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
tion goals, of training schedules, and of provisions for new air instal-
lations. T h e constant modification of plans was not conducive to
steady development; but neither, for that matter, were the dispatches
from Europe. Under the impact of each new threat from abroad the
President called for new defense appropriations and set new produc-
tion goals. Congress readily made available the funds requested and
authorized the expansion recommended. But one item-time-not even
a generous Congress could grant. Hence the whole story of Air Corps
activity in the period 1939-41may be conceived as a race against time
in a desperate effort to overtake Axis air forces which had long been
on a war basis. T o make the most of the time available, the Air Corps
scrapped or revised many procedures of long standing; “judicious
shortcuts,” to use an Army locution, became the order of the day in
procurement of materiel, in training, and in the development of air
installations. Undoubtedly the emphasis on speed and quantity in all
phases of expansion often led to a lowering of peacetime standards of
acceptance; but this tendency was not carried to dangerous extremes
and qualitative losses were more than offset by quantitative gains. T h e
process, in short, was typical of American mass production, with all
the merits and the flaws of that system.
T h e aspect of expansion which was most eagerly followed by the
American public was the rapid growth in the output of military air-
craft. T h e seemingly miraculous accomplishments in this respect were
essentially civilian rather than military. They were made possible
through the fortunate combination of a highly adaptable industry,
great national resources, and generous government aid; but the Air
Corps played here a significant, if lesser, part. Contracts in 1939 were
awarded on the basis of single-shift production, but factories moved
steadily into a two-, then a three-shift schedule as more trained per-
sonnel became available.’5 T h e Air Corps, along with the Office of
Production Management, adopted various methods of acquainting
manufacturers with new types of aeronautical equipment, of spread-
ing production among more firms, and of increasing the capacity of
the industry. “Educational orders” were placed with manufacturers,
existing facilities were enlarged by the aid of government financing,
and new plants were built by the government for operation by private
firms. “Letter contracts” saved from one to three months in initiating
the fabrication of aircraft by permitting manufacturers to purchase
materials before a formal contract could be drawn up and signed.
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