Winged Defense: The Development and Possibilities of Modern Air Power--Economic and Military

Appendix

APPENDIX THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES CONCERNED WITH AERONAUTICS AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING This statement of the duties of the executive branches of the Government charged with aviation activities was published by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in 1924. It gives quite a good insight into the disorganization of our national aeronautics. The reader will gain a good idea of what each branch of the Government is doing with aviation, of its complication, lack of coordination and the impossibility of handling it efficiently in case of war or of developing it in time of peace. The Governnlental agencies mentioned herein are not the only ones that use aeronautics in one way or the other; practically every branch of the Government has something to do with it. There are four governmental agencies directly concerned with the use or development of aviation, namely: The Army Air Service. The Naval Bureau of Aeronautics. The Air Mail Service. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. THE ARMY AIR SERVICE The Army Air Service was established in its present form by the Army reorganization act, approved June 4, 1920, and at present functions under the control of the Secretary of War as a coordinate branch of the Army. 225 226 Appendix The functions of the Army Air Service have been classified first, as an arm of the mobile army; second, as an arm to be used against enemy aircraft in defense of all shore establishments; and third, as an arm to be used in cooperation with other arms, or alone, against enemy vessels engaged in attacks on the coast. The Chief of the Army Air Service has the rank of major general. The organization is divided into six main divisions, namely, personnel, information, training and war plans, industrial war plans, supply, and engineering. rrhe flying personnel of the Army Air Service at the present tinle is obtained by the assignment 0 f graduates fronl West Point, by the transfer of junior officers from other arms, and by appointment after examination of applicants from civil life. The Air Service has 845 officers with rating as airplane pilots, airplane observers, airship pilots, airship observers, or balloon observers. In addition about 5I enlisted men have the rating of airplane pilot, junior airplane pilot, or airship pilot. The following special stations are maintained by the Army Air Service and have the functions specified. Brooks Field, San Antonio, Tex. (the primary flying school) . Chanute Field, Rantoul, Ill. (the technical school). I(elly Field, San Antonio, Tex. (the advanced flying school) . Langley Field, Hampton, Va. (the tactical school). l\1cCook Field, Dayton, Ohio (the engineering school). Scott Field, Belleville, Ill. (the balloon and airship school). In addition there are a number of other fields occupied by tactical units which are under the immediate command of the corps area commanders in the United States and under the department commanders in Ha\vaii, the Philippine Islands, and the Canal Zone. These units are so located that at all times the ground forces of the Army may have the aerial observation cooperation so essential in their peacetime training and when engaged in hostile Appendix operations. As a small nucleus for the development of an adequate air force capable of fulfilling that part of the mission of the Army Air Service as quoted above "as an arm to be used against enenlY aircraft in defense of all shore establishments; and as an arm to be used in cooperation with other arms, or alone, against enemy vessels engaged in attacks on the coast," the Army maintains, exclusive of overseas garrisons, one bombardment, one attack, and one pursuit group at Langley, Kelly, and Selfrid;e Fields, respectively. These tactical air force units are engaged in the development and perfection of offensive and defensive aerial tactics, air strategy, and the concentrated application of tactical air power. With the limited forces available air defense maneuvers have only been possible of accomplishment on a small seale. The Army Air Service has repeatedly proved the value of aviation as a peace-time agency by successfully employing it in the following activities of a nonmilitary nature: Forest fire patrol; aerial survey and mapping; in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture in combating insect pests, such as the boll weevil and gypsy moth, and in other ways. The engineering division of the Air Service at McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, carries on engineering experiments covering the development of airplanes, engines, armament, materials, instrunlents, parachutes, studies of design possibilities , night flying equipnlent, etc. Briefly...