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9. The old conception of sea power was that its mission was to keep the sea areas clear of the enemy so as to allow uninterrupted freedom of movement to our own seacraft. Today, air power controls all locomotion on the surface of the water not covered by the submarine boat and as the submarine is so slow of locomotion, so blind as to view even while on top of the water, and so restricted in cruising radius, it will soon pass into the category of an auxiliary of air power. Communication by commercial vessels on and across the seven seas no longer depends upon a powerful battleship fleet but upon the tiny airplane, so that the search over the surface of the earth on the part of the great nations at present is not for naval bases, it is for air bases. The development of air power has been, and is, so rapid that it has passed all other analogous developments, that is, the development of either land or sea power. The reason for this is that it utilizes an entirely new medium for locomotion, the air. It uses all the engines of destruction which have been developed for use on the ground, and, in addition, it has a means of applying these agencies of destruction from the most advantageous position, a place over and above its intended victim. Nothing can combat air power except other air power. Armies or navies alone have any appreciable effect on it.

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Transcription Notes:
"uses" on the bottom half of the page appears to have been typed as ises but written over?