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64th Congress | 
 Sd Session ) 
 
 SENATE 
 
 Document 
 No. 687 
 
 COMMAND OF THE AIR 
 
 • ADDRESS 
 
 DEUVERED BEFORE THE TWENTIETH ANNUAL MEETING OF 
 
 THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL 
 
 SCIENCE. HELD IN PHILADELPHIA, PA.. 
 
 ON APRIL 29. 1916 
 
 By 
 ROBERT E. PEARY 
 
 Rear Admiral, U. S. Navy, Retired 
 
 yy^LT^O"^ 
 
 PRESENTED BY MR. SHEPPARD 
 May 9, 1916. — Referred to the Committee on Printing 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 19i7 
 
li(^ 6 33 
 
 NATIONAL AERIAL COAST PATROL COMMISSION. 
 CENTRAL COMMITTEE. 
 
 Rear Admiral Robert E. Peaky, Chairman. 
 
 Senator Chakles F. Johnson, of Maine. 
 
 Senator Morris Sheppard, of Texas. 
 
 Representative Julius Kahn, of California. 
 
 Representative Charles Lieb, of Indiana. 
 
 Representative Murray Hulbert, of New York. 
 
 Hon. Byron R. Newton, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 Hon. William M. Ingraham, Assistant Secretary of War. 
 
 Dr. E. Lester Jones, Superintendent United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. 
 
 Dr. H. C. Frankenfield, Chief Forecaster United States Weather Bui'eau. 
 
 Hon. Emerson McMillin, 40 Wall Street, New York City. 
 
 Mr. .ToHN Hays Hammond, Jr., Hammond Radio Research Laboratory, Glouces- 
 ter, Mass. 
 
 Mr. Alan R. Hawley, president Aero Club of America, New York City. 
 
 Mr. Henry AVoodhouse, governor Aero Club of America ; director American 
 Society of Aeronautic Engineers ; member committee on industry and educa- 
 tion, Pan-American Aeronautical Federation. 
 
 SECRETARY. 
 Mr. Earl Hamilton Smith. 
 
 STATE MEMBERS. 
 
 Tlie presidents of the affiliated aero clubs of the country. 
 
 The adjutant generals of the several States. 
 
 The coniTiianding officers of the Naval Militias of tlio several States. 
 
 2 
 
 D« of D. 
 
 FEB 14 1917 
 
Senate Resolution No. 210. 
 
 [reported by MR. PAGE.] 
 
 In the Senate of the United States, 
 
 January 25, 1917. 
 Resolved, That the manuscript submitted by the Senator from 
 Texas [Mr. Sheppard] on May 9, 1916, entitled " Command of the 
 Air," an address by Rear Admiral Robert E. Peary, United States 
 Navy, retired, before the American Academy of Political and Social 
 Science, be printed as a Senate document. 
 Attest : 
 
 James M. Baker, Secretary. 
 
COMMAND OF THE AIR. 
 
 [By RoBEKT E. Peary, Rear Admiral, U. S. Navy, Retired.] 
 
 Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen: We do not respect a man 
 unless he possesses some elements of force of character, and no 
 nation can win respect or exert influence unless it stands" for f orcef ul- 
 ness and strength. 
 
 In no way can we as a Nation stand so effectively for forcefulness, 
 for strength, and for world influence as by command of the air. 
 
 Our geographical position, our size, our resources, our wealth, our 
 astonishing national growth, the watchfulness of Providence which 
 has accompanied more than one of our national crises, all indicate 
 that our role in the world's future, that our part in world influence, 
 is to be of the first importance. 
 
 Just as in the War with Spain, events external to us and beyond our 
 control forced us from our position of isolation into that of a world 
 power, with jDOSsessions and interests circling the globe, so to-day events 
 external to us and entirely beyond our control are shaping for us a 
 position and an influence greater than ever before. 
 
 To touch ujjon only one of the directions in which that world influ- 
 ence will act, I will note our position as the most influential member of 
 that American federation which is surely coming; a federation of 
 peaceful, prosperous, autonomous States, impregnable in their union, 
 occupying the entire Western Hemisphere, seated upon two conti- 
 nents, reaching from pole to pole. 
 
