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Page 18. forces under direct command of the commander-in-chief of the army (probably also of the commander-in-chief of the navy) would be formed in time of emergency by the Department of Aeronautics from the personnel which in peace time would be operating under the civil departments of the government in commercial aeronautical pursuits, and from the Reserve forces, with a sketleton framework of aeronautic officers who had been assigned to civil departments of the government, and selected Reserve officers who had shown their fitness during previous training, or while attending the air-college. 4. In a few years ( if the progress is made in the development of aircraft that can logically be expected ) the functions of the independent air forces will have reached such an important position in the scale of national defense, especially for the United States in case of attack by a European, Asiatic, or South American power, that it is believed that an adequate safeguard during the first few weeks of [[?]] operations can be secured only through the maintenance of a standing aeronautic force, charged with the functions indicated under the head of independent air force. At the present time, and it is believed, for two or three years, it will be