Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

BETWEEN THE WARS
Superior Board members: left to right, Maj. Gens. Joseph T. Dickman, John L.
Hines, and William Lassiter; Col. George R. Spalding; Brig. Gen. William Burtt;
and Col. Parker Hitt
141
strongly recommend ed that the missions of aerial observation and flash and sound
ranging be located within the field artillery branch. 34
The AEF’s views on the new Army establishment were key. Following War
Department orders, military boards in France had examined the AEF experiences
with the arms and services, and the Superior Board had convened in December 1918
to reassess their findings and to incorporate their recommenda tions on organization
and tactics. The latter board completed its task in July 1919 and submitted it to
General Pershing, who subsequently relocated to Washington, D.C. Copies of the
report were unofficially in the possession of the War Department by the fall of 1919,
when Pershing was given the rank of General of the Army of the United States;
however, he did not forward the report officially until 16 June 1920. In the meantime,
the General Staff’s Organizational Section was preparing outlines for tables
34 Memo, Wm E. Sheperd, Jr., Actg CofFA, for Charles P. Summerall, 20 Dec 1918, box 17,
Summerall Papers, Ms Div, LC; War Department Annual Reports, 1:5228–338; Final Rpt, Cof Arty,
AEF, 1919, fldrs 381–86, box 41, Entry 22, RG 120, NARA; Rpt, Hero Board, 9 Dec 1918, pp. 3, 5,
12, 13, 25, FA School files; Statement of Brig Gen Lesley J. McNair, 25 Jan 1929, sub: Armament of
Artillery. . . , copy in FA School files.