 In that coming world influence the one great dominant thing which 
 will overshadow all else will be air superiority and power. 
 
 Twenty- four hundred years ago Themistocles, Athenian statesman, 
 soldier, and creator of Athenian naval policy, asserted the principle 
 that " He who commands the sea commands all." 
 
 With the naval victory of Salamis, which changed the history of 
 the world, he drove home the truth of his principle, and sent it down 
 the centuries to be a living axiom of national power and influence 
 to-day. 
 
 " He who commands the sea commands all " still holds good. But 
 it has a rival, the command of the air, without which it is beginning 
 to be valueless, and in the near future it will be superseded entirely 
 by the axiom, " He who commands the air commands all." 
 
 However, we can not yet minimize the importance of command of 
 the seas. The battle cruiser offers us the quickest and surest means 
 of securing that command, but that is another story, Wliat we must 
 do now is to insure command of the air or we shall be hopelessly 
 outclassed. 
 
 Great and important as is a sufficient Navy for our safety, I speak 
 advisedly when I say that our air service of the near future will be 
 more vital to our safety than our Navy and our Army combined. 
 
 The United States Armv was the first army to have an aeroplane 
 in 1909. 
 
 Our Navy was the first na\'y to have a seaplane in 1911. 
 
 5 
 
6 COMMAND OF THE AIR. 
 
 Yet, where are we now ? We have, Army and Navy together, less 
 than 100 aeroplanes and could hardly muster 50 aviators. 
 
 Little Bulgaria, with an area somewhat greater than Maine and a 
 population less than Massachusetts, has over 300 aeroplanes. 
 
 The personnel of the French air service to-day numbers more offi- 
 cers and men than there are in our entire Army. 
 
 The personnel of the British air service numbers more officers 
 and men than we have in our entire Navy. 
 
 Germany has not less than 9,000 aeroplanes, and all these countries 
 are constantly adding with feverish haste to their equipment in this 
 department. 
 
 The ministries of these nations which have thousands of aeroplanes, 
 and whose frontiers are insignificant compared with ours, are con- 
 stantly apologizing to the people of their countries for not being 
 able to increase their air fleets fast enough to defend their country 
 and protect the lives of their people. 
 
 The sooner Ave wake up to the fact that command of the air is abso- 
 lutely vital to our safety and that it can be secured more quickly and 
 at less cost than any other form of defense, the better it will be for us. 
 
 AEROPLANE HAS COMPLETELY CHANGED MODERN WARFARE. 
 
 The aeroplane has completely changed modern warfare. 
 
 Surprise attacks are no longer possible. And if one of the con- 
 testants can secure command of the air and deprive the other of it 
 conditions immediately become those of a fight between a blind man 
 and one in possession of his eyesight. 
 
 In the present struggle abroad the air strength of the contestants 
 on the western front is so neai'ly equal that the balance wavers from 
 side to side, first one and then the other having the advantage. 
 
 In our case our geographical position gives us a natural advantage 
 which if we utilize now should relieve us of anxiety. 
 
 An attack upon us must come by sea. Our coast line as a base gives 
 us an inestimable advantage in aerial warfare, and will enable us to 
 send out such a veritable cloud of aeroplanes as would completely 
 overwhelm and destroy any number of aeroplanes that could be trans- 
 ported on the decks of a hostile fleet, thus leaving us in the possession 
 of our eyes and the enemy blinded. 
 
 But we must be ready before the fact. There will be no time to 
 get ready when tlie attack comes. 
 
 Once an enemy seciu^es a base on our shores any and every city in 
 the country may be the prey of his air squadrons. 
 
 And a single squadron of aerophines sweeping across New York, 
 Philadelphia. Baltimore, or Washington, in a frightful shower of 
 falling bombs, Avould cause more damage in an hour than our entire 
 air service would cost. 
 
 We should have at the very minimum not less than 2,000 seaplanes 
 ready for duty on the Atlantic coast and an equal number on the 
 Pacific; 5.000 on each coast would be much better. 
 
 At each important place squadrons of aeroplanes should be parked 
 like tents of the summer encampment of the National Guard. 
 
