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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.
“The Invaders”15 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 air bases of long standing, while a third permanent base, Howard Field, was nearing completion three miles from Albrooli. Scattered throughout Panama were seven auxiliary airfields, two of which were ready for immediate use, and a number of emergency landing fields which did not require extensive improvements. By the first week of December 1941 a total of 183 planes, as opposed to an authorized strength of 396, were assigned to bases in the Canal Zone. A t Albrook Field were I 14 aircraft of all types, including 7 I P-~o’s,while France Field had 49 planes, most of them obsolete, and Howard Field had t o aircraft, including 1 2 A-ZOA’S.Such outmoded types as the P-26 and the A-17 made up a large part of the strength; their value in pro- tecting the canal was negligible.4o Of eight B- I 7’s, which comprised the heavy bombardment force of the entire Caribbean area, four had been sent to Trinidad and four were in Panama b y November, but the growing crisis in the Far East resulted in a move to concentrate the planes in the Canal Zone b y December. Tactical units defending the canal included the 6th and 9th Bombardment Groups ( H ) , the 59th Bombardment Squadron (L), the 16th, 32d, and 37th Pursuit Groups, the 7th and 44th Reconnaissance Squadrons, and the 39th Observation Squadron. Three air base groups, an air depot, and signal and ordnance units performed the necessary service functions in the Canal Zone.41 Steps toward co-ordination of defense efforts in the Caribbean area had been taken early in 1940. Joint Army and Navy war plans, recog- nizing the possibility of enemy action in the region, had defined the bounds of a Caribbean theater, and Army plans provided for designa- tion of the commanding general of the Panama Canal Department as commanding general of the theater. In the spring of 1941 the plans were put into action with formation of the Caribbean Defense Com- mand; organization of a single air force as a part of the command was a natural Concomitant to the action. T h e defense command was divided into Panama, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad sectors, the com- manders of which were responsible for defense of the respective areas and for training of all assigned personnel except those of the Carib- bean Air Force. T h e air force, organized on a theater-wide basis and subdivided into bomber, interceptor, and service commands, was charged with planning, training, and execution of plans for air opera- tions and defense against air attack throughout the Caribbean. T h e basic principle of its organization was the concentration of force I 6 3
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