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Part฀II 130 C H A P T E R 5 “The฀Creation฀of฀the฀Five-Engine฀ Bomber฀Has฀Completely฀Changed฀ the฀Strategy฀in฀the฀Pacific” I n฀ early฀ September,฀ while฀ still฀ in฀ Manila’s฀ Sternberg฀ Hospital฀ being฀ treated฀for฀tertiary฀malaria,฀Brig.฀Gen.฀Henry฀Clagett฀called฀his฀executive ฀officer฀at฀air฀force฀headquarters฀at฀Nielson฀Field.฀He฀demanded฀to฀ be฀shown฀the฀finished฀product฀of฀Colonel฀George’s฀efforts฀to฀prepare฀ the฀plan฀on฀air฀force฀requirements฀for฀MacArthur฀that฀he฀and฀George฀ had฀wrangled฀over฀in฀late฀August฀just฀before฀he฀turned฀himself฀in฀for฀treatment ฀at฀Sternberg. ฀฀฀฀ After฀George฀dropped฀his฀version฀of฀the฀plan฀off฀at฀the฀hospital,฀Clagett ฀went฀through฀the฀draft฀document฀and฀began฀rejecting฀sections฀specifying ฀the฀amounts฀of฀fuel฀and฀bombs฀required฀to฀attack฀particular฀targets฀ that฀Clagett฀argued฀were฀not฀of฀military฀value฀but฀George฀claimed฀were฀ of฀ potential฀ military฀ significance.฀ Forced฀ by฀ Clagett฀ to฀ revise฀ the฀ plan,฀ George฀and฀his฀S2,฀Allison฀Ind,฀found฀that฀such฀an฀alteration฀made฀only฀a฀ slight฀difference฀in฀the฀total฀amounts฀of฀bombs฀and฀fuel฀needed฀to฀carry฀ out฀the฀plan.฀George฀then฀turned฀the฀revised฀version฀over฀to฀Clagett,฀who฀ began฀to฀rewrite฀it฀entirely—despite฀his฀acknowledged฀weaknesses฀in฀literary ฀expression.฀Later,฀as฀George฀and฀Ind฀were฀going฀over฀the฀abbreviated฀ “hybrid”฀that฀Clagett฀had฀produced,฀they฀felt฀that฀“all฀the฀strength,฀conviction ,฀and฀raison฀d’être฀had฀disappeared.”฀Clagett฀had฀reluctantly฀retained฀ the฀“terrific฀totals”฀of฀aircraft฀that฀George฀had฀worked฀to฀preserve,฀but฀ had฀largely฀deleted฀the฀supporting฀rationale฀needed฀to฀justify฀them.฀To฀his฀ staff฀officers,฀neither฀MacArthur฀nor฀the฀War฀Department฀would฀be฀convinced ฀of฀the฀need฀for฀such฀a฀large฀increase฀in฀airpower฀for฀the฀“aggressive฀ defense”฀of฀the฀Philippines฀in฀the฀absence฀of฀any฀articulated฀arguments฀in฀ favor฀of฀them. ch฀5 4/2/03,฀1:04฀PM 130 Chapter฀5 131 ฀฀฀฀ Upon฀release฀from฀the฀hospital฀several฀days฀later,฀Clagett฀reported฀to฀ MacArthur’s฀headquarters฀with฀the฀revised฀version฀of฀the฀plan฀in฀hand.฀ Seated฀behind฀his฀richly฀carved฀desk,฀MacArthur฀perused฀the฀document,฀ which฀Clagett฀had฀entitled฀“Study฀of฀Air฀Force฀for฀United฀States฀Army฀ Forces฀in฀the฀Far฀East.”฀He฀did฀not฀like฀the฀presentation฀and฀announced฀ that฀he฀wanted฀to฀see฀the฀plan฀as฀George฀had฀originally฀prepared฀it. ฀฀฀฀ A฀few฀days฀after฀having฀absorbed฀the฀put-down฀by฀MacArthur,฀Clagett ฀called฀his฀executive฀officer฀to฀his฀office฀at฀Nielson฀Field฀headquarters.฀ “Hal,฀I’m฀licked!”฀he฀acknowledged฀to฀Colonel฀George.฀“They฀like฀your฀ way฀of฀putting฀it฀more฀than฀mine.”฀Clagett฀asked฀George฀to฀give฀him฀a฀ copy฀of฀the฀original฀version฀to฀submit฀to฀MacArthur.฀On฀September฀11,฀ Clagett฀sent฀the฀document฀to฀MacArthur’s฀headquarters.1 ฀฀฀฀ Just฀three฀days฀earlier,฀MacArthur฀had฀forwarded฀to฀the฀War฀Department ฀a฀study฀Clagett฀had฀submitted฀to฀him฀on฀August฀28฀that฀had฀been฀ prepared฀by฀his฀Air฀Warning฀Service฀chief,฀Col.฀Alexander฀H.฀Campbell,฀ and฀was฀considered฀complementary฀to฀the฀plan฀Clagett฀and฀George฀had฀ come฀up฀with฀for฀expanded฀airpower฀for฀USAFFE.฀Clagett฀had฀asked฀ MacArthur฀ to฀ assign฀ the฀ study,฀ entitled฀“Emergency฀Aircraft฀Warning฀ Service฀Project฀to฀Air฀Defense฀Plan,฀USAFFE,”฀a฀high฀priority.฀In฀his฀ covering฀indorsement฀dated฀September฀8,฀MacArthur฀recommended฀the฀ War฀ Department฀ approve฀ the฀ project฀ and฀ requested฀ funds฀ for฀ its฀ early฀ commencement. ฀฀฀฀ In฀the฀study,฀Campbell฀asked฀for฀sufficient฀modern฀detection฀equipment ฀and฀personnel฀to฀conduct฀round-the-clock฀operations.฀Specifically,฀ he฀wanted฀two฀SCR-270B฀mobile฀radar฀units฀and฀eleven฀SCR-271฀fixedlocation ฀units฀for฀the฀operation฀of฀the฀AWS,฀six฀of฀which฀were฀understood฀ to฀ be฀ en฀ route฀ to฀ the฀ Philippines฀ already.฀ Campbell฀ estimated฀ a฀ need฀ for฀thirty-three฀officers฀and฀882฀enlisted฀men฀to฀operate฀the฀system,฀as฀ opposed฀to฀the฀194฀that฀had฀arrived฀on฀August฀1฀assigned฀as฀the฀Air฀Warning ฀Company,฀Philippine฀Department.2 ฀฀฀฀ As฀MacArthur’s฀request฀winged฀its฀way฀to฀Washington,฀it฀crossed฀paths฀ with฀a฀report฀prepared฀by฀the฀Air฀Defense฀Board฀airmailed฀to฀MacArthur ฀on฀September฀2฀by฀the฀War฀Department฀that฀was฀to฀be฀considered฀ standard฀doctrine฀on฀the฀organization฀of฀air฀defense฀for฀the฀continental฀ United฀States฀and฀its฀overseas฀territories.฀Although฀it฀had฀not฀yet฀received฀ War฀Department฀approval,฀in฀view฀of฀the฀critical฀situation฀in฀the฀Far฀East,฀ it฀was฀being฀sent฀to฀MacArthur฀with฀a฀request฀for฀USAFFE฀to฀submit฀a฀ recommendation฀outlining฀its฀AWS฀requirements฀based฀on฀the฀tables฀of฀ organization฀included฀in฀the฀Air฀Board฀report,฀but฀taking฀into฀consideration...

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