In contrast to all this development the United States at the time of its entry into the war stood very little ahead of where it had been before the world war broke out. Aviation, both in its personnel and its equipment, was included in that part of the Signal Corps known as the Aviation Section, which had been established by Congress July 18, 1914. Its chief was Maj. Gen. George O. Squier, who after four years as military attaché in London, had been put in charge of the Aviation Section in May, 1916, and made Chief Signal Officer on February 14, 1917, continuing to have charge of aviation through nearly the whole of the fiscal year. On April 6, 1917, the total assets on hand consisted of 65 officers, 1,120 men, two small flying fields, less than 300 very second-rate training planes, practically no manufacturing facilities, and only the most meagre technical information as to Europe’s startling developments.
The original American war program, based on an army of a million men, made aviation but a relatively insignificant part of the general military forces. This program, which represented the view of the General Staff before the arrival of the foreign missions, was met by two appropriations, $10,800,000 on May 12, 1917, and $43,450,000 on June 15, many times larger than any appropriations ever before made.
The British and French missions, however, arriving the last part of April, completely revolutionized this viewpoint. Supported by an urgent cable of May 24 from the premier of France, calling for 2,000 planes a month and a total of 5,000 pilots and 50,000 mechanicians, the $640,000,000 appropriation, the largest ever made by Congress for one specific purpose, was drawn up, put through the House of Representatives Military Affairs Committee in two meetings, the House itself in one, the Senate Military Affairs Committee in 45 minutes, and the Senate itself a week later, becoming law on July 24, 1917. On this date the present large program was really launched, two months and a half after the outbreak of war, and largely in response to allied appeals.
The rest of the fiscal year was taken up in amplifying and executing the lines of effort here laid down. Toward the end of the year, however, it became obvious that the system of organization of an Aviation Section as a subsidiary branch of the Signal Corps was not functioning efficiently. The British and French, perceiving that we were encountering the same kind of obstacles as theirs, strongly recommended a separate, independent air service similar to the air ministries they had been obliged to establish and which have worked so successfully since. As a result, a first step was taken in a rearrangement of duties designed to effect a greater independence and a greater concentration of authority when, on April 24, the War Department authorized the following statement:
“Mr. John D. Ryan has accepted the directorship of aircraft production for the Army.
“A reorganization of the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps has been also effected, of which the principal elements are as follows:
“Gen. Squier, as Chief Signal Officer, will devote his attention to the administration of signals; a Division of Military Aeronautics is created, under the direction of Brig. Gen. William L. Kenly. The Aircraft Board, created by act of Congress, remains as an advisory body, as it has been in the past, with Mr. Ryan as its chairman. This arrangement is made with the entire concurrence of Mr. Howard Coffin, who remains a member of the Advisory Commission of the Council of National Defense and will render assistance and counsel to the Aircraft Board and Mr. Ryan.
“The Division of Military Aeronautics will have control of the training of aviators and military use of aircraft. The exact division of functions in the matter of designing and engineering will be worked out as experience determines between the Division of Military Aeronautics and the Division of Production.
“This announcement involves no change of personnel in the present Equipment Division of the Signal Corps, of which W. C. Potter is chief, and which will continue under his direction.”
This reorganization, however, was admittedly but the first step. The first action taken by the President under the broad powers of the Overman Act was to effect a still further reorganization by taking aviation entirely out of the jurisdiction of the Signal Corps, where it has been from its inception on July 18, 1914, and to set up two separate bureaus, one for securing and training the large flying and ground forces, and the other for providing planes, engines, and equipment.