The Pensacola journal., 1917-07-05
OURS Will. De
THE GREATEST
OF A|R FLEETS
War Department E.xerting
Every Effort to Expand
Military Aviation.
THOUSANDS OF
FLIERS TO BE BUILT
Fifty Thousand in Aircraft
Branch IF New Bill is
Passed by Congress.

Washington, July Acting in the
belief that aircraft will be one of
the most important factors in deter
mining the world war, the war depart
ment is exerting every effort toward
the expansion of the American mill
tary aviation service and the con-
struction of the great aero fleet which
it is proposed to send to Europe. In
order to construct the thousands of
fliers that will be needed for the ser
vice it is anticipated that many auto
mobile and other manufacturing
plants throughout the country will
be turned over to this use.
The construction of the American
aero fleet will be the greatest task
of it's kind ever undertaken by any
nation. The greatest difficulty is an
ticipated, however, in securing a suf-
ficient number of trained aviators to
man the machines when they are
completed.
If the new aircraft bill, carrying
an initial appropriation of S600,000,-
600 for aviation. purposes, is passed
by congress, as there is every indi-
cation it will be, the aviation section
of the signal corps viii be expanded to
almost $4,000 men within the coming
year. Of these $4,000 men it is ex-
pected that about $4,000 will be from
the ranks of the infantry arm, and
will be trained at once as pilot-ob-
servers. The greater part of the re-
mainder, it is expected, will be re-
cruited from civil life and will be put
through the regular course of tSain-
ing. ~
For the purpose of training this
great army of aviators "a training
camps will be established at a cost
of approximately $1,000,000 each.
The largest of these training schools
will be at Camp Kelly, San Antonio,
Texas. Others will be located at con-
venient points in various sections of
the country.
In charge of this huge department
of the military service is Brig. Gen
George o. Squier, who, within a year
has risen from the rank of lieutenant
colonel to brigadier general. 1t is only
a little more than year since Lieut.
Col. Squier was nominated by the
| secretary of war to be the head OF
the aviation section of the signal
corps. His attainments as an cleo
trician and mechanician and his re-
sourcefulness as a inventor made the
choice seem a natural one to men IN
the army who believe in placing ex,
perts in charge of important details
of administration.
General Squier was born in Dry
den, Mich, in 1865. He entered the
United States Military Academy
when eighteen years of age, and wa:
graduated with high honors in 1887
He studied physics while at West
Point, but later at the direction Of
the war department added to his
| scientific knowledge by course a
Johns Hopkins University, being
made a fellow at that institution II
1892.
He acted as chief signal officer OF
the third army corps during the wal
with Spain. For two years, 1900 tc
1902, during the laying of the Philip
| pine cable telegraph system, he was
in command of the cable ship Burn
side. The work of laying the cables
between the various islands Of the
| Philippines was undertaken at grea'
risk owing to the hostility of the ma
tives.
In 1912 Col. Squier was named as
military attache of the American EN-
bassy in London. He returned to the
| United States later to find that what
| he had studied at Johns Hopkins as
e theory had become a practical de-
vice.