Evening star., 1940-10-26
5hake.upCreates
New and Powerful
6. H. O. Air Force
Gen. Arnold Is Made
Deputy Chief Of Stoff
For Army Aviation
By JOSEPH S. EDGERTON.

BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON.
Creation of All aerial striking force
ranking in command status with a
field army, under command of its
own lieutenant general, divorced
from the Army Air Corps and sub
ject only to the general control of
the recently created combat gen.
eral headquarters of the Army, has
been ordered by the War Depart
ment.
The new striking force, operat-
Ing as general headquarters air
force, is expected to be the most
powerful air weapon yet envisloned
by American defense plans 1t is
being organized to meet the re-
Quirements not only of national but
also of hemisphere defense.
In the most thoroughgoing shake
UP of its military air forces since
the Warld War the War Depart
ment also created the post of an
aviation deputy chief of staff in7the
War Department General Staff and
reorganized the Air Corps training
procedure.
Gen. Arnold Is Made Deputy.
Mai. Gen. Henry H. Arnold. chief
OF the Army All Corps, was assigned
to the newly created post of deputy
chief of staff with the duties of
co-ordinating all matters pertaining
to the Air Corps.
Maj Gen. George H. Brett, now
assistant chief of the Air Corps, has
been designated acting chief of the
Air Corps to succeed Gen. Arnold.
He takes over not only all the
former duties of Gen. Arnold but
also the added duties of training
the combat crews for G. H. @. Air
Force, formerly a function of the
Air Force itself.
The result of these moves is to
set up the G. H. @. All Force as
a combat force pure and simple. with
no other duties or responsibilities
than those of a technical fighting
force, a move which is regarded as
a separate air force as the United
States is likely to see during the
current emergency.
Maj. Gen. Delos c. Emmons. COM
mander of the G. H. @. Air Force,
will be advanced in rank to lieu
tenant general to command the
new air combat force-the first air
officer in history to attain such a
rank
The advancement of Gen. En-
mons will place the G. H. @. Air
Force on the same status as the
four field armies which are being
created, A field army is the largest
fighting unit provided in American
military organization, being COM
posed Of two or more corps.
Headquarters at Boiling Field.
Gen. Emmons will establish his
headquarters at Boiling Field as
soon as adequate housing facilities
can be provided. A $685. $50 con-
struction program will be under
taken at once at the new local Army
Field, on which the original con-
struction program still is in progress.
1IlC llC" IOllolL NIIIoIl. Al
ton to a G. H. @ Air Force build
Ing. will include five administration
buildings, a training building, post
hospital, recreation building. ware
house and II barracks buildings to
house So men each. The existing
concrete runway system also is to
be extended. The main runway,
with a length of more than a mile
and a half. will be one of the long
est paved military runways in the
country.
Headquarters and the Headquar-
ters Squadron of the G. H. @. Air
Force will be moved here from Lang
ley Field, Va, as soon as possible.
The new reorganization plan be-
came necessary because of rapid eX-
pansion OF the Army Air Force, the
tremendously increasing burden OF
detail both in the Air Corps and
the c.. H @. Air Force as result
OF the aircraft production and train
ing programs and the development
OF tremendous fighting force Oh
q constantly ready status and the
necessity for possible prompt action
to defend the United States and the
Western Hemisphere
Far More Flexible.
The G. H. @. Air Force will be-
come a far more independent and
flexible fighting organization than
is the present G. H. @. Air Force,
which was organized some years
ago. The G.. H. @. Air Force has
had the duty in recent years OF
training its own combat crews,
function formerly carried on by the
Air Corps at Kelly Field, Tex, the
Air Corps training center.
! Under the reorganization this
function will be returned to the
Air Corps. The G. H. @. Air Force
will receive only trained combat
crews ready to take their places in
the tactical squadrons-a change re-
garded as of the utmost Importance
in the building up of an aggressive,
hard-hitting force capable of NOV
ing on a days notice to any part
of the hemisphere and going into
action Immediately on arrival.
Announcement OF the reorganiza-
'tion followed closely upon the War
Department announcement Thurs
day that the present number Of
combat groups in the Army Air
Force will be doubled, and that four
air districts will be set up in the
United States. The present four
Air Force wings-a wing is an Or
ganization composed of two or more
groups and corresponds, roughly
with regiment of ground troops
are to be expanded to II wings in
the Continental United States as
rapidly as trained personnel and
equipment can be made available
"a Combat Groups Planned.
The Air Force will be expanded
within the Continental United
States from Is to 54 combat groups.
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