explained in detail the course of study at the general staff service school at Fort Leavenworth. Kan., and explained there were 50 officers on the faculty. 
"How many officers are aviators?" asked Mr. Reid.
"One," replied the witness.
The prosecution late yesterday afternoon rested the Navy's rebuttal to the air officers charges of incompetency.

M'MULLEN HAS FIERY REPARTEE IN COURT
Mitchell Prosecutor and Reid Engage at the Bar in Court-Martial.

Star 12-9-25
For the second time since the Mitchell court-martial was organized Lieut. Col. Joseph I. McMullen, the original first assistant trial judge advocate, yesterday afternoon got an active part in the proceedings of the prosecution against the accused, and, as viewed from the gallery, he acquitted himself to the satisfaction of everybody.
Col. McMullen conducted the direct examination of three general staff officers, and his road was made bumpy by the numerous rocks tossed in by Representative Frank R. Reid, chief [[?]] defense counsel.  Col. McMullen, who has fiery red hair and an unmistakably Celtic physiognomy, fired back shot for shot.  His repartee, directed at Mr. Reid through the [[?]] of the court, brightened up the dry, technical testimony of the witnesses.
One one occasion, when Mr. Reid asked Lieut. Col. Joseph A. Baer "Just what does the general staff do?" the bulky frame of the trial judge advocate arose and spoke: "Your honor, in the liberality of dealing with the defense this court has been almost British.  But I still contend we are confronted with American rules of evidence, which say that cross-examination shall be only on the subjects discussed in direct examination," and, pounding the table, "I object."
Mr. Reid replied characteristically: "He is almost British in the understanding of this case."
Col. McMullen has participated in 400 court-martial and 300 civil cases.  He has won all of those he prosecuted and 90 per cent of those he defended.

[[bold]] What would it profit Col. Billy Mitchell if the War and Navy Departments were consolidated without the creation of a separate air service? [[/bold]]

Current quip of the season: The War Department preferred charges against Col Mitchell.  The court-material placed the general staff on trial.  The verdict convicted the judge advocate general's office.

[[bold]] BY JAMES O'DONNELL BENNETT. (Chicago Tribune Press Service.) Ely Disputes Mitchell Claims. [[/bold]]
Earlier in the day Maj. Gen. Hanson Edward Ely was a witness in the Mitchell court martial.  He was called by the government in rebuttal to the evidence offered by Col. William Mitchell.
Col. Mitchell's counsel, Representative Reid of Illinois, read to Gen. Ely, who is president of the war college, these words from a printed page:
"The potentialities of aircraft attack on a large scale are almost incalculable, but it is clear that such attack, owing to its crushing moral effect on a nation, may impress public opinion to the point of disarming the government and thus become decisive."
 
[[bold]] Doesn't Believe Foch. [[/bold]]
Mr. Reid asked, "Do you believe that?"
Emphatically Gen. Ely answered, "No!"
"Do you know who said it?"
"No."
"Marshal Foch!"
"All men have dreams and vision," Gen. Ely replied, "and Marshal Foch is probably not exempt."
The lawyer tried the soldier on another, reading this:
"The development of aircraft indicates that our national defense must be supplemented, if not dominated, by aviation."
The witness did not believe that, and his impatient glance and tone when he said so led Mr. Reid to ask, "You think it is absurd?"
GEN. ELY - Yes, absolutely absurd.
MR. REID - Well, that is a statement by President Coolidge.

[[bold]] Doesn't Care Who Said It. [[/bold]]
GEN. ELY - I don't care whose it it! 
Then Mr. Reid asked Gen. Ely what he thought of this one:
"An attacking force of very small size, a few thousand men, with an adequate accompaniment of bombing planes and airships could reach our shores within 40 hours, and could hold our Atlantic seaboard at their mercy, strike a terrific blow at our whole industrial district, from Pittsburgh east, striking at the very heart of the nation."
The witness did not believe it - not a word of it.
Mr. Reid: "Would you like to know by whom that statement was made?"
Gen. Ely: "No."
Mr. Reid: "It is by Secretary of War Davis."
But Gen. Ely did not change front.
"I'll say for the old boy," said Mr. Reid later, "that he's a good sport.  He wasn't born in a town named Independence for nothing."
It was Independence, Ia., he referred to.
Chicago Tribune - 12/9/25