Home : Armed Forces :

United States Army Air Corps

West Point of the Air At a time when there was yet no U.S. Air Force and no Air Force Academy, the Army Air Corps training program billed itself as the "West Point of the Air," recruiting with posters such as this.

What is now the United States Air Force (USAF) was formerly a part of the U.S. Army, namely the United States Army Air Corps or USAAC. It was established under this name by an act of Congress on July 2, 1926. Started in 1907 as the Aeronautical Section of the Signal Corps, it then became the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps from August 1, 1907 to July 18, 1914. It was the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps from July 18, 1914 to May 20, 1918, the Division of Military Aeronautics from May 20, 1918 to May 24, 1918, and the U.S. Army Air Service from May 24, 1918 to July 2, 1926. The U.S. Army Air Corps lasted from July 2, 1926 to June 20, 1941.

During World War II its role grew greatly; the Air Corps eventually became the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) on June 20, 1941, six months before Pearl Harbor. The United States Army Air Forces, or USAAF lasted from 20 June 1941 to 18 September 1947. The Air Corps became a subordinate element of the Army Air Forces on June 20, 1941, and it continued to exist as a combat arm of the Army (similar to Infantry) until disestablished by Congress with the creation of the U.S. Air Force in 1947.

The USAAC was a corps-level, subsidiary organization within the U.S. Army, and had little autonomy. Due to the efforts of several key USAAC officers and the changing political times, the Air Corps obtained greater organizational independence in 1941. Renamed and considered a separate arm of the Army, the new USAAF had an equal "voice" with the Army and Navy.

The U.S. Army Air Corps Act, 1926

The Lassiter Board, a group of General Staff officers, recommended to the Secretary of War in 1923 that a force of bombardment and pursuit units be created to carry out independent missions under the command of an Army general headquarters in time of war. The Lampert Committee of the House of Representatives went far beyond this modest proposal in its report to the House in December 1925. After eleven months of extensive hearings, the committee proposed a unified air force independent of the Army and Navy, plus a department of defense to coordinate the three armed services.

Commencing January, 1920 United States of America War Office Regulations For Operation of Aircraft Don't take the machine into the air unless you are satisfied it will fly. Never leave the ground with the motor leaking. Don't turn sharply when taxiing. Instead of turning sharp, have someone lift the tail around. In taking off, look at the ground and the air. Never get out of a machine with the motor running until the pilot relieving you can reach the controls. Pilots should carry hankies in a handy position to wipe off goggles. Riding on the steps, wings or tail of a machine is prohibited. In case the engine fails on takeoff, land straight regardless of obstacles. No machine must taxi faster than a man can walk. Never run motor so that blast will fall on other machines. Learn to gauge altitude, especially on landing. If you see another machine near you, get out of the way. No two cadets should ever ride together in the same machine. Do not trust altitude instruments. Before you begin a landing glide, be sure that no machines are under you. Hedge-hopping will not be tolerated. No spins on back or tail slides will be indulged in as they unnecessarily strain the machines. If flying against the wind and you wish to fly with the wind, don't make a sharp turn near the ground. You may crash. Motors have been known to stop during a long glide. If pilot wishes to use motor for landing, he should open throttle. Don't attempt to force machine onto ground with more than flying speed. The result is bouncing and ricocheting. Pilots will not wear spurs while flying. Do not use aeronautical gasoline in cars or motorcycles. You must not take off or land closer than 50 feet to the hangar. Never take a machine into the air until you are familiar with its controls and instruments. If an emergency occurs while flying, land as soon as possible.

Another board, headed by Dwight D. Morrow, had already reached an opposite conclusion in only two and one-half months. Appointed in September 1925 by President Coolidge to study the "best means of developing and applying aircraft in national defense," the Morrow Board issued its report two weeks before the Lampert Committee's. It rejected the idea of a department of defense and a separate department of air, but it recommended that the air arm be renamed the Air Corps to allow it more prestige, that it be given special representation on the General Staff, and that an Assistant Secretary of War for air affairs be appointed.

Congress accepted the Morrow Board proposal, and the Air Corps Act was enacted on 2 July 1926. The legislation changed the name of the Air Service to the Air Corps, "thereby strengthening the conception of military aviation as an offensive, striking arm rather than an auxiliary service." The act created an additional Assistant Secretary of War to help foster military aeronautics, and it established an air section in each division of the General Staff for a period of three years. Other provisions required that all flying units be commanded by rated personnel and that flight pay be continued. Two additional brigadier generals would serve as assistant chiefs of the Air Corps. The position of the air arm within the Department of War remained essentially the same as before, and once more the hopes of air force officers had to be deferred. Even the new position of Assistant Secretary of War for Air, held by F. Trubee Davison from 1926 to 1932, did not help very much.

Perhaps the most promising aspect of the act for the Air Corps was the authorization to carry out a five-year expansion program. However, the lack of funding caused the beginning of the five-year expansion program to be delayed until 1 July 1927. The goal eventually adopted was 1,800 airplanes with 1,650 officers and 15,000 enlisted men, to be reached in regular increments over a five-year period. But even this modest increase never came about as planned because adequate funds were never appropriated in the budget.

The General Headquarters Air Force, 1935

The emergence of the heavy bomber in 1935 coincided with the advent of the General Headquarters (GHQ) Air Force. The circumstances leading up to the two events were closely related and actually influenced each other. The idea of an "air force," separate from the support aviation assigned to the Army units, had been urged by Major General Mason Patrick and his successor, Major General James Fechet, Chief of the Air Corps from 1927 to 1931. But the Army General Staff had not been able to see what mission the air arm could have apart from army support. Nor did it agree that aviation should be concentrated under a single air command for use in the field. However, the growing importance of coastal defense provided the Air Corps with a mission that could be performed independently of the ground armies, thus helping pave the way for the GHQ Air Force.

