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OUR ARMY'S AIR SERVICE

289

is a question whether the air force or the country will ever recover from it. In toher words, the most important battle will be the first air battle. Therefore, our Air Service should be so organized that one part of it will be permanently stationed behind the atlantic coast, one part of it behind the Pacific coast, each sufficient to act defensively against the first echelons of an enemy air force, and that there should be stationed midway between these a reserve force or air mass of maneuver which could be thrown in either direction and be sufficiently large to master the enemy air forces. In addition to these, the reserve units, means of production, and training capabilities should be so organized that they can be developed in accordance with the problem that faces us. 

The force mentioned above, however, should be instantly available and equipped at all times. Its strength should be on a most conservative basis: one air brigade for the East coast of six hundred airplanes; one air brigade for the Pacific coast of six hundred airplanes; and an air division for the general reserve of twelve hundred airplanes, or a total of about two thousand airplanes for offensive aviation-that is, pursuit, attack, and bombardment under arms.

The upkeep of this force, compared with what would be obtained from it from the standpoint of national defense, would be the cheapest of any which the Government could maintain for the amount of security that would be gotten from it. Once having been initiated, the annual upkeep of material would not exceed the cost of one or two battleships per year, and the number of men in such a force, as compared with that in an army or even in a navy, would be very small.

[[Image]]

THE ALL-METAL AIRPLANE
(Which has many advantages over wooden planes. The Germans lead in all-metal construction-it being a German machine here shown-but the American air service is developing this type as rapidly as possible)
[[missing]]Sept.-5

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AN OBSERVER JUMPING IN A PARACHUTE FROM AN AMERICAN AIRPLANE
(All squadrons are now equipped with pack parachutes of splendid type)

As mentioned above, France's air force has three thousand airplanes or more. As an offensive aviation, on a footing which would involve quick mobilization, two thousand airplanes (and in addition the observation airplanes required for immediate duty with troops) would seem a very modest beginning. This is what all airmen desire to see brought about, because they are convinced that the safety of this country can be threatened more form the air than from any other place.

It is interesting to note that the maximum distance over water from Europe to the United States is only about three hundred miles, if the route is taken via Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and the islands north of Great Britain. The distance across Behring Strait from Siberia to Alaska is only twenty-one miles. In the future air forces coming by these routes may be supplied completely by airships, even if they have no vessels on the water to supply them; or, if they have a combination of both, the matter is facilitated just so much.

A British airship has already crossed the Atlantic, and Germany, as is well known, had some ready to do so if the war had lasted longer.

Need of an Airway System

It is necessary to organize a real system of airways through the country. With a good system of airways an air force can be shifted with great rapidity from one coast to the other, or from northern to southern frontiers. The airways, in a measure, cor-