An Incipient Mutiny by Dwight R. Messimer

Author:Dwight R. Messimer [Messimer, Dwight R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, Aviation, World War I, United States
ISBN: 9781640122123
Google: aA-5DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Published: 2020-01-01T00:57:32+00:00

15

The Reaction, 1915

Two days after Dodd and Taliaferro handed Cowan his copy of the charge and specifications, the first carbon copy arrived at Western Department headquarters in San Francisco. Lieutenant Colonel Goodier immediately added the second charge and three specifications that he had prepared in advance so that both charges would be handled together.1 Meanwhile, Cowan wrote to Lieutenant Colonel Reber, telling him what had happened.

Reber was completely unprepared for Cowan’s letter, but he quickly recovered and opened a counteroffensive. He showed Cowan’s letter to General Scriven, who took it to the chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Hugh L. Scott. The CSO wanted the chief of staff to take the case away from the Western Department and bring it to Washington. But General Scott told General Scriven that he “didn’t feel justified in taking the matter out of General Murry’s hands.”2 Reber’s first attempt to take control of the situation had failed, but he was not finished.

On 27 April Lieutenant Colonel Reber wrote to Cowan, assuring him “that this office will take care of your side of the case.” But Reber was not going to limit his efforts to simply protecting Cowan, and he assured the captain that retribution would be certain. “When the thing is over this office will take Dodd’s case in hand.”3

Reber assured Cowan that he was fully justified drawing flight pay. Reber wrote, “You need not worry, as your case is perfectly clear. You have been detailed on aviation duty, and I hold that under the law you are entitled to your increase of pay because you have been an actual flier of heavier-than-air craft while so detailed.”4

Up to this time Cowan had been sitting on his copy of the charge and was completely unaware that Dodd had mailed a second copy to General Murry in San Francisco. He hoped that his sitting on the charge would give Reber time to sidetrack it, which is exactly what the conspirators had expected and planned for. But on 30 April the Western Division adjutant, Colonel Erwin, sent a notification to Cowan that the Western Department headquarters had received a copy of the charge and specifications on 26 April, and enclosed a copy of the charge sheet. The adjutant concluded, “The Department Commander directs your prompt action in this matter.”5

Cowan replied that same day. He forwarded his original copy of the charge with an endorsement that reflected his trust that Reber had the situation well in hand. He told the department adjutant that he had spent the past week investigating the charges. He assured the adjutant that the charges were groundless by saying, “I have in my possession, and there are also on file in Washington, copies of letters showing that the facts of my drawing this pay, and the facts of my flying status, are clearly known and authorized by my superiors.” He advised the Western Department adjutant that he had asked “Lt. Col. Samuel Reber, the officer in charge of the Aviation Section, to come to this post.

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