Page:Aircraft in Warfare (1916).djvu/36

§ 2 function of the aeronautical Arm as comprised by its duties and actions relating to the three pre-existing Arms of the Service—viz., the infantry, cavalry, and artillery. Its secondary function is defined as comprised by its duties in the attack on and defence from its like Arm—i.e., the destruction or countering of hostile aircraft.

It is necessary to be perfectly clear as to the above definitions. In considering, in the first instance, the comparative merits of the aeronautical and the older Arms of the Service for any particular duty, as it is needful to do in order to justify, or otherwise, any particular type or usage, it is futile to import into the initial discussion the action or possible counter-manoeuvres of the enemy's aircraft; this latter may, or may not, eventually prove an important factor, but its influence, when taken into account, must be studied not only as touching the air service in contemplation, but also at the same time as affecting the other Arms of the Service (more particularly the cavalry) in its corresponding usage. In brief, as a matter of logic, in discussing the functions and duties of the aeronautical Arm, and the type-specifications of machines by which its objects are to be secured, the primary function alone has to be considered. Subsequently, when a provisional scheme and specifications have been formulated, it is time to take count of the secondary function, and to endeavour by careful prevision to forestall the enemy.