The rotator [June 28, 1946]

              Congress Approves Service Pay Boost Bill;
Army Abolishes Some Social Distinctions
«
•
Reforms Will Foster
Gl Dignify, Decency
Says Sec. Patterson
Twelve P o i n t s O u t l i n e d;
D i s c r i m i n a t i o n C h a r g es
Recommended By B o a rd
Twelve of fourteen recom­mendations
of Lt. Gen. James
Doolittle 's ' ' caste system'' inves­tigating
board were approved by
Secretary of War Robert P. Pat­terson,
abolishing many social
barriers between officers and en­listed
men.
Patterson admitted in his 2,500-
word report this week that certain
Army practices "need c6rrection in
the interest of fostering the dignity
and decency of the individual." He
added, however that "common s^nse"
should rule and that his action did
not mean the abolition of all off-duty
restraint upon social associa­tion
of officers and enlisted men.
Recommendations approved by
Patterson will:
1. Abolish the hand salute off
Army installations. It will be
rendered on ceremonial occasions, in
occupied territory and as an official
greeting in line of duty.
2. Allow all military personnel to
pursue normal social patterns when
off duty.
3. Improve leadership in the Army
through careful selection of officers
and their education In personnel
management.
4. Provide military personnel with
a greater sense of security and re­sponsibility.
The base"~pay raises
authorized by Congress "will help
take care of this," Patterson said,
"as will prospective changes in al­lowances"
for food, quarters and
travel."
5. Grant enlisted men accumulated
leave for terminal pay purposes on
the same basis now provided for
officers.
6. Abolish discriminatory refer­ences
to "officers and their ladies"
and "enlisted men and their wives."
7. Grant equality of enlisted men
and officers before military courts.
Patterson said this has always been
in effect.
8. Make it more difficult for high
ranking officers to get decorations.
9. Write regulations, and Instruc­tions
so they will not permit abuse
of authority. This can be attained
better through a properly trained
officers corps, he said.
10. Encourage close association
between Army officers, their men
and civilians.
11. Provide for a continuing study
of officer-enlisted man relationships.
12. Eliminate the provisions in the
officer's field manual providing dis­tinctive
uniforms, separate garrison
living quarters and absence of social
contacts between officers and men.
725th AAF Band Ends
Service Record Here
Inactlvation of 725th Air Force
Band at ORD will be effected on
June 30, according to a directive
this week from Headquarters,
AAFTC, Barksdale Field, La. The
724th Band is scheduled to remain
here after that date, however.
Personnel of the 725th are to be
transferred to the control of the
War Department and become a part
of the 106th AAF Base Unit at
ORD, without loss of present grades.
The ORD Band was listed with
several other AAF band groups
which will be discontinued this
onth.. Following inactlvation, musi-
11 equipment will be turned into
spply as surplus without any future
lonsideration of re-organizing the
725th.
During its services here, the 725th
has been detailed to play for formal
guard mount, reviews, and troop,
trains-, and shared such duties witt
the 724th Band. The soon-to-b/j-ended
725th was re-designated by
that number from the 425th Band
which served with BTC 10 prior '.to
December, 1943.
«-
AAF OVERSEAS
REPLACEMENT DEPOT q?*£e
A UNIT OF THE
AAF TRAINING COMMAND
VOL. 5. NO. 46 106th AAFBU, Greensboro, N. C, Friday, June 28,1946 FREE DISTRD3UTION
Named Deputy CO
COL. MORTON D. MAGOFFIN
. . . Air Medal With 16 Clusters
Ninth Air Force Ace Named Assistant CO;
Deputy Commander Has 85 Combat Missions
Col. Morton D. Magoffin, a graduate of the I?, S. Military Academy
and Fort Leavenworth's General Staff School, Monday assumed the newly
created position of Deputy Commanding Officer of ORD, it was revealed.
The officer, becoming second in*
command here, served as a senior
pilot with the Ninth Air Force in
Europe where he was credited with
destroying five German planes dur­ing
the war. He completed 85 mis­sions
in pursuit aircraft before being
shot down over enemy territory and
taken prisoner. Even though badly
wounded he managed to escape ten
days later and return to Allied lines.
Colonel Magoffin has the Distin­guished
Service Cross, Silver Star,
Croix De Guerre, Purple Heart,
Unit Citation, Distinguished Flying
Cross, and the Air Medal with 16
Oak Leaf Clusters. He served over­seas
nearly 22 months, some of
which was spent in Hawaii before
the war and after graduation from
West Pfllnt in 1937, Other stations
have been, respectively, Self ridge
Field, Mich., Drew Field, Tampa,
Fla., and Minter Field at Bakers-field,
Cal. While in Europe he was
assigned to air fields in both Eng­land
and France.
The colonel's wife and two daugh­ters
accompanied him here, and will
live in Greensboro during his assign­ment
at ORD. His original home is
Deerwood, Minn.
Eisenhower Slates
ORD May Transfer
Yesterday's edition of the weekly
Greensboro Democrat made public a
letter written to the local chapter
of the Disabled American Veterans
concerning the closing of ORD.
