America Trails in World Aeronautics

[Editor’s Note: Many are aware that Gen. William “Billy” Mitchell was court-martialed in 1925 for his outspoken position regarding air power. Many are also aware that he accurately predicted the war with Japan, the attack of the Hawaiian Islands and the importance that air power would play in future conflicts. At the time many of these ideas were scoffed at by senior commanders. Few of us have had the opportunity to see firsthand what General Mitchell was actually espousing. The following article is the second in a series General Mitchell wrote for Aeronautics magazine in 1929, others of which will be presented in future issues.]

ONE often hears the question, “Who leads the world in aeronautics?”

In order to answer that, we must look at the matter from as impartial a viewpoint as possible, unaffected by the vaporings [sic] of the political bureaus in Washington, or the writings that emanate from certain political-financial groups. The former are trying to maintain their positions by flooding the country with information, a great deal of which is mere “bunk,” while the latter are busy making money out of aviation, either by selling aircraft to the government at ridiculously high prices, or promoting aviation from a stock-jobbing standpoint.

The Navy Department has been the greatest hindrance to the development of aeronautics in the United States by preventing the organization of a department of the air, with a secretary in the cabinet of the President. It is one of the worst examples in our history of a pernicious lobby established and maintained by one of the departments of our government which has subverted the public good and national defense to personal greed and private gain. The way that the lobby works is insidious in the extreme. It is difficult to fix responsibility on the individual and those who know most about it are unwilling to give testimony in specific instances.

The Navy Department, to further their propaganda in favor of battleships, cruisers and the absorption of all aviation into the Navy, work through various channels. Their Intelligence
Division regularly sends out printed matter to various naval officers scattered through the country, to be used as propaganda. Part of this intelligence is for publication and part is secret. Wherever possible, naval reserve officers are placed on the editorial staffs of the large journals that sway the opinion of the country. As opposed to this, there is no de partment of aeronautics to put out its own propaganda about air power.

The Naval Committees in both the Senate and House of Representatives are entirely dominated by the Navy Department. They seldom hear, nor are they allowed to hear, anything that shows the great superiority of air power over sea power, the impotence of our naval defense, the number of useless naval stations maintained by the Navy, and the complete inefficiency of the so-called Naval Air Force.

The Military committees take much the same attitude that the naval committees do. As they also are more or less dominated by the naval clique in Washington, they have little to say for themselves. Most people think there are air committees in Congress but such is not the case. All aeronautical legislation . . .