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Article Excerpt
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Almost from the beginning of military aviation, American airmen dreamed of having a service independent from land and sea control, and also of a military school, an air academy, that would educate young men on the unique features of air power and how it should be employed. Achieving independence and establishing such an academy would take several decades. It was not until 1947 that the Air Force became a separate service, and not until 1954 that the Air Force Academy was finally established. In June 1959--fifty years ago this month--the first group of young officers graduated from that Academy. The path to that event was protracted and twisting.
At the end of World War I, Lt. Col. A. J. Hanlon wrote: "As the Military and Naval Academies are the backbone of the Army and Navy, so must the Aeronautical Academy be the backbone of the Air Service." (1) Many others voiced similar opinions over the next several decades, but it would be nearly forty years before these visions became a reality.
The main reason for this long gestation was simple: airmen first had to justify the need for a separate Air Force. They had to prove air power was vitally important while also holding the potential of being strategically decisive, thus meriting independence from surface-officer control. Once that was done, they could rationalize the need to train and educate air-minded officers to populate that Air Force. Until these events occurred, officers trained at West Point, Annapolis, ROTC, and other commissioning sources were adequate for the air arm. (2)
The move towards a separate Air Force was inexorable. As aircraft became ever more capable following World War I, the air arm achieved greater autonomy. In 1921, the Air Service was officially established within the Army as a combat branch. In 1926, the Air Corps Act gave the air arm greater authority to run its own affairs as well as an increased budget. The General Headquarters (GHQ) Air Force of 1935 was a further step toward independence. World War II brought the Army Air Forces (AAF), commanded by a five-star airman, and virtual autonomy. This global conflict made clear to all but the most inveterate opponents of change that air power had earned its place as a coequal branch of the armed services. The Air Force became a reality on September 18, 1947. Step one achieved.
The following month, a congressman from Texas introduced legislation to establish an air academy, to be located at Randolph Field outside San Antonio. A flurry of similar bills followed, introduced by congressmen and senators from all over the country--most stipulating that the new air academy be located in their state or district. (3) Air Force leaders were ambivalent about these legislative efforts. There were a host of critical issues that needed to be addressed by the new service; an air academy was but one of many. In addition, Air Force Secretary Stuart Symington informed Defense Secretary James Forrestal that if the Army and Navy would allocate one-third of their academy graduating classes each year to the Air Force, a new air academy might not even be necessary! Also, the Air Force was reluctant to embrace any bill that tied an academy to a specific site. The exact location and even purpose of an air academy--notably, should it include flight training--were not yet obvious, so Symington thought it was premature to commit to specifics.(4) Obviously, the Air Force did not yet know what it wanted.
Nonetheless, the positive actions in Congress spurred the Air Force in early 1948 to prepare legislative language that called for an air academy that would be a four-year program, located at Randolph, and that would award an accredited baccalaureate degree. There was no mention of flight training. (5) On June 1, the Air Force forwarded its hastily prepared bill to the Bureau of the Budget for review, approval, and submission to Congress. The director, Frank Pace, declined to forward the proposal, stating that it was incomplete. Pace instead called for a "thorough study to be made of the functions which such an Academy is expected to perform ... and of the organization, size, and type of training required." (6)
Pace's dash of cold water contained wisdom. Despite its emerging eagerness to move forward on an academy, Symington's musings made clear the Air Force had not really thought the matter through. Decisions regarding the size, function, duration and mission of an air academy were not obvious, with several suggestions made over the years. For example, Gen. Henry H. "Hap" Arnold--the wartime head of the AAF--had called for a joint, two-year school that would inculcate basic ideas on scholarship, discipline, and common military +customs and courtesies. He saw this period as useful for instilling a sense of teamwork and helping to combat the debilitating interservice parochialism he had so often witnessed. Students would then separate and attend service-specific academies for two more years to learn the details of their profession. All would graduate with diplomas and commissions. (7)
Other senior airmen had different ideas. General Carl Spaatz, Arnold's successor and first Air Force chief of staff, thought that prospective officers should first attend two years at a civilian university. An air academy would then serve as a two-year finishing school that would award a commission. Others pushed for a four-year military school like West Point. (8)
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To clear the air, in mid-1948 the Air Force chief of staff, General Hoyt Vandenberg, convened a board at Air University that was chaired by his vice chief of staff, General Muir Fairchild. This Fairchild Board was composed of several high-ranking Air Force generals as well as the superintendent of West Point. The Board was directed to address two fundamental questions: first, should an air academy include flight training in its curriculum. Second, should the air academy be a four-year military school like West...
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