The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-03-11
Maintenance of Superior Force Only Defense to Be
 Relied Upon by Country in Case of Foreign Invasion,
 General Patrick Declares HIGH ARMY OFFICER IS |SQUADRON'S GUEST HERE
Commercial Planes to Have
 Efficient Schedules in Few Years, Major General Says.
 Comments Birmingham Men for Aid to Guard Unit


 Victors of the air will dictate peace sn the ground in the future wars of he world, Maj. Gen. Mason M. Patrick, chief of the air service of he United States army, declared to % officers of the regular army, na- tional guard, and officers, reserve corps gathered Saturday afternoon at lt luncheon given in his honor at the Irutwiler hotel by the 135th Obser- ration Squadron, Alabama national guard.
 There are some organizations who say there will be no more wars," ieneral Patrick said,. but we must prepare by having trained men and modern equipment with which to 'arry on the work. The only defense Which America can rely on in the uture is the maintenance of an air orce superior to that of any other nation, with better equipped planes Iand military aviators of the same
 
 he air service during the World var.
 We can rely on the safety of the astern and western coasts of the country should America ever be at acked by an enemy, only through paving an efficient and organized orec of the air.
 hax Ia h, he war department appropriate suf- lcient funds for continuance of the work planned by the air service, but what they have given has not been sufficient to allow advances in air science to the point where America .an compete with other nations of he world for the supremacy of the air. At the present time there are only IT squadrons in the United States, while France has 220 and England 79. The French govern ment allows each commercial air line T certain figure for each plane pur- chased. every passenger carried, and on each pound of freight the lines carry.
 "lhe 135th Observation Squadron has helped me very much in the fur ,herance of my work, but 1 have
  all squadrons l would like to. It has always been my desire to have ssquadron in each of the larger cities of'the country"
 Predicts Commercial Stride.
 He predicted that within the next Few years commercial planes will be Flying on schedules that will meet {the requirements of business men and that rapid strides will be made by the air mail service which will speed up deliveries. Birmingham IS very fortunate in having the far sightedness to obtan a landing field for the 135th squadron, he said. General Patrick stated that until recently every record of the air for Ilistance, height, endurance and speed was held, by the United States air service, but that the governmenU was not making these for the glory or honor. but to find out what the different types of aircraft could do lin such cases, also to determine the ordeals aviators contended with in such experiments. He remarked that if the United States had planes equal to those now in use and Germany the same planes she fought with in the war, force of 50 American planes
  man air force.
 Of the national guard, regular hrmy and the organized reserve and three components of the army, the regulars are so small that they can only be used in cases of minor emer- rcncy. On the national guard and line organized reserve will fall the |brunt should there be another war in which America is forced to par- 3ticipate, the general stated.
 General Patrick and his escort of three planes from Maxwell Field landed at Roberts Field at 10:55 o'clock Saturday morning. flying kfrom Montgomery in 55 minutes. Capt. Lst. Clair Street. aide to the general. who commanded the recent flying expedition to Alaska, piloted the gen. erals plane Major Roy $. Brown, comn,a nding officer of the 22d squad ron at Maxwell Field. and Lieuts. Leslie r. Arnold and l.. Ponton deArce. were in command of the twQ other planes.
 Following the landing, General Patrick conducted a short inspection of the planes and equipment or the Birmingham squadron. He was ac- companied by Major James A. Meiss- ner, commanding the lS5th sQuad- ron, and Capt. Asa DuncaH' 6o'ei"- ment instructor.
 After the luncheon, the general marty made a tour of the steel mills at Ensley and repaired to the field at 3.3O o'clock. The party left for Montgomery at 3:45 o'clock. General Patrick will leave Montgomery sun day fer Washington
 
 WILL MEET TO ORGANIZE