AMERICA'S AIR FLEET

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 99, 26 April 1917, Page 10

AMERICA'S AIR FLEET

13,000,000 DOLLARS ALLOTTED

TWENTY-FOUR SQUADRONS.

Previous to the passage of the Act approved 18th July, 1914, there were no adequate provisions of law with respect to aviation. From 1908 to 31st March, 1916, the total appropriations for army aviation, including thirty thousand dollars paid to the Wright brothers for their first aeroplane, were less than a million dollars. Compare with this the fact that Congress recently allotted no less than thirteen millions to the aviation section of the signal corps for the proper development of the science and its application to military needs (wrote Newton D. Baker, U.S.A. Secretary for War, in Munsey's Magazine for January). The Signal Corps Aviation School at San Diego, California, has established a remarkable record. During the first seven months of 1916 four thousand flights were made at this school, covering a distance of one hundred and eight thousand miles—more than four times the distance round the world—and involving a total time in the air of ■ eighteen hundred hours, with no fatal accidents and very little' damage to the equipment.

No little criticism followed because the eight machines which we had in Mexico last spring experienced minor accidents, so that they were out of commission part of the time. But it must be remembered that the concentration of the forces composing the expedition into Mexico .marked a distinct step in military aviation in the United States. It was the first time this branch of the, service had been called upon to put a tactical unit in the field. There was only one such' unit in the service—a small squadron, the First, at San ■ Antonio, Texas. ,This, while equipped with as good material as could be obtained at the time, had only eight low-powered machines, which had already been in service for many months at the time of their transportation to the frontier.

' I The high altitudes encountered in Mexico—up to 12,000 feet —the vast distances to be covered, and the lack of cultivated areas and resources in general, made this theatre of operations one, of the most difficult that any army had ever encountered. The few machines available were rapidly used up, although, they did a great amount of flying, and rendered extremely valuable service to the expedition.

1 .The War Department has projected seven aero-squadrons for the regular army, twelve squadrons for ■ the National Guard divisions, and five for the defences on both coasts, besides aerostatic units for the mobile army and coast artillery. The personnel of the air service will be made up from the regular army, both officers and enlisted men,;.from officers and enlisted men of the reserve corps and from National Guard units. To train this personnel the facilities of the civilian schools will be utilised to their maximum, and finishing schools have already been established at Mineola, Long Island, in the Eastern Department, and at Chicago in the Central Department.

With the: arrangements that.have been made it is believed that the growth of this branch of the service will not only bo comparatively rapid, but will be based on sound principles tlhat will be able to stand the test of any emergency. The field is an entirely new one for the. .United States Army., We have, no precedent to ,go on, and therefore, we cannot tell with certainty just how much time will be required to train personnel and to- develop material. Every linown agency, however, for the development of both, these elements is being made use of.

Congress has been generous in providing the War Department with sufficient funds for the aviation section. The plan'of'the General Staff, whidh has been approved by the Secretary of War, contemplates the eventual establishment of a separate air service, and is being carried out in every way practicable. Should the necessity arise ,fpr such separation, it ia believed that it can be done by the end of 1917. : Owing to the experience gained in this country as the result of reports received from abroad, .quite a number of changes and additions will be necessary in any organic law for a separate air service.