Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-23
AIR GROUND FORCE TESTED.
BY JOSEPH s. EDGERToN.
star Correspondent OF The Star

HEADQUARTERS LIST AIR DIVI-
SION, mitchell FIELD, N. Y, May 20
R).--The last great element Of doubt in
the operation of the Nations aerial de-
lenses was removed by the brilliant sue
cess Of the Army Air Corps yesterday
in transferring 672 planes Of the LIST
Air Division within a few brief hours
from the Midwest to the Atlantic sea-
coast
Within a span Of "a hours the great
air force moved from Chicago across
the farming land of Indiana and Ohio
TO Fairfield Air Depot, near Dayton,
and then weathered the severe trial of
mass movement with stop-watch pre-
cis1on across the Justly feared Allegheny
ranges, Waterloo Of many splendid
pilots.
The movement Of the great air d.
vision, largest air force ever organized
as unit in the world. over a distance
OF more than 1000 miles, the average
distance Travelled by the squadrons, is a
source OF intense qualification to the
ranking of1cers for many reasons.
Ground Organization Test.
The most important lesson of the
movement Is that the last link in the
chair of aerial defense, never before
fairly put to the test, has been strained
10 the utmost and has not yielded. The
link which has been so sorely tried and
found worthy is the ground organi-
cation Of the Air Corps
Never before have we had an op-
portunity to test out thoroughly cur
ground organization" explained Brig.
Gen. Benjamin D. Foulois, commander
OF the division, whose handling Of the
movement from Chicago to the seacoast
VIII rank as one Of the greatest peace
time successes of the Air Corps Pre-
vious maneuyers have been aimed en-
tirely at the development Of the tacti-
cal units. They have been held for
the training Of our pilots in organized
operation and military strategy.
Test SpIendidIy Stood.
To-day the ground organization of
the Air Corps, upon which we must
depend for the success Of any large
military operation, has stood its first
great test splendidly. Every plane of
the division has completed the move
ment across the mountain and seaboard
| States on schedule. Theories Of ground
management, which in the past have
been worked out only on paper, have
worked IN practice at time when any
| slip would have spoiled the chances
force"
| Upon the shoulders of those respon-
sible for ground handling Of the force
rested the burden Of refueling every
plane Of the division one or more times
en- route, entailing the handling of tens
/ OF thousands Of gallons Of gasoline and
| oil, the supervision of landing and
/ clearance of hundreds Of planes on
! fast schedule, the maintenance Of COM
munications by radio and other methods
Tor the checking Of operations along a
score OF atrways and the checking OF
planes Tor maintenance purposes at in
| termediate points.
Mountains Weary Pilots.
The movement across the mountain.
left a majority Of the pilots thoroughly
weary after several days Of intensive
operations, involving many hours Of
nylng daily, and this was reflected ir
Inc landings at the fields around New
York, which were more ragged as !
+! general rule than at any OF the point,
so far visited by the various sn,iadrons
The ofncers and men have been on {
rigorous schedule, and their lot has no
been made any easier by the decision
OF the War Department TO inject
large-scaie military problem into tht
program.
Because Of adverse weather the pilot,
nave lost day set aside here for res
and maintenance Of the planes and
after hard schedule for today. ar.
under orders TO move into New England
tomorrow. One of the purposes Of tn,
maneuyers was to test the stamina o
personnel aHd materiel and In this di.
rectlon u appears that results are beinl