Page:Legislative History of the AAF and USAF.djvu/34

 �This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 Force The work of the Truman Committee was of great value to the Air Corps (and the AAF) in carrying out its expansion pro- gram, even though the adrnimstrative offi- cers of the Army air arm doubtless smarted under the sharp critmism which the com- mittee members somehines Icwed at the conduct of their part of the defense pro- gram. Its investigations resulted m greatly improved production of aluminum and brought about the substitution of the War Production Board for the OPM with a con- sequent improvement of war production39 In a very real sense the Truman Comnut- tee was an example oœ a legislative agency acting m a managerial capacity to the war effort in procurement and in other fields. Although authorized only to make a com- plete study of the military procurement program and to make reports and recom- mendations to the Senate thereon, t qmekly fell into the trachhonal pattern of utihzmg nqmry as an instrumentality to carry out the legrelative will. Its admoni- tions to administrative bodies such as the WPB, and even to the nnlitary services, be- came increasingly managerial m their na- ture. Ths committee came to be the most effective voice of Congress in the conduct of the war on the home front so As such, it had a great influence over the policies and activities of the Ar Corps, partmularly m the fields of production and procurement.  PERSONNEL AND TRAINING LEGISLATION The great expansion of the Air Corps m the perrod 1959-41 involved personnel ex- pansion as wee as a great increase in the number of planes and m the facilities for their production and maintenance. Prior to 1939 Congress had not given the Air Corps the authority or the funds necessary for personnel increases. Hence the primary personnel problem was the procurement of an increased number of officers and en- listed men, and tns was possible onty by Congressional approval. Not only was the personnel strength of the Air Corps smaller than that of the other branches of the armed service, it was even insufficient to to peed up the production nd facilitate the pr0ollremcnt of aircraft. man the planes which had already been authorized by Congress. Special legislation for an increase in Ar Corps personnel there- fore not only became necessary for meeting he requirements of the expansmn program, it became imperative as Germany continued to demonstrate the effectiveness of air power as a striking force. s The Ar Corps had the responsibilities both of procuring ths personnel and of training t, m order to have avafiable the pilots, tarcrew members, mechanics, tech- nicians, and admimstratlve officers needed for the operation and maintenance of the great mr armada being built Here again t was necessary for Congress to enact legis- lation providing the necessary funds and authority, and to change or amend existing legislatxon to meet new training needs and situations Finally, as the personnel of the Air Corps expanded rapidly, there were per- sonnel problems whceh were peculiar to the air arm and which requn'ed special legis- lative action, The Premdent's message to Congress on 12 January 1939 urging a strong national defense program, and large appropriations for the procurement of planes and the training of priors, was followed by the pas- sage of an emergency national defense act which provided a greater increase in Ar Corps personnel allotments than any hth- eric granted. Ths legislation, Public Law !8, 76 Cong, i Sees. (approved 3 April 1939) authorized the President to call to duty annually for a pemod of one year suffi- cient Reserve personnel to maintain 3,000 Reserve officers on active duty. it allowed the immediate commissioning of 300 second heutenants from the Air Corps Reserve, specified the groups from which the ap- pmntments were to be made, and approved a commissioned Air Corps strength of 3,203, and an enlisted strength of 45,000. Thin was the most Important single piece of legisla- tion authorizing Air Corps personnel ex- pansion and was basic to the defense pro- gram. In a few months these personnel authorizations proved to be inadequate and further legislation proved necessary; in 1939, however, they were sufficient to per- mt the initiation of a plan of hemispheric THIS PAGE Declassified lAW EO12958
 * [ was largely a  result of the ;c½omrncndaions Of the