Keep 'Em Flying

The recent announcement that Harvard would be one of the AFROTC units to be dissolved in 1957 aroused consternation in many students and faculty members connected with the program here. But the move, unpredictable as it was, should have caused no surprise among those connected with Harvard's Air Force training program; it represents the culmination of a series of arbitrary Air Force maneuvers.

The action results from the current economy drive by all the armed services. Claiming that the College's unit is uneconomically small, the Air Force decided to do away with the program. The rationale behind the maneuver, however, cannot be presented solely in terms of economy; for the AFROTC's stake in the Harvard program transcends money alone. Not only the crying need for additional younger fliers, but the vast potential influence of the Harvard unit, make it essential that the Pentagon reconsider the new policy, ensuring that it does not lose more than it grains by dissolving the local unit.

This policy is the latest Air Force which in the past has made the unit here both unpopular and unpopulated. In the spring of 1954, the service informed the Harvard AFROTC that all seniors who would not fly, could not be commissioned. Students in the administrative program, despite heated protests to Washington, received slight compensation: opportunities to serve in the Air National Guard. This move, unjust as it was, caused a rapid drop in the enrollment of the College's unit until, by this fall, AFROTC was the smallest of the three services here.

The underpopulation caused the Pentagon to warn the Harvard unit that it must enroll more students or suffer termination. Taking the ultimatum to heart, Harvard officers began a vigorous proselytizing campaign which substantially refilled the Air Force's ranks. They attracted 37 freshmen, all of whom desired flight training. But, despite the increase, the Pentagon decided to evict the local unit in 1957.

Like 1954's announcement, the recent decree drew protest from both students and officers. Cadets are currently meeting in Shannon Hall, to draw up a request asking the Pentagon to rescind the order. I their petition is to have any effect in Washington, it will require official University endorsement. The University should grant this, not only out of consideration for its own students, but also from concern for the national defense policy. And if the College can make any contribution to this policy, the Air Force should consider its move and keep AFROTC at Harvard.