In October 1933, a War Department board headed by Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Hugh A. Drum, reviewed the Air Corps proposal and endorsed the idea of a GHQ Air Force, although it did not accept the emphasis placed on air power by the Air Corps. The Air Corps had recommended a GHQ Air Force comprised of bombardment, attack, and pursuit planes under its control to provide coastal defense. The Drum Board suggested that the force be used for tactical and strategic operations, including attacks on major installations in enemy territory.

The War Department appointed former Secretary of War Newton D. Baker to head a board to study operations of the Air Corps and what its proper relation to civil aviation should be. In July 1934 the board released its findings. It rejected the proposal for an independent air force and a unified defense department. It denied the claims made by Air Corps officers and their adherents and clearly expressed its attitude: "Independent air missions have little effect upon the issue of battle and none upon the final outcome of war." The Baker Board did recommend creation of a GHQ Air Force made up of air combat units capable of operating either independently or in cooperation with ground forces.

On the last day of 1934, the War Department ordered the creation of the GHQ Air Force as of 31 March 1935. The new command went to Brigadier General Frank M. Andrews, a member of the General Staff and one of the ablest officers in the Air Corps. From his headquarters at Langley Field, Virginia, Andrews concentrated tactical units under three wings, at Langley, Barksdale (La.), and March (Calif.) Fields.

• Feb. 15, 1928. President Coolidge signs a bill authorizing acceptance of a new site near San Antonio, Texas, to become the Army Air Corps training center. This center is now Randolph AFB.
• March 1-9, 1928. USAAC Lt. Burnie R. Dallas and Beckwith Havens make the first transcontinental flight in an amphibious airplane. Total flight time in the Loening Amphibian is 32 hours, 45 minutes.
• May 12, 1928. Lt. Julian S. Dexter of the Air Corps Reserve completes a 3,000-square-mile aerial mapping assignment over the Florida Everglades. The project takes 65 hours of flying, spread over two months.
• June 15, 1928. Lts. Karl S. Axtater and Edward H. White, flying in an Air Corps blimp directly over an Illinois Central train, dip down and hand a mailbag to the postal clerk on the train, thus completing the first airplane-to-train transfer.
• Jan. 1-7, 1929. Question Mark, A Fokker C-2 commanded by Maj. Carl. A. "Tooey" Spaatz and including Capt. Ira C. Eaker and Lt. Elwood R. Quesada among its crew, sets an endurance record for a refueled aircraft of 150 hours, 45 minutes, 14, seconds.
• Sept. 24, 1929. Lt. James H. Doolittle makes the first blind, all-instrument flight.
• April 12, 1930. Led by Capt. Hugh Elmendorf, 19 pilots of the 95th Pursuit Squadron set an unofficial world record for altitude formation flying over Mather Field, Calif. The P-12 pilots reach 30,000 feet, shattering the old record of 17,000 feet.
• Feb. 19, 1934. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues an Executive Order canceling existing air-mail contracts because of fraud and collusion. The Army Air Corps is designated to take over airmail operations.
• June 18, 1934. Boeing begins company-funded design work on the Model 299, which will become the B-17.
• April 12, 1937. Frank Whittle bench-tests the first practical jet engine in laboratories at Cambridge University, England.
• Oct. 15, 1937. The Boeing XB-15 makes its first flight at Boeing Field in Seattle Wash., under the control of test pilot Eddie Allen.
• Feb. 17, 1938. Six Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, under the command of Lt. Col. Robert Olds., leave Miami, Fla., on a goodwill flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The return trip to Langley Field, Va., is the longest nonstop flight in Air Corps history.
• Sept. 29, 1938. Brig. Gen. H.H. "Hap" Arnold is named Chief of the Army Air Corps, succeeding Maj. Gen. Oscar Westover, who was killed in a plane crash September 21.
• Oct. 14, 1938. Company test pilot Edward Elliott makes the first flight of the Curtiss XP-40 at Buffalo, N.Y. Almost 14,000 P-40s will be built before production ends in 1944.
• April 3, 1939. President Roosevelt signs the National Defense Act of 1940, which authorizes a $300 million budget and 6,000 airplanes for the Army Air Corps and increases armyac personnel to 3,203 officers and 45,000 enlisted troops.
• Dec. 29, 1939. The prototype Consolidated XB-24 Liberator makes a 17-minute first flight from Lindbergh Field in San Diego, Calif., with company pilot Bill Wheatley at the controls. More than 18,100 B-24s will be built in the next five and a half years, the largest military production run in U.S. history.
• Oct. 8, 1940. The Royal Air Force announces formation of the first Eagle Squadron, A Fighter Command unit to consist of volunteer pilots from the United States.
• Dec. 1, 1941. Civil Air Patrol established.

Wings Over the Mexican Border Pioneer Military Aviation in the Big Bend. Ragsdale. Against a backdrop of revolution, border banditry, freewheeling aerial dramatics, and World War II comes this compelling look at the rise of U.S. combat aviation at an unlikely proving ground-a remote airfield in the rugged reaches of the southwestern Texas borderlands. Here, at Elmo Johnson's Big Bend ranch, hundreds of young Army Air Corps pilots demonstrated the U.S. military's reconnaissance and emergency response capabilities and, in so doing, dramatized the changing role of the airplane as an instrument of war and peace. The book paints a vivid picture of the development of the U.S. aerial strike force; the character, ideals, and expectations of the men who would one day become combat leaders; and the high esteem in which U.S. citizens held the courageous pilots.

---

top of page

back a page