The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-04-17
CONTROL OF AIR
 DECIDING FACTOR,
 IN ALL BATTLES
Generals Cropping in Dark X Until Aerial Forces Get
 Upper Hand

IF
 Paris, April 1.-The point has now been reached where once two armies having come in, contact and being anywhere aqually matched, 1t Is to be seriously doubted if a real success can be- had until the air supremacy has been gained.
 In other words, the probabilities are that the first encounter between two armies will consist of a fight between their air services in the same way that the two cavalries up to now have been the first to encounter each other.
 There is no doubt that the success Of the Central Powers in Rumania was largely influenced by the fact that the Rumanians had practically no air service with which to combat that service of, these Powers. The lighting on the French front has more than once demonstrated the. absolute necessity of air supremacy if a suc- cessful attack is to be made.
 Before an army meets that of the enemy 1t is of the utmost importance for the commander to know if pos sible, the strategical dispositions of his opponent, Without the air su- premacy, not only can he learn noth- ing of those dispositions, but also he cannot prevent that opponent from learning his. This, of course, compels him to operate at a tremendous dis SadvantRge.-
 Tn the same manner, once the arr mics have come in contact, he can neither learn the tactical dispositions of the enemy nor hide his from that enemy.
 Time is always a great factor, both in strategy and in tactics. The side which has the air supremacy can move it's troops day and night with out fear of discovery. eThe1side which lacks that supremacy can only move them by night and endeavor to hide them by day, unless all attempt at cOncealment is abandoned.
 Without air. supremacy the artillery cannot establish the correct firing da- ia for different targets, while the ene- my having air supremacy can enable its artillery to get the exact data. Thus when the action commences the artiiisry fwfHs' De hopelessly outclassed by that Of the enemy. sfS
 During the progress of an attack it is oft the utmost importance that the artillery should always know exactly where it's infantry is; that it should be able to concentrate it's fire on those points of the enemy's line which its infantry find particularly difficult to capture. This Jason can only be maintained by the air service. During the progress of an attack it Us oft the utmost importance that the iGeneral should know a tall times the positions of his troops and their var 'tous needs. This can only be done by the air service.t :. ,
 Captive balloons are largely fern- lployed for the observation of artillery fire. They are peculiarly helpless in the face of aeroplane attack. With air lsuprenacy your own ballo0ns can De protected and those of the enemy de- 'stroyed. Without it the reverse, of course. is true. and in consequence Tremendous advantage yaccrues to the enemy.
 The tremendous amount of ammu- nition used by all units in battle de- dmands considerable number of large supply depots on the battlefield and in rear of it. As all these must be supplied the roads are covered with motor conveys and the railways with trains loaded with ammunition are accumulated at alr the army bases in the rear
 One bomb successfully placed can start a series of explosions which may ed in the destruction. of the whole supply. Raids on such depots are much more likely to bring results than the ordinary raid. A Without air supremacy an army can neither make such attacks nor prevent the enemy from making them-
 As the weight carried by each ma chine increases, and as the number o1 machines possessed grows large enough to permit of raids being car- Fted out by a large number of ma- shines, it is probable that. the next war will see aeroplane raids during the mobilization period on the various mobilization points.
 The army, with air supremacy will ba able to make them, while the other wnlrneithers be able to make them r,o1 prevent their being made against it. self
 The great difficulty in coast defense has always been to know for what point the enemy's fleet of fighting ships and transports is headed This is facilitate by a long coast like ours Aerial reconnaissance, properly car. rfed out, can entirely remove this ele. ment of surprise.
 No matter what military point o1 view the matter is.examined from, the more evident siEatl3sa Asgdfsfor a large thoroughly efficient, up-to-date, con. stantly improving military aviation service in the United States 4& x,