The letter, which was written by
Chief of Staff General Dwight D.
Eisenhower, stated that the* question
of relocating ORD is currently un­der
consideration in the War De­partment.
.
Complete text of the letter to the
organization i<s:
"I have your recent letter and the
resolution concerning the closing of
(Continued on Page Four)
1200 Men Ride Last
Troop Train; Travel
To Discharge Centers
"Good-byes" were being said all
over the base this week with per­manent
party enlisted men heading
for discharge centers throughout the
country on troop trains rolling from
ORD today and during the week­end.
With over 1200 men scheduled to
leave, office forces and maintenance
units at ORD where the men had
worked were slashed drastically, it
was revealed, after a ban on publici­ty
on the subject was lifted Wednes­day
by training command head­quarters
at Barksdale Field, La.
Original notice of the move of the
war department, in accordance with
previous stated policies, authorizing
commanders in the United States to
discharge as surplus non-volunteer
enlisted men with over 21 months'
•service, arrived at ORD June 11.
The Associated. Press carried the
stoy three days later with a Wash­ington
date line.
With the wave of discharges
sweeping the base, staffs at ORD
prepared to carry on their Jobs with
'reduced personnel with some curtail­ment
In activities expected. Some
sections were hit hard with the
public relatione office on the base,
for example, losing half its person­nel.
Proposed reduction in permanent
party personnel, both officers and en­listed
men was announced some
time ago. A group of offlecrs de­clared
surplus are expected to leave
before long, it was disclosed.
President's Signing
Will Momentarily
Turn Bill Into Law
Privates Will Draw $75;
Lesser Increases Go To
NCO and Officer Grades
That heavier feeling in their
wallets was practically in the
pockets of all ORD military per­sonnel
yesterday with the $50,-
000,000 pay boost bill passed
by Congress Tuesday and still
awaiting signature by President
Truman as THE ROTATOR went
to press.
ORDmen, together with the rest
of the nation's men still In uniform,
watched and "sweated out" the
long-awaited Increase as it came to
the end of a rocky trail in Washing­ton.
If the president signs the bill im­mediately,
the pay Increases will
become effective on the first day of
the month following the presidential
signature. However, if the president
delays until after July 1, the law
would not become operative until
August 1.
The measure provides for an Im­mediate
increase from 50 per cent
in the lowest enlisted rank to 10
per cent in the highest commissioned
grade. Pay increases approved are
as follows:
ON INSIDE PAGES
Features:
"On Leaving ORD"—Page 7.
"Re-enlistment Benefits to be
Discontinued"—Page 3.
"Jazz Info"—Page 6.
"GI's With Camel Caravan"
—Page 4-5
Editorial:
"Judging a Judge"—Page 2.
Letters to the Editor—Page 2.
Sports:
"Fort Jackson Tops Hawks"
—Page 8.
"Iiiti'a-mural Play-offs Under­way"—
Page 8.
"Press Box" By Pfc. Bill
Yeaple—Page 8.
"Boxing Team Shapes Up"
—Page 8.
Beat Boys Break Up
•
Grade
First --
Second
Third —
Fourth
Fifth —
Sixth —
Seventh
Enlisted Men
- Present
base pay
. „ $138
. . . 114
96
78
„ - < > ( >
-— 54
•£*" 50
App
per­centage
Proposed of in-base
pay crease
$165 20
185" 20
115 20
100 80
00 40
80 50
75 50
Commissioned Grades
Present Proposed Percent-
Pay base base age of
period pay pay Increase
First -$1,800 $2,180 20
Second — - 2,000 2,400 20
Third 2,400 2,760 15
Fourth — 3,000 8,300 10
Fifth 3,500 8,880 10
Sixth 4,000 4,400 10'
Mess Officer Explains
New Table Set-Up
ORD swung sharply back into
peacetime customs and traditions of
the service with the inauguration
Wednesday of .special tables In two
mess halls where non-commissioned
officers of the first three grades will
henceforth eat their chow.
The system will be put Into opera­tion
in all mess halls as soon as
possible, according to Maj. William
Q. Baldwin, who recently took
charge of all ORD mess facilities.
Tables have already been set up In
No. 1 and 9>.
"This is the desire of the com­manding
officer . . . it gives these
top graders prestige and makes
them realize they are non-commis-sionerl
officers," Maj, Baldwin said.
The custom is well known to old
army men but was largely forgotten
during the war when the coveted
stripes with the rockers blossomed
in astronomical figures.
Mess personnel desire to produce
the best food and service possible,
according to the major. He said
cooperation of the enlisted men will
greatly aid in accomplishing such
objectives. He also emphasized that
such practices as going through the
line with silverware in pockets of
clothing is unsanitary.
Maj. Baldwin reminded those
who complain about one slice of
bread at a time that there is a food
conservation program being en­forced
all through the army to aid
starving Europe. Men who are still
hungry may secure a second slice
by going through the line again, he
said.