�This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 42 -- US?I? !?m?o?c?,. S?Lrr?s years 1926-39. a? After the national defense measures of 1939 there was little reduction of Air Corps estimates by the War Depart- ment and the Bureau of the Budget and even less after Pearl Harbor. Congress was also prompt m pastarig legLslation which would enable the AAF to make better use of the sums granted ?o ?t, and showed a very cooperative sprat in legislation dealing with AAF personnel matters. ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES IN THE AIR ARM Despite all ?t chd to build up the strength of the air arm Congress did little in this period to change and ?mprove the organi- zation of the AAF and the position it held in relation to the other serwces and organi- zations in the War Department. Such or- g?nizational changes as were effected were made within the Army and the War De. partment and were administrative rather than legislahve. The June 1941 reorganizahon of the Army air arm, by winch the Army A?r Forces had been constituted, was an nnprovement on the preceding orgamzation and, as already noted,* constltuted the first sigmficant ad- vance toward autonomy since the creatxon of the GHQ Air Force in 1935. This 1941 re- organizatxon was not completely satisfac- tory, however; the orgamzational setup was such that the Air Staff received orders from both the General Headquarters and the General Staff. And many A?r Force officers felt that it did not give the AAF the degree of autonomy necessary for satisfactory eraboris, that the mr arm was so toronto- scribed by the General S?aff that it could do virtually nothing on its own. Brig. Gert. Carl Spaatz, Chief of Air Staff, realized that the antiquated War Depart- ment structure was not adequate for the task of carrying on a great war, and he felt that the position of the mr arm within the general orgamzationaI structure was not satisfactory. Therefore, he recommended a reorganization of the War Department to eliminate General Headquarters and create three autonomous arms: the ground forces, the air forces, and the service command. A small, streamlined General S?aff would be
- B?.e above, p 3.5
created to fit the new orgamzation. Thin recommendation was flatly rejected ?o On 14 November 1941 General Arnold, Chief of the AAF, submitted another pro- posal in which he pointed out that the de- velopment of the air arm now gave the military commander two strLking arms rather than one--hence the War Depart- ment should be streamlined so as to pro- vide unity of command not only witrnn each of its fighting arms (the ground force and the a?r force), but also over both of them. Each arm should have ?ts own commander, and a superior coordinating officer should be over both of them. FinalIy, Arnold proposed that both the ground forces and the ear forces should have equal access to the service and supply forces, the latter to be grouped under still another commanderJ ? The War Plans D?vi?ion of the General Staff concurred in the principles and gen- eral organization thus recommended by Ar- nold, and ?nitiated plans for a detailed study of the proposal. Soon after Pearl Har- bor the War Department Reorgamzation Committee, headed by Ma]. Gem ?oseph T. McNarney, went to work on the study, and on 31 January 1942 submitted a brief memorandum outlining certain proposed changes along with suggestions for convert- ing to the new organization. The comm?t- tee's recommendations followed the gen- eral plan submitted by Arnold. They were approved by the Chief of Staff, and after numerous conferences the sanctions of the Secretary of War and the President were secured. The reorganization was authorized by Executive Order No. 9082, 28 February 1942. Based on authority granted to the President under Title I of the First War Powers Act, 1941, the executive order was implemented by War Department Circular No. 59, 2 March 1942 and became effective one week later. A? now organized, the War Department was consolidated into three coordanate and autonomous forces, each under a commanding general. These were the Army Air Forces, the Army Ground Forces, and the Services of Supply (later the Army Setwee Forces). Over ?hese were a War Department General Staff and a THIS PAGE Declassified lAW EO12958
