TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/caps/20s/20mitche

Text File | 1992-09-25 | 5.4 KB | 125 lines

                                                                                General William A. Mitchell


(FEBRUARY 9, 1925)

  Brigadier-General William A. Mitchell, Assistant Chief of the
Army Air Service, is the most picturesque figure the service
contains--and it has many a striking personality in its ranks.
Aged 45, possessor of an independent fortune, and an entree to
all Washington society, a splendid horseman, General Mitchell
is the 20th Century equivalent of the "beau sabreur" of
Napoleon's time.

  One of the first officers in the Army to take up aviation,
Mitchell has gone from triumph to triumph, has made a remarkable
record as an air tactician with the A.E.F. He is just the
energetic, somewhat impetuous partner that his more reflective
chief, General Patrick, needs. The U.S. Air Service may be
reckoned as extremely fortunate that both its chief executives
are practical flyers.

  General Mitchell loves an argument with men in an office as
much as he does a fight with the elements in the air. And he is
certainly having a scrap with his friendly enemies of the Navy
Department. The General, after a thorough study of the workings
of the British Air Ministry, is a strong proponent of a United
Air Service as likely to avoid duplication of effort and to lead
to a stronger and more effective air defense for the U.S. His
testimony before the House Committee of Inquiry into the Air
Services, his articles in the Saturday Evening Post and other
statements are being bitterly attacked at the moment by the
Secretary of the Navy himself, by Admiral Moffett, Chief of the
Bureau of Aeronautics and other Navy authorities.


(MARCH 16, 1925)

  Lieutenant Colonel James E. Fechet was nominated to succeed
General Mitchell as Assistant Chief of the Army Air Service.
Inasmuch as the temporary rank of Brigadier General attaches to
this post, it means that General Mitchell will be reduced to his
permanent rank of Colonel. This action was expected because of
General Mitchell's repeated criticisms of his superior officers
in connection with his demand for a united Air Force.


(SEPTEMBER 21, 1925)

  A stir was made and the seething has not yet subsided. The
stirrer was Colonel William Mitchell who two weeks ago denounced
the "incompetency, criminal negligence and almost treasonable
administration of the national defense," by high officers of the
army and the Navy; and pointed his remarks by references to the
Shenandoah disaster, the attempted flight to Hawaii, the
MacMillan expedition, etc.

  Of course many factions and many feelings were stirred up.
High officials of the Army and Navy were angered by his language
toward them. Some congressmen were aroused to a feeling that
something must be done to revamp our national defense. The
public and the politicians all viewed with alarm one aspect or
another of the Mitchell statement.

  It was undoubtedly only a matter of time until some action
would be taken in Government circles. Last week the action
began:

  1) The War Department undertook an investigation of Colonel
Mitchell's statement with a view to court-martialing him.

  2) Acting Secretary of War Dwight F. Davis was in favor of
another separate investigation into Colonel Mitchell's charges
against the War and Navy Departments, holding that those
departments had no right to investigate themselves.


(NOVEMBER 2, 1925)

  "The biggest court martial in U.S. military history,"
exclaimed the effusive spokesmen of quantity and magnitude last
week with reference to the trial of Colonel William Mitchell
about to begin. There was much in what they said. The court
martial of Benedict Arnold in 1779-80, which resulted in a mild
reprimand from General Washington, was not so sensational as the
treason which followed it. The trial of Aaron Burr for treason
was perhaps of equal national interest, but it was not a
military trial but a trial before the U.S. Circuit Court at
Richmond. The nearest parallel to the Mitchell trial is probably
the Court of Inquiry in 1901 into the conduct of Commodore
Winfield Scott Schley in the Spanish-American War.

  Notice of eight charges was served on Colonel Mitchell last
week, accusing him of "conduct to the prejudice of good order
and military discipline," making a "statement highly
contemptuous and disrespectful" to the War Department and to
the Navy Department "with intent to discredit the same."


(DECEMBER 28, 1925)

  "The Court is ready to make an announcement, and it is desired
that there be no demonstration of any kind."

  He then read a verdict:

  "The Court, upon secret, written ballot, two-thirds of the
members present at the time the vote was taken concurring in
each finding of guilty, finds the accused guilty of all
specifications and of the charge.

  "Upon secret written ballot of the Court sentences the accused
to be suspended from rank, command and duty, with forfeiture of
all pay and allowances, for five years.

  "The Court is thus lenient because of the military record of
the accused during the World War, two-thirds of the members
present at the time the vote was taken concurring."

  Colonel William Mitchell was found guilty of conduct "to the
prejudice of good order and military discipline" for his
statements criticizing the War and Navy Departments made in
September after the Shenandoah disaster and the failure of the
Hawaiian flight.