 Do not think I am talking wildly. In 1900 there Avere some 700 
 automobiles in this country. To-day there are some 3,000,000, and 
 it has been estimated that the output for this year Avill be over 
 1,000,000. The growth of the aeroplane Avill be equally or more 
 rapid than that of the automobile. 
 
COMMAND OF THE AIK. 
 
 AERO COAST PATROL. 
 
 I have the honor to be chairman of a commission which is working 
 on a definite constructive proposition that will give us a continuous 
 picket line of seaplanes around the entire country to warn of the 
 approach of an enemy. 
 
 A central committee made up of two United States Senators, a 
 leader of the House, an Assistant Secretary, a head of a department, 
 a New York banker, and one of our foremost inventors is located in 
 Washington. 
 
 The adjutant general of every State and the commanding officer 
 of each State Naval Militia is a member of the commission. 
 
 The total cost of the system will be about $500,000. This is one- 
 third as much as was laised both by France and by Germany by 
 public subscription previous to the war for their air services. 
 
 The cost of ench section will be $10,000. This is an amount easily 
 within the reach of most coast communities and within the reach of 
 hundreds of individuals in those communities. 
 
 Maine was the first to take up and formally indorse this system, 
 and Maine will have the honor of establishing the first station of 
 the system this summer. 
 
 Fourteen other States have the funds assured for a section of the 
 system in each of those States. 
 
 The conception is this: A continuous picket line of seaplanes or 
 flying boats 50 miles or more offshore and 2,000 feet or more in the 
 air around our entire coasts from Eastport, Me., to Brownsville, 
 Tex., and from San Diego, Cal., to Cape Flattery, Wash., each 
 machine traveling back and forth, back and forth, over its section or 
 '' beat," a winged sentinel, forming a cordon, a continuous line of 
 whirring shuttles, weaving a l)lanket of protection around the 
 country. 
 
 The idea is to divide our entire coast lines into sections of con- 
 venient length, say, about 100 miles. 
 
 Each of these sections and stations will be equipped with a sea- 
 plane. Each of these machines will carry a driver and an observer 
 and be equipped with light wireless apparatus, powerful glasses, and 
 a sensitive microphone. 
 
 When in active operation these seaplanes in each section will take 
 their position some 50 miles offshore and patrol their respective beats 
 continuously back and forth, in clear weather 2,000 feet or more 
 above the sea, from which altitude ships 50 miles distant may be 
 seen. At night or in the fog the seaplanes would, of course, sweep 
 much lower, at all times themselves invisible to an enemy. 
 
 By means of the wireless information as to the character, number, 
 and apparent destination of approaching ships will be transmitted 
 to the shore stations, and from these to Washington, whence, if the 
 ships were hostile, orders will issue directing the mo^•ements of our 
 fleet and the submarine squadrons, for the preparation of the coast 
 defenses, and for the concentration of troops, if necessary, while 
 reserve planes, hurrying out, will keep the approaching craft under 
 continuous inspection while themselves invisible. 
 
 Such a system is a new departure. The like of it exists nowhere 
 at present, and yet it involves no new principle, but is simply the 
 utilization and midtiplication of the known capabilities of a single 
 seaplane. 
 
8 COMMAND OF THE AIR. 
 
 Follow me a moment. One of these seaplanes is traversing its 
 beat 50 to 100 miles west of San Francisco and 2,000 feet or more up 
 in the air. A ship or ships appear on the horizon 50 miles farther 
 out. The powerful glasses are brought into play by the observer. 
 His trained eye recognizes the number, character, and course of the 
 ships. 
 
 The wireless crackles the information to the shore station. The 
 shore station transmits it to the great Government wireless station 
 at San Diego. That station snaps it eastward across the Rockies. 
 In a few minutes Washington knows all about it, and, if necessary, 
 orders are snapped back to San Francisco for whatever action is 
 advisable. 
 
 Let us imagine it is war. This advance notice of the approach of 
 the enemy is the first step. In modern warfare hours and even 
 minutes may spell victory. The enemy is still unaware that his 
 approach is known, for the sentinel seaplane was invisible to him. 
 
 With the next step a cloud of scout aeroplanes sweep out in such 
 numbers as to overwhelm and destroy the enemy's aeroplanes, leaving 
 him blinded. 
 
