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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 Wash”17 pages
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 adequately equipped by 7 December 1941 to carry out all of its re- sponsibilities. Although approximately I 65 P-40’s had arrived in the Caribbean, they were not furnished with the necessary devices to assure interception or to operate effectively a t night. The pursuit air- craft were on the alert twenty-four hours a day, but only about 50 per cent of their practice missions resulted in interceptions. A mere handful of heavy bombers comprised the only long-range aircraft in the area. The absence of air bases on outlying islands in the Pacific left western approaches to the canal but poorly covered, and the plan to furnish armed assistance to Latin-American countries created further demands on the limited number of aircraft. But by virtue of its organization as an integrated force and its acquisition of base sites far to the east of the canal, the Caribbean Air Force was approaching a suitable stage of preparedness-at least for its task of defense against a European enemy.42 Alaska The youngest and smallest overseas air force was located in Alaska, where some 2 , 2 0 0 officers and men of the AAF were stationed by the first week in December 1 9 4 1 . ~ ~Aircraft and tactical units had not been sent to Alaska until construction of Elmendorf Field at Anchorage was well under way. When the first Air Corps represen- tatives, consisting of one officer and two enlisted men, arrived for duty at Anchorage in July 1940, only preliminary work had started on the field; but by early 1941 a temporary hangar was ready for use and tactical units began to arrive from the United States. In the latter part of February the 23d Air Base Group, the 18th Pursuit Squadron with twenty P-36’s in crates, and the headquarters squadron of the 28th Composite Group took up quarters at Elmendorf. These units were followed in March by the 73d Bombardment Squadron (M) and the 36th Bombardment Squadron (H), equipped with a total of twelve B-18A’s. Consolidation of the military air units occurred on 29 May with formation of the Air Field Forces, Alaska Defense Command. The new organization was charged with training of Air Corps personnel, maintenance of aircraft, and planning and execution of Alaskan air defense. On I 7 October the designation Air Field Forces was changed to Air Force, Alaska Defense Command.44The Alaskan air force, more closely related to the Zone of the Interior than other overseas I 66
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