Army And Navy: Airmen Up

Seven Navy air captains were nominated last week for rear admirals’ flags and the right to command capital-ship task forces. This is a job few air admirals have performed, although most World War II sea battles have been air-dominated. The new admirals:

Short, quiet Albert (“Putty”) Reid (who piloted the famed NC4 across the Atlantic in 1919) will head the Technical Training Command. Heavy, greying Elliott Buckmaster (who skippered the carrier Yorktown to her last hours at Midway) will run the Primary Air Training Command. Stocky Alfred Montgomery probably will get the Intermediate Air Training Command. To unnamed jobs went De Witt (“Duke”) Ramsey, Arthur Davis, Charles Mason and Frank Wagner (who commanded Patwing Ten in early Pacific battles).

The nominations gave belated, deserved recognition to Navy airmen. But one sore spot remained: career airmen do not yet have a satisfactory place on COMINCH. Ernest King’s staff, hence have little to say in the Navy’s grand strategy.