 Then follow the squadrons of great battle triplanes, each machine 
 carrying several tons of high explosives to drop upon the hostile fleet. 
 You can imagine the result. 
 
 In time of peace the undoubted improvement and perfecting of our 
 seaplanes as a result of the 50 or more machines in this system in con- 
 stant practice and training along our coasts may be worth the cost 
 of the entire system. 
 
 If the system results in training the entire personnel of the militia 
 aviation sections of our coast States, it will have returned full value 
 on the cost of the system. 
 
 And a single plane might discover, report, and send assistance to a 
 ship in distress that with cargo would be equal in value to the total 
 cost of the system. 
 
 It is proposed to supply the equipment of these stations ($10,000 for 
 a station) by the private initiative and generosity of the coast com- 
 munities. Once c()uipped the stations will be turned over to the con- 
 trol of the Naval Militia, and the maintenance and upkeep of the sta- 
 tions M'ill be met by that department. 
 
 Don't think me overvisionary or fantastic. Somewhere in the Book 
 of Provoi-bs there is the saying (I can not quote it verbatim) , " Where 
 a people hath no vision, it shall perish." 
 
 England's bitter lesson. 
 
 Two years ago England was as we are now, asleep, and with more 
 reiison tlian Ave, for the possibilities of the aeroplane were not then 
 known, while avc now have before us an object lesson Avhich no intelli- 
 gent mind that knows the facts can fail to understand. 
 
 They felt secure, as we do now. The idea that anything could reach 
 or harin them in their tight little island was preposterous. • 
 
 To-day the papers, the people, and members of Parliament in Eng- 
 land are saying, " Give us a man at the head of our air department 
 who can protect us from the airships of the enemy, and if he does not 
 doit, hang him." 
 
 We shall be saying the same in the near future, if we do not learn 
 and utilize now the lesson Providence has put before us. 
 
COMMAND OF THE "AIR. 9 
 
 We have the chance to learn it in peace and sunshine. Our neigh- 
 bors across the water are learning it in tears and bloodshed. 
 
 Suppose such a horror from the air should fall upon this city as 
 has already fallen more than once upon the east coast of England, 
 leaving a trail of dead and dismembered women and children, muti- 
 lated m.en. and ruined property. Would the whole country flame 
 with rage? Would there be a snarl of "Why has this happened? " 
 " Who is responsible? " " Whv were we not readv to prevent it? " 
 
 The following will give some idea of how death and destruction, 
 fear, rage, and bitterness of spirit have driven home to England the 
 vital importance of air power. 
 
 Equally instructive material could be presented from Germany, 
 from France, from Italy, from Eussia, but the British material is 
 more convenient and accessible. 
 
 Mr. Balfour in the House of Commons said that — 
 
 It would nvail nothing to England to have control of the sea unless it had 
 also control of the air. 
 
 Lord Montagu, of Beaulieu, in the House of Lords, March 9 said : 
 
 At the present time the nir service is merely finxiliary to the fightins forces 
 of the navy and army. I can see a time coming when the air service will be 
 more important than the army and navy. We must get into the haV»it of looking 
 at the air service not as an auxiliary to the army and navy but as a gi'ent serv- 
 ice which is an establishment of itself and to which we shall have to look in 
 future years for tlie defense of this country. 
 
 The advantages of our insularity are rapidly disappearing. Upon the effi- 
 ciency of the air service much will depend. Let it not be said with shame of 
 our generation that we did not trouble to guard in the air what our forefathers 
 won on the sea. 
 
 Lord Beresford said that — 
 
 The new air warfare is going to be of so tremendous a character that it may 
 supersede the army and navy. Any way, we should be ahead in the air the 
 same as we are on the water. 
 
 On the 22d of March in the British House of Commons the follow- 
 ing statements were made in the course of debate : 
 
 For dealing with this very pressing question of the air, there should be sit- 
 tings every day and if necessary all day until some solution is found for our 
 third-class position as an air power. 
 
 Our national pride has suffered a blow which it will take us many years and 
 much labor to recover from, 
 
 NATIONAL EXISTENCE WILL LIE IN AIR. 
 
