The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-04-09
DIV Cantain Henrv ]. ReillY

(By Captain Henry j. Reilly.
OF the many developments during
the present war, nothing has edualed
that Of aviation. When the war began
the various aviation services. by COM
parison with what they are now,
numbers Of machines, numbers OF
aviators, the character Of flights, and
the various uses to which these SER
vices are now put daily.
This rapid development Is still go
ing on. Greater than the fact that the
aircraft now daily perform duties
hardly thought of prior to the war Is
the one that any slackening in the de-
velopment Of the material used in.
evitably leads to falling behind the
enemy.
Must Work Constantly.
The designers and builders must be
constantly at work on improvements,
or the aviators at the front will soon
find themselves in machines inferior
to those Of the enemy, and therefore
unable to maintain the air superiority
IL they have it, or to obtain 1t II they
have not.
The same evil will result If the num-
Der Of machines, with. Of course, the
number of pilots and observers, Is not
constantly increased.
Into Various Branches y
In the beginning Of the war the few
aviators belonging to each army tried
to perform in a general way the vari-
Gus duties assigned them. -
AS the war progressed, and not only
the value but the downright necessity
for the continued use of aircraft be-
came evident, 1t was soon seen that
the service would have to be divided
into various branches, depending upon
the duty to be performed, and that
these various duties demanded various
types of machines, and frequently Q
variation in the training of some OF
the personnel manning them.
Each Nation Has Thousands.
Under normal conditions most, IL
not all, Of these various duties are be-
part Of the long line on which the
troops of the contending powers face
each other but on all parts.
The number OF machines and pilots
possessed by each power Is not, or
course, published. However, 1t can be
readily seen that the figure for any
one great power easily mounts into
the thousands.
The month of September. in which
the fighting, was heavy, saw the fall
OF 100 of these. When 1t 10 consider
ed that aside from these normal losses
in material which have to be made
good and the introduction Of a new
and better type Of machine means the
prompt replacement of q large part
Of the material some idea can be gain
ed of the tremendous construction
which must go on at all times behind
the lines.
Factories Must Be Defended.
AS the power of aircraft increases
the raids are carried further and fur
Their into enemy territory. This means
that all important factories, depots
and cities back Of the zone OF the
armies must have aircraft defense.
The number used for defensive pur-
poses at the various points in danger
of being raided must, therefore, also
The increase in the number
Of machines and the making good OF
casualties demands considerable In
crease in the number OF pilots ana
other personnel.
The various duties to be performed
by the personnel require the estab-
Iishment of schools in which the care
Full training necessary can be had.
These schools, Of course, must have
instructors. mechanics ana
other personnel.
Separate Branch OF Services
AT the present TINE IN Inc <AknotA
can army the aviation service. which
has but few machines and q small
number Of pilots, is merely branch
Of the signal corps. one OF the auxil-
larry services Of the army. To bring
Il up to the point Of the French, Grit
sh or German aviation service would
require an immense increase In ma
terial and personnel.
Should we take their present status
"A the standard to be struggled Tor.
we would find ourselves on reaching
& still far behind, because these SER
vices are going to continue their de-
until the end OF the war,
and whatever point they will have
reached at that time will merely be
considered the starting point for their
development in preparation for the
next war.
should Go Far Ahead.
In other words, IL we are to have an
aviation service which will put US on
I par with the great powers. we should
start Immediately to build up SER
vice which with respect to amount of
material, numbers Of personnel and
Of better types OF ma
chimes is considerably in excess of
anything now in existence.