Evening star., 1939-06-25

Faced with the necessity, If America
is to escape the potential aerial menace
Of expansionist nations, of establishing
an airplane-tight quarantine from mid
Atlantic to the mid-Paciflc and from
below the equator into the frozen arctic,
Congress now is hammering into shape
supplemental military appropriation
bill to provide funds for the new defense
program.
The supplemental measure contains
more than s25l 10000 for the Array
Air Corps out of total of 1892 sos 574
recommended by the House Appropria-
tons Committee. The only other large
items are $27 900 900 for increasing the
defenses of the Panama Canal and $l4,-
100000 for educational orders to indus
trial concerns which in case OF war would
produce specialized, non commercial mil
itary equipment.
More fortunate than any other major
nation today, the United States rests
secure behind two great oceans, too wide
for any sustained direct aerial attack
from Europe or Asia. The major aim
OF our defense policy, therefore, is to
prevent the possibility of an enemy es-
tablishing an air base, ashore or afloat.
within feasible bombing range of our
shores or vital outlying establishments,
chief OF them the Panama Canal.
Canal Is Vital Point.
To gain security We must be constantly
prepared for instant military action to
deny to any potential enemy the ability
OF establishing an air or naval base
within the effective range of modern
heavy bombardment airplanes or those
likely to be developed in the future. Par
ticularly must We safeguard the integrity
of the Panama Canal Since our security
depends upon preventing any possible
attack coming from across the oceans
either on the surface or in the air, our
Navy, as well as our air force, must be
given complete freedom of movement at
all times. This means not only that the
Panama Canal must remain always open
but that we must have an independent
air force adequate to safeguard attacks
from either ocean while our Navy is en-
gagged in the other i.
These are the factors behind our pres
ent' military expansion program. The
size OF the Navy and of the air force
we are building is dictated by these
needs. The goal set for our Army
Is determined by the need for ground
troops to protect exposed naval and air
bases and to beat off any landing force
which might slip through the naval and
air net.
These goals, it is pointed out by mill
tary authorities, are purely defensive.
Yet, because Of the tremendously in
creasing effectiveness of air power, our
defensive policy must include prepara-
tions for military action far removed
from the shores Of the United States
and Its territories. In this respect, our
policy contains features entirely new in
American military history.
Bases to Be Far-Flung
Congress, in the present supplemental
bill, finds itself passing upon appropria-
ton items for the establishment Of mill
tary and air bases in tropical Puerto
Rico and sub-Arctic Alaska-proposi-
tions which would have dumfounded the
legislators of few years ago. Yet these
remote bases, together with those in
Hawaii and at Panama, are minimum
requirements for our security In a world
in which treaties mean nothing to some
aggressors and in which international
boundaries shift, break and disappear
before the thrusts Of dictator nations.
Air attacks cannot be beaten off at
the coast line or at the three-mile limit.
Once launched at short range a large
scale bombing raid, If pushed with de-
termination, is almost certain to be
successful to some extent. To assure
safety, bombing raids must be prevented
from starting at short range-and short
range today is anything less than 500
miles, according to the military
authorities.
Here is the theory behind our new
policy Of hemisphere" defense-the
policy upon which our Navy, our air
force and our Army are being built to-
day. Some authorities hold that we
should be ready today to prevent by
direct military action If necessary the
establishment OF any potential enemy
air base between the northeast shoulder
Of Africa and the islands Of the West
Pacific between the jungle Of the