 Our very national existence in the next 20 years will lie in the ocean of the 
 air. Within the next 5 or 10 years we may live to see the sky darkened by 
 aeroplanes. The idea of a country owning 500 aeroplanes will be looked upon as 
 a humorous event of the past. 
 
 The supremacy of the air lies ready to any Government wliich has sufficient 
 initiative to see to it. 
 
 At a meeting called by the United Wards Club of the city of Lon- 
 don on March 28 a resolution was moved — 
 
 That the meeting considers the most effective means of protection against air 
 raids would be by the creation and maintenance of an efficient air fleet in addi- 
 tion to and independent of the existing naval and military requirements. 
 
 At this meeting Mr. Pemberton-Billing, a member of the House 
 of Commons, said : 
 
 What we want to 5)ring about is something grander than the air defense of 
 London. We want to demand of the Government that the money, brains, ability, 
 
10 COMMAND OF THp] AIR. 
 
 aud resources we possess shall be employed and that we shnll gain as soon as 
 possible and maintain forever the supremacy of the air. 
 
 ;:: * * :■: ■■:■ * * 
 
 For the cost of two days' war we could have such a fleet of aerophmes as 
 would darken the skies. We must do it. This country must be supreme in 
 the air. 
 
 It has been sut?gested that I am a man of one idea. Before many years have 
 passed th.-it one idea will occupy the minds of many men of this country, and 
 women, too. Every inland town lies on the coast of the ocean of the air, liable 
 to instant aud \iolent attack. Wlien we think that in about 10 years' time 
 countries will possess not 1,000 but 100,000 aeroplanes, at the cost of a few bat- 
 tleships, it is a terrible thought. 
 
 These aeroplanes will fly at a speed of 100 to 120 miles an hour. Their 
 powers of mobilization will l>e alarming. It means that if our relationship 
 with another country is strained at 6 o'clock in the evening befoi-e we arise 
 in the morning it will be possible for our principal towns and cities to be laid 
 waste. 
 
 Lord Montagu, of Beaulieii, guest of the Liberal War Committee, 
 at a luncheon at the House of Commons, March 22. said among other 
 things : 
 
 He had come to speak to a serious and well-informed body on the need of 
 concentrating special attention and effort on aviation. He was pleading for 
 a more energetic policy in regard to all forms of aircraft. 
 
 :;: * :;: * * * * 
 
 The struggle foi' supremacy in the air w.is oidy just beginning and would 
 not stop when peace came. 
 
 ■;: -;: •:■■ ■:■■' K- * * 
 
 Compared with the cost of dreadnaughts, field guns, and armies in the field 
 the cost of even a huge aerial fleet would be small. 
 
 What was wanted now in our statesmen and in our nation was more power 
 of imagination. They could neither win nor hold an empire merely by "safe" 
 policies. " Safe " men were all very well for times of peace. But time came 
 when they might be dangerous. What they wanted now was new men with new 
 ideas. 
 
 I'roblems of the air were all new. There were no precedents to bear in 
 mind, no tiles to refer to, no historical works to consult. 
 
 The new service would need leaders who had ideals, foresight, imagination, 
 and scientific training. These leaders must always have a clear vision of 
 future possibilities, most of which were probabilities. 
 
 All that I have read applies equally to us. It might be said in 
 Washington, in committee room, or on the floor of Congress. 
 
 One week of present war cost to Great Britain Avould give this 
 country such a fleet of aeroplanes as could in an emergency rise from 
 our shores literally like a flock of sea gulls, to defend and insure our 
 national integrity. 
 
 The basic ideals of this country, born of our ancestry, our national 
 grow th, our physical position, are bigness and realization. 
 
 These two ideals are our ever-present, though sometimes uncon- 
 scious, trend in every line of efi^ort. 
 
 Here is an opportunity for us to make good on these ideals on a 
 great scale by taking up in earnest the air service of this Nation, 
 recognizing that it is the coming science, and putting it and ourselves 
 in the very Avorld van. 
 
 Our geographical position, our national rank and standing, our 
 national safety, demand it. Our resources and mechanical genius not 
 only permit it but make it easily possible. Shall yve do it? Mr. 
 Cliairman, I would to God that I might have the power to transmit to 
 this audience the intensity of my feelings on this subject. It is vital, 
 vital, vital to us, this command of the air. 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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