Page:Legislative History of the AAF and USAF.djvu/117

 �This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 110 --'USAF I-'IsTOXCAL TUnlES During the period between the wars the Air Corps suffered from insufficient funds, a state of affairs for which those high in military and admimstrative circles were more respormible than Congress. Ths fact did not dawn on the country until the air mail episode in 1933-34. The poor equip- ment of the Air Corps became only too evi- dent when a large number of the Air Corps pilots flying the mail became victims of air. craft accidents. This disaster resttired in in- vestigations and subsequent legislation which benefited the Air Corps. However, all activities aimed at the creation of a separate air force continued to be thwarted, and when World War II came on there was a tacit agreement to drop the discussion for the duration. In 1941, by administrative reorganiza- tion, the Air Corps became the Army Air Forces. Even before this the outbreak of World War II and the threatening mtuatmn abroad had led Congress to increase appro- priations or the air arm. By 1939 the so- called "Air Corps Expansion Program" was gotten under way. Franklin D. Roosevelt urged large ap- propriations for the air arm in 1939, plac- ing great emphasis on the importance of strengthening our air power for national de- fense in view of the threat to American liberties posed by changing conditions abroad. Congress responded quickly and generously to the President's requests. In the emergency national defense act passed in the spring of 1939 Congress laid the basis for the first large scale procurement of air- cratt and other aviation matoriel, made the greatest increase in  Corps personnel al- lotments hitherto granted, and provided for the first large-scale flying-training prc gram. Over $260,000,000 was appropriated for aircraft procurement and for other needs of the Air Corps in 1939, and in 1940 appropriations made specifically for the Army air arm reached a new high--over $2,- 400,000,(]00. In the first eight months oœ 1941 Congress appropriated over $6,000,- 000,000 for the Air Corps (which became the Army Air Forces by administrative action in June 1941), thus exceeding all previous records. During the war years Congressional grants to build up air power reached a peak with the appropriation of over $23,000,000,- 000 for the AAF in the fiscal year 1944. During the period 1939-45 Congress also concerned tself with other legislation of wtaI importance to the AAF. It enacted a long list of laws dealing with the expediting of aircraft product]on, research and de. velopment, procurement, personnel, etc. Also, acting through such bodies as the Truman Committee, Congress exercised a large measure of supervision over the ex- pansion program of the AAF and played a vital part in the attainment of the produc- tion goals set by the program.. The record of the AAF in World War II and its vital contribution to lctory served to strengthen the widespread opinion in favor of a separate air force. In his message to Congress on 19 December 1945, President Truman spoke 1orcefully in favor of unifi- cation of the armed services and the plac- ing of air power on a parity with land and sea power. True gave considerable stimulus to the movement for consolidation of the services and establishment of an air force on an equal basis with the ground forces and the Navy. Legislation for this purpose was introduced in the Senate in 1946. There was some strong opposition on the part of the Navy, but wth the general support of the Army and some proddxng by the Presi. dent, the armed services agreed on a plan of unification, and a bill based on this inter- service agreement became law on 26 July 1947 as the National Security Act of 1947. This act created a separate air force (the United States Ar Force) as one of three coordinate branches of the National Mili- tary Establishment. The National Mhtary Estabhshment was to be composed of three departments, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the De- partment of the Air Force, each with its own Secretary. Provision was made for the transfer, from the Department ot the Army to the Department of the Air Force, of those personnel, functions, and records as well as that property and matoriel which rmght be necessary or desxrable for the operations of the Department of the Ar Force or the THIS PAGE Declassified lAW EO12958