News Letter 1941 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office

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questions--How would she land? How would
she handle? As large as March Field is,
would it be big enough? How was the wind?
Reassuring messages from the control tower
reported that ever-considerate nature
had swung the wind obligingly down the main
ranway. The way was cleared-all airplanes
vere down.
Completing a long, circling approach, we
turned straight back for the field, diminishing
our speed. We landed surprisingly
Short, even though we knew we were at least
30 tons light. No actual Jar of contact
with the ground could be noticed; it was
d1fficul t to know when we had actually land.-
ed.
Slowly the huge plane settled down onto
its nose wheel. Gently the pilot applied
the brakes, wondering if they were all right
after all these weeks. They were.
Q;uickly we turned about, taxied back up
the runway to the hangars, reached our parking
position and cut the switches. There we
were--success at last. A quick look at the
clock--12.55 p.m.
Detailed tests of the myriad mechanisms
wi th which this plane is equipped will continue
for some time. These are items which
must be completed by the manufacturer, as
they form a part of the Douglas Company's
contract. As soon as these hours of test.-
ing are completed, final acceptance will be
made by the Materiel Division and the ai~
plane will proceed to Wright Field for further
checking, testing and development. It
will then become in fact the flying laboratory
which it was designed to be. As the
progenitor of its plan, a long life and a
happy one]
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REORGANIZATION OF THE AEMY AIR CORPS
(Continued from page 8)
the Chief of the Air Corps need be given,
since his duties remain very much the same
as they have been. The duties of the Chief
of the Air Force Combat Command il.'. general
outline are about the same, but have been
broadened to a considerable extent.
For instance, the new regulations give
him "control of all aerial operations of
the Air Force Combat Command ••••• " Under
the old order, this control was in the hands
of General Headquarters. Similarly, he now
has court-martial jurisdiction over all
el,ments of the Air Force Combat Command,
wh1ch he did not have before reorganization.
Reorganization will have little personal
effect on any individual officer or enlisted
man, however~ except for those few who are
assigned to .i1eadquartersArmy Air Forces or
to fill any of the other new Jobs. The
great majority will continue to do the jobs
to which they already have been assigned,
either in the Combat Command, the Air Corps
or wherever they m~y be serving.
The War Department's purpoee in
... -- __..._.• --v"-". _'\#6""V_, AW\oi\l"~
to announcement. made at the time vas to
promote air power while facilitating and
ensuring "the Joint action of air, ground
and naval forces which the progress of the
present war is so clearly demonstrating."
As an e~le of the waf it is supposed
to work, Gen. :EGmOn8 is charged with the
tactical training of oombat units of the
Air Forces. These units may be assigned '0
a task force, in which case they would op-.
erate under the orders of the commander of
the task force. On the foreign stations,
they would operate under the department colilmander,
while their training still would be
the responsibility of the Chief of the C~
bat Command.
Under the procedure outlined in Washington!
it might be possible, however, for the
ent1re Combat Command to be assigned to a
task force commanded by a ground officer--
possibly even by a high-ranking Navy officer.
In such an even tuali ty , of couree,
the situation temporarily would be soDiewhat
like conditions before reorganization, when
what is now the Combat Command waS under the
jurisdiction of General Headquarters.
Explaining reorganization at a press conference
in Washington, Gen. George C. Marshall,
the Chief of Staff, said, however,
that air uni ts assigned to a task force will
not necessarily be commanded by a ground officer.
The command function in any such
force will be exercised, he said, by a senior
officer of whichever arm--land, sea or air--
has the major responsibili ty in the particular
task to which the force is assigned.
Thus :Brig. General Henry"W. Harms, an air
officer, has command of all elements of the
Army in Newfoundland, air and ground alike,
since the defenses of that area primarily
are considered an air operation. Gen. Marshall
used this situation as an example, and
added that he anticipated the time when an
Air Forces officer might have command of defense
forces in Alaska, although they are
under ground control at present.
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AIR CORPS SOLDIER WINS WEST POINT CADETSHIP
An Air Corps enlisted man stationed at Albrook
Field waS the winner of a competitive
examination in which enlisted men from all
mill tary posts in the Panama Canal Zone
competed for an appointment to the United
States Military Academy, and has received
orders to report to West Point.
The soldier was Pvt. Abraham M. Glase, 20,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Glass! of Bal~
winsville N. Y. He enlisted n the Air
Corps at Syracuse, N.Y., June 27 1940. Ca.-
det Glass is a graduate of the BJ.dwinsville
Academy and of the West Point Preparatory
School at Corozal, Canal Zone.
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THE COVER
The photOgl'a.phof the yaung gentleman on
the cover, standing at the business end of
a P-40 t
was made available to The Air Corps
Newa etter thro1J.8hthe courtesy of RUdy
Arnold, well.-known photograoher of things
creating aerial. 4
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