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This is Volume One of The Army Air Forces in World War II, titled Plans and Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942, edited by Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate. The University of Chicago Press first published it in 1948, and the Office of Air Force History reprinted it in 1983. The front matter explains how the AAF historical program was set up during the war. The index covers Pacific, Atlantic and European operations, and nothing in the text concerns unidentified aerial phenomena.
“Natal”13 pages
D E P L O Y M E N T O N T H E E V E O F H O S T I L I T I E S the conclusion that an air assault on the locks and other vital installa- tions would be the most likely form of attack by an enemy in the area. T h e importance of air defense was consequently heightened, although the mission of Army air forces in the Canal Zone remained unchanged. A Joint Board report in 1937 had specified the joint mis- sion of Army and Navy forces in the Panama Canal Department as “protection of the Panama Canal in order that it may be maintained in continuous operating condition,” obviously for passage of the fleet. The Army mission was to protect the canal against sabotage and against attacks by air, land, and sea forces, while the Navy mission was to support the Army in defending the canal and to protect ship- ping in the coastal zones. Local defense plans gave Army aviation the responsibility of air defense of the canal, with the understanding that naval patrol planes would carry out distant reconnaissance, patrolling, reporting, and tracking. T h e two major tasks of the Army air com- ponent consisted of furnishing an offensive or striking force to destroy enemy vessels encountered and of furnishing a defensive force to com- bat air attacks. Similar missions were assumed by other Army air contingents as bases were established throughout the Caribbean and by the Caribbean Air Force upon its activation in May 1 9 4 1 . ~ ~ Of the several outlying sites in the eastern Caribbean, Puerto Rico presented the most advanced stage of development in air defenses by December I 941, primarily because preparations had begun early in 1939. T h e Air Corps had previously been unable to secure approval of an air base in Puerto Rico, for the W a r Department regarded such a development as purely a wartime measure. A site in the Punta Borinquen area was selected for a major air base, and seven sites were chosen for auxiliary airfields. In December 1939 the 27th Reconnais- sance Squadron arrived from the United States to begin the air de- fense of Puerto Rico. One year later, approval had been granted for creation of a composite wing in Puerto Rico, to consist of an inter- ceptor pursuit group, one heavy and one medium bombardment group, two air base groups, two reconnaissance squadrons, and one observation squadron. Cadres for some of the units were sent from the United States early in 1941, and by subdividing they furnished the skeleton forces needed for activation of other units. T h e 13th Composite Wing, under the command of Brig. Gen. Follett Bradley, became the initial unifying agency for military aviation in Puerto Rico, while a provisional air defense command was established to 161
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