Boss of Morale

With one of the most unusual appointments of World War II, Franklin Roosevelt last week tackled the problem of Army morale (see p. 30).

To the exalted rank of Brigadier General and the responsible job of heading up the Morale Branch of the War Department, he named a civilian who had never served in the Army. The new general was moose-tall (6 feet 8), 52-year-old Frederick Osborn, Manhattan broker.

Succeeding ailing Brigadier General James A. Ulio, the tallest general in the Army has plenty of background for his job of dealing with soldiers and looking after their wants, recreational and otherwise. In World War I he headed U.S. Red Cross activities in France for a year. Since last January he has been the top civilian of a War Department committee charged with handling recreation and welfare problems for the Army.

Said Moraleman Osborn after the news of his appointment had been sprung on him, "I'm not a military man." Many a military man suspected that for the job he was to take, that might be a positive recommendation.

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