ARMED FORCES: Obvious Candidate

Last July Captain Hyman George Rickover, brilliant expediter of the atomic submarine, was passed over for promotion to rear admiral. He seemed headed for mandatory retirement at the relatively early age of 53.

Last week the Senate Armed Services Committee held up promotion of 39 other captains until the Navy explained the Rickover case. The Administration, meanwhile, had also become concerned. This week Navy Secretary Robert Anderson announced that a specially instructed Navy selection board would choose one new rear admiral “qualified in the field of atomic propulsive machinery for ships.” The obvious candidate: Hyman George Rickover.