Page:Legislative History of the AAF and USAF.djvu/46

 �This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 tracts for the construct[on and manufac- ture of any Army or Navy aircraft for the durahon of the war and six months there- after. The act continued in effect, for the duration and six months thereafter, sec- tions 1 (a) and 1 (b) of Pubhc Law 703, 76 Cong., 3 Sess., which gave the Secretary of War wide authority in making expenditures out of funds appropriated for national de- fense purposes, with or without advertising for bids, and permitted him wide latitude in providing for production facilities and for their operation and maintenance. lro. wsion was also made for the suspension ol all existing limitations with respect to the number of "serviceable airplane and air- ships, and free and captive balloons, which might be equipped and mintamcd. '" Expediting productran continued to be one of the prime necessities in the war pro- gram, especmlly in relation to arcraft nro- duction. Of the apprommately $6,250,000,- 000 appropriated between 26 June 1949 and 15 May 1943 for expecht]ng production, there remained only $õ65,147,000 unallo. cared as of 1 July 1943. To continue this work in the fiscal year of 1944, a reappro- priation of this surplus was requested, plus $749,000,000 in new funds. Although Con- gress cut the latter figure to $657,011,000, the Army now had, incluchng the rcappro- priated surplus, $1,222,158,000 for expedit- ing production, and the $190,000,000 origi- nally requested by the AAF was so allocated, the sum to be used for aircraft accessories and subcontractors, and for expenditures resulting from changes in models, spemfi- cations, manufacturing processes, and techniquesY ø The legaslation discussed above was ap- proved 1 July 1943 as the Military Appro- pnataon Act, :[944. In addition to the $190,- 000,000 allocated for the purpose of expediting production, the AAF rectaveal cash appropriations totaling $23,655,481,- 000. e Ths was the all-time tngh in ap- proptint,ohs for the Army air arm.* The Budget and Fscal Office of the AAF had re- 26 0 pe cen of the Army'$ dole,', finance ervce 001 21 55 per cent, 0 per cert wen for ordnance, 9 34 per ceni or quested ths astronomical sum to make possible the attainment of the new produc- tion goal of 150,000 planes by maintaining to the end of 1944 the productran rate of 12,500 planes per month which was to be attained by the end of 1943. This sum was to provide approxn-nately !00000 planes, including 36,000 bombers, 3,000 fighters, 12,000 transports, and 9,000 trainers. For these planes the AAF expected to obligate $20,572,128,391 during the fiscal year 1944. e Ths so.called "domsire budget" placed its emphasis on combat tarcraft rather than trainers, less tha 10 per cent oœ the pianos for which funds were requested were trainers, as compared to 60 per cent in the !941 budget  When the material requirements of the AAF again came under the cortaidoration of Congress in June 1944, the expansion pro- gram had been virtually completed, and the peak of production had been reached. The AAF had approximately $11,000,000,000 of unexpended funds let over from previous appropriatmns. The chief factor in bring- ng about tlus great carry-over in funds was the reduction m the unit cost of planes made posmble by mass production and mcreased efficiency; another factor was a lower airplane attrition rate than had been expected Thus when the Bureau of the Budget cut the $2,371,132,500 of new funds originally requested by the AAF for the fiscal year of 1945 down to $1,610,300,000, whmh sum was approprmted by Congress for the AAF, the reappropnatmn of the unexpended funds added to ths was enougi to meet the AAF reqmrements for $12,610,000,000.  Since there were sufficient unallocated funds left over from the 1943 and 1944 approprmtons to meet the Army's needs for expechting production, ths appropriation act gave only a token $100 in new funds for such purposes  Out of the approximately $12,- 610,200,000 required by the AAF for the fiscal year 1945, $8,949,565,925 was allotted for the procurement of aircraft, spare en- gines, and spare parts. Provision was made for the precurement of 37,174 planes (enough heavy bombers had already been ordered to provide production until Decem- THIS PAGE Declassified lAW EO12958