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

T H E A I R C O R P S P R E P A R E S F O R W A R , 1 9 3 9 - 4 1
were taken in a series of inter-American agreements which followed.
These agreements provided for mutual action to preserve the peace
of the hemisphere, and in some instances arrangements were made
with individual countries which gave US. forces an entree into stra-
tegic areas normally closed to them. On 3 October 1939, American
foreign ministers, meeting in Panama, adopted a declaration of neutral
rights and established a safety belt 300 miles in width around the en-
tire hemisphere, except off Canada and Newfoundland, already at
war.61T h e neutrality zone was soon violated by European belligerents,
but in July 1940 the American republics took concerted action more
forceful than the Declaration of Panama. At Havana a conference of
American foreign ministers made the Monroe Doctrine multilateral,
agreeing that their respective governments would oppose any change
in sovereignty of European colonies in the Western Hemisphere and
would combat Axis attempts to undermine American institutions.62
T h e missing link in the inter-American security system was supplied
on 18 August 1940 when the governments of Canada and the United
States announced the establishment of a Permanent Joint Board on
Defense, with equal representation from each nation, to co-ordinate
defense measures for North America.63
Co-operation with friendly nations made it possible for the United
States to extend greatly the Atlantic perimeter of hemisphere defense.
T h e first step was made public on 3 September 1940 when President
Roosevelt revealed an agreement transferring fifty over-age destroyers
to Great Britain in exchange for the right to establish air and naval
bases a t eight strategic points in the Atlantic and Caribbean areas6*
By 2 7 March 1941, the two governments had completed negotiations
which gave to the United States a 99-year lease on sites in Newfound-
land, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia, Trinidad,
and British G ~ i a n a . ' ~Prior to this agreement Canada had taken over
some of the responsibility for garrisoning certain Caribbean islands,
Bermuda, and Newfoundland.6GCo-ordination required under the new
arrangement was assured by the Permanent Joint Board on Defense.
In October 1940 the board, in a study on Newfoundland, had recom-
mended certain specific defense measures and a division of responsi-
bilities between Canada and the United A t the same time
the Air Corps was conducting a survey of possible air base sites, and
on the basis of these investigations four locations for Army installa-
tions were chosen. It was decided to station Air Corps units at the
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