Evening star., 1936-06-14
BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON.

As war clouds rise and darken the
skies, the attention of military leaders
turns more and more to the effective
ness of air defense and the new highly
mobile mechanical ground forces.
1t becomes increasingly evident to
military people that the italian opera
tions in Ethiopa-the terrific aerial
bombardment attacks, followed up by
the swift moving light tanks, armored
cars and mechanical batteries on the
ground-will be the rule in any major
conflict which may result from present
strained world conditions.
The cry Of the military leaders the
world over is for adequate. thoroughly
trained and instantly available air
forces and mobile ground units. The
competitive armament race stresses
these units, the paramount importance
of which is pointed out by Brig. Gen.
James e. CLANCY, assistant chief OF
the Army Air Corps.
Initial results may well be the de-
cisive factor in modern war. Gen.
Chaney holds, and the immediate
and successful employment Of an air
force and highly mobile mechanical
ground forces permits the assumption
of the initiative and paves the way for
retaining it both in the air and on the
ground"
Freedom In Air Necessary.
without freedom Of action in the
air. a belligerent is helpless in modern
war, Gen. CLANCY believes. Only
through freedom of the air can the
military commander obtain adequate
information OF the enemy and harass
the supply lines and attack and delay
the main reserves of the foe, he point
ed out. To obtain this vital freedom
of action in the air the commander
must have instantly available an air
force sufficiently strong to beat down
enemy aviation and assume and main
tain air control.
Today. according to Gen. CLANCY,
France is the strongest nation In the
air. having outstripped Great Britain
from the position she had at the close
of the World War. England, the first
nation to establish an air ministry
for the development of aviation as a
separate military arm, has retained
that form OF organization. Both
France and Italy have changed to
air ministries since the war.
I'm Japan and the United States,
Gen. Chaney said, military aviation
Is being built up as arms OF greatly
increasing importance in both the
ARMY and the Navy. This is due to
their greater geographical isolation
and to the fact that their nayies are
considered their first line Of defense"
Germany Stressed Dirigibles.
At the beginning Of the World
War. Gen. Chaney recalled, France
and England we're the strongest
bellieerents in the air. They were
the first nations to appreciate the
military possibilities of the airplane
and to prepare for its use. Germany
had concentrated her main efforts
in the development Of dirigibles, but
also had kept well abreast Of the
progress In airplane development.
Great Britain emerged from the
war as the strongest air power, with
an air ministry co-equal with the
ministries of war and navy. France
had an undersecretary Of state for
both military and naval aviation and
italy, Germany and the United States
had changed over to the separate
branch organization.
During the war period tremendous
strides had been made in developing
new types OF airplanes," says Gen.
Chaney. "Initially the observation
type only was used. Then it soon
became apparent that 1t was just as
important to prevent the enemy from
getting information as 1t was to secure
it for ones own forces. This resulted
In air fighting and the beginning Of
the pursuit airplane. Pursuit air.
planes also forced mutual protective
measures, resulting in formation
flying. They operated in flights,
squadrons and groups, facilitated the
carrying out of observation and bomb
ing missions and tried to prevent the
enemy from doing so.
"Tt1en the bombardment airplane