The Struggle for Control of American Military Aviation
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THE STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF AMERICAN MILITARY AVIATION by PAUL HARRIS LARSON B.A., Auburn University Montgomery, 2000 M.A., Texas State University, 2002 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2016 Abstract The United States Army activated the Aeronautical Division, United States Signal Corps, on August 1, 1907. The men of the Aeronautical Division faced hardships and challenges from the very beginning as they tried to build the nation’s first air force prior to World War I. The U.S. Army, the War Department, Congress, and even the American people, really did not know what aircraft could do beyond simple flight. American airmen tried to demonstrate what air power was capable of, but the response to their achievements never met their expectations. Using an abundance of primary and secondary sources on American air power, this dissertation demonstrates that airmen’s struggle for a separate service was not something that developed slowly over the course of decades. Instead, this dissertation shows that airmen wanted independence from the U.S. Army from the start. From their point of view, the U.S. Army, the War Department, and Congress never really appreciated or understood air power. As a result, airmen became more and more alienated with each passing year until they achieve want they wanted—independence. THE STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF AMERICAN MILITARY AVIATION by PAUL HARRIS LARSON B.A., Auburn University Montgomery, 2000 M.A., Texas State University, 2002 A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2016 Approved by: Major Professor Dr. Donald J. Mrozek Copyright PAUL HARRIS LARSON 2016 Abstract The United States Army activated the Aeronautical Division, United States Signal Corps, on August 1, 1907. The men of the Aeronautical Division faced hardships and challenges from the very beginning as they tried to build the nation’s first air force prior to World War I. The U.S. Army, the War Department, Congress, and even the American people, really did not know what aircraft could do beyond simple flight. American airmen tried to demonstrate what air power was capable of, but the response to their achievements never met their expectations. Using an abundance of primary and secondary sources on American air power, this dissertation demonstrates that airmen’s struggle for a separate service was not something that developed slowly over the course of decades. Instead, this dissertation shows that airmen wanted independence from the U.S. Army from the start. From their point of view, the U.S. Army, the War Department, and Congress never really appreciated or understood air power. As a result, airmen became more and more alienated with each passing year until they achieve want they wanted—independence. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................. vii-viii Dedication ................................................................................................................... xi Preface ...................................................................................................................... 1-4 Historiography…………………………………………………………………….5-19 Chapter 1 – Struggle for Survival: American Airmen Began their Fight for Independence ........................................................................................................ 20-74 Chapter 2 – The Rise of a True Believer: Billy Mitchell and World War I.. ..... 75-119 Chapter 3 – Vociferous Crusdaer for Air Power: Mitchell Leads the Fight for Independence ................................................................................................... 120-161 Chapter 4 – Pulling Back the Throttle: Airmen Reassess Their Approach ...... 162-204 Chapter 5 – We Can Do It Alone: Airmen Tries to Prove Their Case ............. 205-240 Chapter 6 – Evidence for Independence: The Spanish Civil War and the Second Sino-Japanese War ............................................................................................ 241-276 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 277-283 Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 284-298 vi Acknowledgements First and heartfelt thanks go to my major adviser Dr. Donald Mrozek. His advice and patience with me has proven invaluable throughout my nine-year journey at Kansas State University. He has always been there when I needed assistance and sage advice. Additionally, he has an astounding intellect and an intense curiosity that has helped energize me throughout the writing of this dissertation. I would also like to thank the rest of my committee members: Dr. Dale Herspring, Dr. Michael Krysko, and Dr. Brent Maner. Each of them read and reviewed my work and offered excellent advice to improve upon it. I was also fortunate enough to take a class from each of them. Although they each have a different approach toward teaching, all are excellent instructors and assets to Kansas State. Finally, thank you to Dr. Clive Fullagar for serving as the Outside Chair for my dissertation defense. Several friends and fellow graduate students also deserve recognition. Thanks go to Dr. Matt McDonough and Dr. Brian Laslie for their friendship and support throughout our two years of rigorous and taxing coursework. Additional thanks to Darin Tuck, who served as my graduate teaching assistant. He made dealing with 200 hundred eager students a much easier job. My final and most emphatic thanks go to my family. Thanks to my parents, Ronald Larson, and Linda Larson, who have provided expert guidance and advice to me throughout my life. They, more than any other people, taught me the value of hard work and perseverance. An incredible amount of thanks must also go to my amazing wife Leslie Larson for her support and assistance during this arduous process. I must also thank my sons, Bradley Larson and Maddox Larson. They spent the majority of their early years dealing with parents who were always vii reading, writing, and studying. Hopefully, we have set an example that they will follow in their own lives. viii Dedication To all those brave enough to challenge the status quo ix Preface Many historians have attempted to explain why it took over forty years for the United States military to establish the United States Air Force on September 18, 1947. Some postulate that American airpower was simply too weak to develop into a separate service prior to the end of World War II. Others argue that airmen were too focused on arguments over the internal structure of their service to devote their energies toward gaining independence. However, the truth of the matter is that airmen wanted to gain centralized control over airpower from nearly the beginning. On August 1, 1907, the United States Army activated the Aeronautical Division, United States Signal Corps.1 The men of Aeronautical Division quickly discovered that their colleagues in the U.S. Army, as well as their superiors in both the Army and the War Department, did not quite know what to make of aviation.2 Worse still the U.S. Army didn’t have enough money to buy an aircraft for the men in the Aeronautical Division to fly until Theodore Roosevelt, the President of the United States, interceded on their behalf in 1908. One year later, on August 2, 1909, the Wright brothers delivered the Aeronautical Division’s first aircraft, named Signal Corps No. 1.3 The fact that it took two years for the Army to procure an aircraft for the Aeronautical Division was important because it made airmen feel as though their superiors did not care. In the 1 On that date, there were three men assigned to the Aeronautical Division: Captain Charles deforest Chandler, Corporal Edward War, and Private First Class Joseph E. Barrett. Juliette Hennessy, The United States Army Air Arm, April 1861 to April 1917 (USAF Historical Study No. 98, 1958), pp. 26-27. 2 Brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first successful powered flight on December 17, 1903. Orville flew a total of 120 feet became coming to a stop. Fred C. Kelly, ed. Miracle at Kitty Hawk, The Letters of Wilbur & Orville Wright (New York: Da Capo Press, 2002), pp. 112-113. 3 Meghan Cunningham, ed. The Logbook of Signal Corps No. 1: The U.S. Army’s First Airplane (Washington, D.C.: Air Force History and Museums Program, 2004), pp. 3-7. 1 Army’s defense, the service did not drag its feet when it came to purchasing the aircraft. The delay was the result of the convoluted contracting process. However, the airmen did not see things that way. They were frustrated that they could fly. They were angered that the Army did not seem to be as enthusiastic as they were about aviation. Thus, they developed an adversarial attitude that shaped future interactions between airmen and their non-flying superiors in the U.S. Army. The difficulties that aviators faced continued as they tried to build the U.S.’s first air force. In addition to their superiors in the U.S Army, the airmen had to contend with members of the U.S. Congress who did not understand aviation in the least. Reflecting on the early days of the Aeronautical Division, Major General Benjamin