United States Air Force Academy Colorado Springs - Polaris Yearbook

“A separate; =Air Force * -. * The Army Reorganization Act of 1920 firmly established the Air Service as a fixture in the War De- partment under Army control. This act brought many protests from air pioneers such as " Billy " Mitchell. General Mit- chell ' s doctrine of strategic bombard- ment was the argument he used to fight for an independent Air Service. Mitchell temporarily lost when he was court-mar- tialed for voicing his beliefs too much. Two other aviation pioneers (pictured left flying the " Question Mark " in the world ' s first air-to-air refueling operation) chose a quieter more effective route. Maj. Carl Spaatz, and Capt. Ira Eaker both worked within their allotted boundaries to prove the Air Force ' s worth as a separate branch of the military by showing off the many advantages of the airplane over both land and sea vessels as the nation ' s best first-line defense. Other air pioneers like Charles Lindbergh, Jimmy Doolittle, Hap Arnold, Curtis LeMay, and many others pushed the Congress and Presi- dent toward the reorganization of the armed forces. On July 26, 1947, the na- tional Security Act was signed into law. Executive order 9877 outlined the main mission of all three branches. The Air Force was to be responsible for conduct- ing strategic warfare. Billy Mitchell ' s dream had finally come true. OPErilMG 5 ”