Army & Navy: Shaking Down the Stars

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An embarrassing phase of postwar surplus disposal was well under way last week. By year's end, said the Army, about 500 generals will be retired from service or reduced to subastral rank. From the war's constellation of 1,540 generals, about 1,000 will be shaken out by next July. Many of them had distinguished themselves in war, but peace and demobilization had left them with little or nothing to do.

Some of them were stepping down voluntarily. Others would be sifted out by annual physical examinations, which were suspended for officers during the war. To the majority, who wanted to hold on to their stars, the Army was sending a polite, profuse letter: "My dear General"—advising some that they were going to be reduced to their permanent rank, some that they were going to be retired.

Many crack officers would be gone by year's end. Soon to go was energetic, ambitious, 53-year-old Brehon B. Somervell, who as chief of the Army Service Forces ran history's greatest supply job. Already back in civilian life was Lieut. General William Knudsen, the War Department's tireless coordinator and trouble shooter on war industry's production line.

Others going or gone: 66-year-old Lieut. General Ben ("Yoo-hoo") Lear, who fought in the Spanish-American war, onetime chief of the Army Ground Forces; Major General Charles P. Gross, director of the Army's complex and titanic transportation during the last three years of the war; Lieut. General Jimmy Doolittle, famed wartime chief of the Eighth Air Force (see PEOPLE).

"My Dear Admiral." The Navy also had a form letter. It let "My dear Admiral" down with a gentler bump. Sent last month to all of the 369 flag officers still on active duty, the Navy's letter simply asked (for guidance in future planning) if the admiral wanted to retire—please reply. Of those who had replied by last week, only 16 said they wanted to get out. Among them were Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey (see above); 62-year-old Admiral Royal E. Ingersoll, commander of the Atlantic Fleet throughout most of the war; hardboiled Admiral Emory S. Land, for seven years head of the Maritime Commission.

Nevertheless, the Navy's stars will also be rapidly thinned out. Scheduled to go by year's end are 51 admirals who were recalled to duty after they had already been retired. The Navy hopes by next June to reduce its flag roster from the peak of 400 to 228.

The Marine Corps had made no definite plans. Of the 81 generals it had at peak strength, only eight have been retired and only two more are scheduled to go.