From a Report of Brigadier General George Richards, U. S. Marine Corps, to the Major General Commandant
The Marine Corps paymasters on duty in Nicaragua have been confronted with an old problem: how to deliver money promptly to scattered detachments in isolated localities, where the ordinary means of communication are difficult and dangerous, and sometimes next to impossible. Obviously, the men must be paid promptly or their morale and military efficiency, difficult to maintain in such places anyway, would suffer. It was clearly the duty of the officers in command to devise effective, even if unusual, methods of meeting the scheduled pay days. This they accomplished by "bombing" their outlying patrols and stations, not with TNT but with currency. The method was suggested by Captain Joseph G. Ward, assistant paymaster, U. S. Marine Corps, in 1927, and was approved by the officer in command of troops. It has since been continued with success in all localities where the necessity for it exists. The method was instituted without authority from the Marine Corps Headquarters; in fact it is to be doubted if a blanket authorization could have been given legally. However, its justification rests in military necessity, which is sometimes superior to law and regulation.
When funds are ready for delivery, the paymaster concerned ascertains from the operations officer of the aircraft squadron when an air patrol is scheduled to cover the stations for which the payments are intended. The packages containing the currency are then delivered to the flying field, receipts being given by the operations officer if in Managua, otherwise by the pilot. The operations officer keeps a record of all money-drops. The packages are accepted by the pilots for delivery at the sender's risk.
No guards accompany the plane, but a two-plane patrol is chosen if possible. Stations make their identity known to the pilots by panel, the air liaison ground code governing the methods of communication between station and plane. If in doubt as to identity, the pilot first drops a message. The packages of currency are then tied to dropping sticks, one inch square by fifteen inches long, with a cloth streamer. The plane flies within a few feet of the panel and drops the package, which ordinarily lands within ten feet of the mark. The ground unit then displays the HY panel, which acknowledges receipt of the money.
Public funds from paymasters on duty outside of Managua are accepted by any air patrols that chance to land near their headquarters. This money, if not delivered the same day, is turned over to the operations officer of the aircraft squadron in Managua for delivery by the next patrol. Because of the great amount of necessary flying, special requests for the delivery of funds have been kept at a minimum, but the closest cooperation has always prevailed between the paymaster's department and the aircraft squadrons.
Approximately seventy such deliveries have been handled during each of the past eight months. In two and one-half years more than $1,500,000 has been successfully transported by airplane, with no loss whatsoever. This constitutes a unique record, made possible by the excellent cooperation between the various units of the Marine Corps in Nicaragua. It is believed that nowhere else has such a method been so extensively employed.