General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe long road to an independent Air Force
C.V. Glines. Aviation History
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It was a hot day at Washingtons National Airport on July 26, 1947, as President Harry S. Trumans limousine drove up to the aircraft popularly known as Sacred Cow, a Douglas C-54 Skymaster. Truman was on his way to visit his mother, who was gravely ill with pneumonia. But before the president left, he intended to sign an important piece of legislation the National Security Act of 1947, an executive order passed by Congress the previous day defining the roles and missions of the armed forces as well as his nomination for the first secretary of defense. In the end, Truman had to wait nearly an hour in the sweltering heat for the historic documents to arrive.
It took only a few minutes for the president to sign the paperwork, but it had taken decades to bring about these fundamental changes in the United States military organization. The Security Acts primary purpose was to merge the Department of War and the Department of the Navy into the National Military Establishment, to be headed by a secretary of defense. Further, it authorized the establishment of the Air Force as an independent service, marking the culmination of a national debate that had begun four decades earlier.
Soon after the Wright brothers proved their theories of powered flight, author H.G. Wells, in his 1908 book The War in the Air, foresaw that the air power of nations would revolutionize the conduct and social consequences of war. In 1909, Italian Army Major Giulio Douhet saw the potential of fixed-wing aircraft and predicted that the sky is about to become another battlefield no less important than the battlefields on land and sea. He also foresaw the consequences of allowing air power to be restrained by ground commanders and advocated the creation of a separate air arm led by airmen.
The rapid improvements in winged aircraft also prompted several American lawmakers to think ahead and propose that air forces should be organized so they could act independently. In February 1913, Rep. James Hay of Virginia proposed a bill that would have created a separate aviation corps as one of the line components of the Army. Rep. Charles Lieb of Indiana introduced a bill in March 1916 to create an independent air force. Neither bill went beyond committee hearings.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/veterans/military-history/2020/09/17/the-long-road-to-an-independent-air-force/
Please note: The picture of the B-17 shown in this article was shot down while on a mission its name was the "Hit Parader" B-17 42-37786 / Hit Parader Details
https://b17flyingfortress.de/en/b17/42-37786-hit-parader/