Evening star., 1938-10-16

seconds previously appeared to be a
maneuUerS last week.
Down in the sand hills of the Army's
largest artillery post Fort Bragg NJ c., Of
fcers and men of two inherently opposed
but paradoxically interlocking services, air.
craft and anti-aircraft, are seeking the
answer to questions which may change the
whole future trend of our coastal defense
system.
With the cooperation of the civil pop
ulation of considerably more than one
quarter of the entire area of North Caro-
lima, the Army during the past week has
been attempting to determine through drs-
matte, widespread ground and air exercises
whether the European and Asiatic systems
of defense against aerial bombardment can
be applied in the United States.
Although the results of their work have
not yet been analyzed, officers of the two
arms are pretty generally agreed that this
country, for psychological, sociological and
geographical reasons, must devise its own
air defense methods. These methods have
been roughed out during the exercises now
nearing their close. They involve some of
the salient features of the European sy5-
tenn, such as the universal aircraft warm
ing net manned by civilians and the black
out" Unlike the European system. how
ever, operation of the net and the black
out cannot be compulsory, but must be
voluntary effort on the part of the civil
ian population.
Complete Cooperation.
That such voluntary cooperation can be
obtained from a mixed civil population ap-
parently has been determined to the COM
plete satisfaction of all concerned by the
North Carolina maneuvers Rarely in peace
times has any military organization mad
such cordial and complete cooperation
from a large cross-section of the popula-
ton as have the Coast Artillery and Air
Corps from the people of Eastern North
Carolina during the last week.
AS a result of this experience Army Of
ficers connected with the exercises are sat-
isfed that a thoroughly efficient anti-air-
craft warning net can be established along
the coasts of the United States with the
voluntary aid of civilian personnel-even
entirely unframed civilians.
While the net can be set up, the matter
of the actual defense behind the net
constitutes a tremendous problem. Modern
anti aircraft guns and methods of employ
ment represent great advances over World
War methods. Exhaustive tests, coupled
with actual combat experience in Spain
and China, lead Army officers to believe
that bombardment airplanes, up to attitudes
OF 10000 feet, must pay dearly for venturlng
into areas adequately protected with anti
aircraft artillery. They do not believe
that a bomber can survive more than 80
seconds of fire from four-gun battery
or so Shells Umpiring of Air Corps
maneuvers is based upon this assumption,
which, in turn, is based upon actual combat
experience in Spain as well as upon years
of tow target firing.
Only Six Such Regiments.
Although there are only six skeletonized
anti aircraft regiments in the United States
today-four of them now at Fort Bragg
the War Department now has Works
Progress Administration funds for the pur-
chase of 300 anti-aircraft guns of the same
type it has been employing at Fort Bragg.
BY concentrating all the anti-aircraft regi-
ments east of the Rockies, it was able
to set up six batteries of four guns each
at Bragg, just enough for the adequate
protection of single large airdrome.
The Fort Bragg exercises involved the
setting up of warning net and ground
defenses in relatively sparsely populated,
non-industrial section of the country. For
such an area they worked admirably.
The defense of vital industrial, busi-
ness and transportation center, such as
Philadelphia, however, becomes vastly more
complicated The Army now has tentative
plans for the setting up of warning net
and air-ground defenses for the conducting
of exercises along the lines of the Fort
Braggs show, probably at Philadelphia,
within the next few months.
Upon the basis of these two exercises,
it is not unlikely that the Army will under
take the preliminary details of setting up
combined civil-military warning nets for
the protection of vital areas of the Atlantic,
Pacific and Gulf coasts.
It is a little difficult for the layman to
comprehend the vast amount OF prepara-
ton which must 60 into the development
of such a net 1t also is little bewilder-
ing to find just how rapidly an aroused.
eager population like that Of Eastern North