Evening star., 1941-01-23

LTtuOCfSfG . oLutCHtCht OClOfC tftC
House Foreign Affairs Commit
tee:
7 understand that I have beer
asked to appear before this com.
mittee to discuss tine effect of avia.
ton upon Americas position in time
of war. I believe that this effect
can be summed up briefly by saying
that our position is greatly strength.
ened for defense and greatly weak.
ened for attack,
I base this statement upon two
facts. First, that an invading army
and its supplies must still be trans
ported by sea. Second, that aviation
makes it more difficult than ever
before for a navy to approach
hostile shore.
In support of these facts, I cite
Tor the first, the minute carrying
capacity of aircraft in relation to
the weight of equipment and sup
plies required for a major expedi-
tionary force; and for the second
the experience of the British Navy
off the Norwegian coast and in the
North Sea.
I do not believe there is any
danger of an invasion of this con-
tinent, either by sea or by air, as
long as we maintain an Army, Navy
and Air Force of reasonable size
and in modern condition, and pro-
vided we establish the bases essential
for defense.
Air Force of 10000
Modern Planes Urged.
How large our Air Force should be
In actual numbers depends, OF
course, upon conditions in other
parts Of the world. Because of the
existing European crisis. I should
say that we would be wise to con-
struct as rapidly as possible total
Air Force of about 10000 thoroughly
modern fighting planes, plus re-
serves.
This number would, I believe. be
adequate to insure American security
regardless of the outcome of the
present European war. Whether our
air force should be increased or de-
creased in the more distant future
will be decided by circumstances
which we cannot now foresee But
an industry capable of building and
maintaining a 10000 plane air force
would, believe, have adequate flexi-
bility to meet any emergency with
which we might be confronted in
this hemisphere.
Accompanying this expansion of
our air force should be the construc-
tion Of aviation bases in NeWfound-
land, Canada, the West Indies, parts
of South America, Central America,
the Galapagos Islands, the Hawaiian
Islands and Alaska. Secondary bases
might be placed in parts of Green
land but, in my opinion, Greenland
is not of primary importance from
the standpoint of aviation bases.
Since many people are discussing
the possibility of an air invasion of
America, I would like permission to
bring few points to YOUR attention
in this connection. 1t is first neces-
sary to establish clearly the differ
ence between an air invasion where
troops are landed and a bombing
raid where there is no attempt to
establish a base on enemy territory
I will treat these two problems sep
arately, for they are entirely diff
ferent.
There has never been an invasion
of enemy territory by air alone. The
two outstanding examples OF what
might be called partial air in
vasion were furnished by the Ger
man occupations of Norway and
Holland. But in each Of these in
stances the landing of troops by
air was carried on simultaneously
with a ground army invasion on a
major scale. The maximum num-
ber of troops that could have been
transported and supplied by air
would have been ineffective without
the immediate support of a ground
army. If air invasion alone could
be successful, it would have been