Evening star., 1941-06-21
Separate Air Force

1IIIOuuCtlOn Dy SENATOR NCCdTl dIl
Of a bill to create an independent
air force. coordinate with the Army
ana Navy as arms of defense, has
served to revive a long and bitter
controversy, dating back to the
stirring days of General William
Mitchell, former head of the Army
Air Corps. The fact that many of
General Mitchells theories regarding
the Importance of air power in mod
ern warfare proved to be prophetic
has strengthened the determination
of his supporters and of others to
make vigorous fight in the present
Congress for the Stormy Petrels" pet
proposal, an aerial striking force
wholly apart from the traditional
land and sea forces.
The McCarran bill is not the only
measure on this debatable subject
! pending at the Capitol. Senator
Clark, Democrat of Missouri, is Spon-
Soring bill of his own, and three
other proposals have been introduced
in the House. Proponents of a sepa-
rate air arm reinforce long standing
arguments, based on the Mitchell
school of thought, with what they
earnestly contend is new and con-
vinCing evidence presented by de-
velOpmentS in the European war.
They point to successes scored by
Germany'S LuftWaffe and by Brit
aims Royal Air Force to prove that
wars of today and those of the future
will be won or lost in the skies-by
air forces functioning Independently
of, but in close coordination with,
mechanized troops on the ground
and naval units at sea.
Opponents of such legislation, and
they include many highly placed men
in the services as well as outside, also
refer to the LuftWaffe and the R. A. F.
in their counter arguments. While
the German air corps technically is
separate force, they say it actually
operates under the same control as
the army, just as the present Ameri-
can air and land units do. In other
words, the LuftWaffe is an integral
unit of the compact Nazi war ma
chine, under rigid control of the
high command. Our own Setup, con-
Sisting of a General Headquarters Air
Force, which is the combat organiZa-
ton, and the Army Air Corps proper,
which is the procurement and train
ing unit, are, in effect, similarly
independent of other Army branches
but similarly responsible to a central
command, the chief of staff, accord
ing to defenders of the status quo.
AS for the R. A. F., the defense points
out that criticism of the independent
system still is heard in Britain. The
most recent critic was Leslie Hore-
Belisha, who charged that the R. A.
F. failed to cooperate as it should
have with the British land and sea
forces in the battle of Crete. More
over, it is emphasized, especially in
naval circles, that the British found
it impracticable to divorce their fleet
air arm from naval control and that
operations in the Atlantic and the
Mediterranean have demonstrated
the value of maintaining an air unit
as a component part of the navy.
Possibly to offset renewed agitation
for a distinct air force, the War De-
partment is said to be preparing a
reorganization that will have the
effect of setting up virtually an in
dependent air branch within the ex-
isting Army framework. Autonomy
and prestige of the air arm would be
increased by giving the deputy chief
of staff for air full authority over
the G. H. @. Air Force and the pro-
curement and training branches and
by making him responsible only to
the chief of staff, assistant secre-
tary for air and the Secretary of
War. At present the deputy chief
of staff for air is more of a CO.
ordinating officer between the va
riouS branches of the air service
than a general director. Whether
this plan will result in the de-
feat of current efforts to obtain
action on the several legislative pro-
posals pending in Congress is uncer-
tain. Indications are that the admin
istration will oppose any drastic
statutory change in the present Air
Corps setup on the ground that it
would throw monkey wrench into
the national defense machinery at
critical time. Certainly no harm
can come, however, from an impair
tial, thoroughgoing restudy of air
strategy, tactics and administration
in the light of the emergence of air
power as a vital factor in the new
order of warfare prevailing today.
VorofionnI Aid