Evening star., 1948-09-18
The USAF in Ominous Days

Today the United States Air Force marks
it's first birthday as an autonomous service
coequal with the Army and Navy. The
event comes at such somber, tense and
explosive moment in world affairs that 1t
can be "celebrated" only in the sense OF
being observed as a grim reminder to all
of us that our survival as free Nation de-
pends largely on our strength in the skies.
When it was established forty-one years
ago as a special division of the Signal
Corps, American military aviation-Staffed
by one officer and two enlisted men-was
merely a novelty which few people took
very seriously. Even in the First World
War-during which it grew into an organi-
zation of 1876 900 officers and men-the sig
nifcance of it's potentialities seemed strict
ly limited Not until the struggle with the
Axis did the fearsome meaning and scope
of air power become clear to everybody
everywhere.
At the height of that struggle, the USAF
then known as the Army Air Forces
was made up of scores of thousands OF
planes and more than 2,400, 900 officers and
men. The most magnificent and formi-
dable instrument of its kind in history,
it proved, together with its superb naval
counterpart, that warfare had been pro-
foundly revolutionized by air power. II We
and our Allies had lacked that new and
decisive weapon, or if our Axis enemies had
possessed 1t in much greater quantity or
quality, there is reason to believe we might
today be the vanquished instead OF the
victors.
OF course, as far as the foreseeable fu-
ture Is concerned, 1t would be reckless
mistake to suppose that air power has
pretty much done away with the need for
ground armies or surface and subsurface
fleets, including carrier task forces. Never
theless, with atomic weapons, Jet propul-
sion, supersonic flight, intercontinental
guided missiles and kindred actual and po-
tential developments, our USAF unques-
tionably has become the key element, the
overshadowing element, in our National
Military Establishment. AS such-particu-
larly In period as uncertain and danger
Gus as the present world crisis-it must be
kept as strong and up-to-the-m as
possible. There can be no question about
that. 1t is security imperative requiring
not merely enough being to
cope with the initial phases of any sud
den emergency but also powerful trained
reserve, vigorous aviation industry, and
unremitting research and experimental
ton.
At the moment, with it's new 70-group
program, the USAF is just beginning to
get back on it's feet after having been
knocked to pieces by our headlong demo-
bilization after VI day. The recovery can
not be made too fast. With Soviet actions
growing more ominous every day in vir-
tually all parts of the world, the possibility
of a near-future war seems to be very
real In Europe, ,,zour ground forces are
holding positions that could be quickly
overrun by the Russian and satellite
armies. If the men of the Kremlin are
hesitant about striking westward, they are
hesitant not because of the Allied infantry
in front of them but because Of what
Anglo-American aerial ight-particularly
ours-might be able to do with swift and
massive retaliatory blows, including atomic
attack. In that sense, the USAF slogan
does not eXaggerate: "Air Power Is Peace
Power"
Right now, however, the big question is
whether even the prospect of large-scale
retaliation from the sky will stay the hand
of the Soviets. AS the USAF begins it's Sec
ond year of independence, no one can say
what fateful tasks may fall upon it in the
weeks and months Immediately ahead. All
we can be sure of is that the stronger we
make it at this stage, the less will be the
chance of war later-or the less will be
the danger of our losing that war should
1t come.
Thav Cho,,I1 Gak To1oSkos