Page:Legislative History of the AAF and USAF.djvu/107

 �This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 evaluatior problems in aeronautics. This included the construction of aeronautical research facilities at educational institu- tions. The Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force were authorized to proceed with the construction and equipment of facilities œor implementation of the umtary plan. Under Title II the ecretary of the Air Force was authorized to establish an Ar Engineering Center, and to construct, mn- stall, and equip it wth all its wnd tunnels, laboratories, and other research facihtes, and the necessary housing and community Iacillties. A $I00,000,000 appropriatmn was authorized for the establishment and for initial construction, installation, and equip- ment costs of the Air EngLueermg Develop- ment Center (AEDC)Y In the Second Supplemental Appropria- tion Act, 1950, approved 28 October 1949, Congress granted $,000,000 m cash and $24,000,000 in contract authority to enable the Secretary of the Air Force to acquire the necessary land and begin construction of the Air EngineerLug Development Center.  The Defimency Appropriation Act, 1950, ap- proved 29 June 195, granted an additional $20,000,000 in cash and $35,000,00 Lu con- trac authority for the AEDC. s A part of the $164,784,000 granted to the Dparment of the Air Force by the Defense Appropria- tion Act, 1951, for the acquisition and con- struction of real property, was earmarked or the Air Engineenng Development Cen- ter. Public Law 799, 81 Cong., 2 Seas. (ap- proved 21 September 1950) Lucreased the appropriation authorization in the original engineering development act from $100,- 000,000 to $157,500,000.  The Supple- mental Appropriation Act, 1951, approved 2 September 1950, granted $25,000,000 in cash and $32,500,00 in contract authority 1or use in connection with the construc- tion of the AEDC, and the Second Supple- mental Appropriation Act, approved 6 Jan- uary 1951, allocated for the AEDC a pazt of the $807,000,000 appropriated for the Air Force to use in the acquisition and con- struction o real property. TM In 199 Air Force appropriations made specifically for research and development purposes amounted to $233,000,000, and Congress granted he Department of the Air Force the authority to transfer $7,500,- 000 from any other available appropriations for research and developmentJ s When Congress enacted the National Defense Ac, 1951 it appropriated $152,$11,000 to be used by the Air Force or researcl and develop- ment, and granted it an additiSnal $115,- 000,000 œo his purpose in the Second Sup- plemental Appropriation Act, 1951, xs- a total of $297,611,000 for fiscal 1951 as com- pared with $240,500,000 for the previous fiscal year. In the Department of Defense Appropriation Act, 1952, approved I8 Octo- ber 1951, Congres granted the Ar Force an appropriation of $425,000,000 for re- search and development. ls This was the greatest allocation of funds that had ever been made to the Air Force for research and development, amounting to almost 3 times as much as the World War II peak amoun o $14õ,228,41 appropriated for thru pur- pose in 1945.  From fscal year 1946 through fmcaI year I950, the Air Force had expended a total of $673,000,000 or re- search and developmentJ s This was ap- !roximately $3,000,000 more than had been appropriated or Air Force research and development during the whole of World War II The expendlures for fiscal year 1951 and the first half of fiscal year 1952, of course, made the total for the calendar period 1946-1951 considerably higher. The huge Air Force appropriataons (and expenditures) or research and de- velopment in this period not only indicated the cost of the great advances in the science of aeronautics-such as the devel- opment of guided misses-nd the in- czeasmgly important role of research and deveIopment as an essential factor in main- lainLug air supremacy, they also reflected a growing sense of urgency, which devel- oped as the Korean crisis brought to the people of the United States a realization of the grim threat of Comaumat aggression. The hucreasing costs of research, and the great cost and complexity of modern mili- tary aircraft and equipment--costs which were further boosted by nfiation were also indicated by the sze of these appropria- tions and expenditures. THIS PAGE Declassified lAW EO12958