The Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. 1 (archived PDF)

T H E A R M Y A I R F O R C E S I N W O R L D W A R I 1
other headquarters, and this was especially true of the overseas organi-
zations, where the chain of command normally ran from the command-
ing general of the local air force through theater headquarters to the
Chief of Staff, U. S. Army. The Historical Office could use its influ-
ence to secure from the War Department authorization of vacancies
for the job in tables of organization, it could offer its assistance in the
procurement of qualified personnel for the vacancies so established,
and it could make suggestions regarding desirable objectives and
standards. But the final choice remained with the commanding general,
who in some instances moved in advance of promptings from Wash-
ington to provide his own historical officer, and who in other instances
elected to fill the vacancies established by selection from his own staff.
In most cases, however, the offer of professional assistance from AAF
Headquarters was welcomed, though occasionally the official request
for such aid came late. The first historians selected by the Historical
Office for overseas service reached their stations only in late 1943, and
with most of them the time of arrival fell in 1944. Within the Zone of
the Interior, where the chain of command ran down from General
Arnold, the establishment of historical sections had proved to be a
less time-consuming effort. Even so, there were limits arising from the
old and generally sound principle of command that a superior gives
his subordinate a job to do but leaves it to him in large part to deter-
mine how best it can be done.
The finding of available personnel possessed of the desired qualifi-
cations was still another matter. Though civilians were heavily relied
upon in the Historical Office and at points elsewhere *inthe Zone of
the Interior, most of the key assignments required use of military
personnel. Opportunities for commissioning historians direct from
civilian life being limited and a t an early date entirely eliminated, it
was necessary to rely upon qualified personnel already in the Army;
and, since other branches had use for their own historians, the choice
actually came to be limited to the rosters of the AAF. Fortunately, a
considerable number of men possessed of advanced training in history
or closely related fields had volunteered at an early stage of the war
effort for service with the Army Air Forces, and they had played an
especially significant part in the development of the AAF training
program. As that program passed its peak in 1943, an increasing num-
ber of those men became available for reassignment to the historical
program. Being of military age, they were for the most part young
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