U.S.A. AIR DEFENCE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 5 October 1925, Page 4

U.S.A. AIR DEFENCE.

TALK AND NO WORK. AN OFFICER’S CRITICISM. BY CABLE —PEES 3 ASSOCIATION —COPYRIGHT : - - NEW YORK, Oct. 2. Commander Rodgers, giving evidence before the Aircraft Inquiry Board, said that the Navy Department-insist-ed on vital changes in the defence policy were necessary, recommending a separate aviation promotion list, an aviation budget, and strong air development. He attacked the activities of the various navy boards, saying that they confined their work to talk. “I wijre out six pairs of trousers serving oh one of these boards. All they did was to talk, and then, nothing came Of our talk. ”

He advocated the upkeep of the Hawaiian fortifications, and an increase in the air forces there. There was something vitally wrong with the Navy Department, however. t It was not a matter relating to tlie recent accidents or tOi the personal efficiency of any officer of the department. The Navy was not organised on scientific principles, which tlie introduction of the airplane makes absblutely necessary. Until a new organisation was established, aircraft would- not work with the maximum of efficiency.

... NEW YORK, Oet. 2. Commander Rodgers, who was saved from the derelict seaplane which met trouble during its flight from 'Frisco to Hawaii, appearing before the Aircraft Inquiry Board at Washington, absolved the Navy Department from all blame for the failure of his Hawaiian flight, which he attributed to unfavourable wind and lower petrol mileage than estimated.' He opposed unconditionally the -proposal made by General Mitchell (Assistant Chief of the' Army Air Force) for a. unified air proposal and the creation of a separate air corps. Commander Rodgens .recommended the establishment of a. Secretary for National Defence, controlling the army and navy, the supplies by each division being administered by an Under-Secretary. He declared that the aviation problem could not be isolved without considering the entire national defence system. “It has become so complicated that' it may die from its own complications unless treated iby highly skilled physicians, unprejudiced in favour of a particular branch,'’ he added. “The history of it is that of an -airplane, which, within the last few years, has become an integral part of a ship. It is easy to imagine that within a short- time he may find that it is the most important weapon the navy has to wield.” .