+ Larger Font | - Smaller Font

The Creation Of The U.S. Air Corps

 

Mason Patrick.

As military aviation struggled to find its place in the period between the world wars, budget restraints, disorganization, and politics almost destroyed the fledgling Air Service. Though air power’s leading advocates attempted to promote it, they were often brash and inept and sometime did more harm than good. It was only through the service of an experienced military man, Mason Patrick, that the Air Service survived during a time of massive military cuts and took the first official steps toward an independent aviation branch.

Born during the American Civil War, Patrick was the son of a Confederate surgeon. He graduated second in his West Point class of 1886, which also included future military leaders John J. Pershing and Charles T. Menoher. Upon graduation, he joined the Army Corps of Engineers. In 1916, as a colonel, he led the First Regiment of Engineers in the Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa in Mexico and when America entered the World War in 1917, he was sent to Europe as a brigadier general overseeing the construction of the ports, railroads, depots, and airfields needed to support the American Expeditionary Forces.

Patrick’s wartime career as an engineer ended on May 10, 1918, when his old classmate Jack Pershing asked him to assume command of the Air Service. Feeling that personality clashes among its leadership were hurting the Air Service’s effectiveness, Pershing sought Patrick’s exceptional organizational and administrative skills to "whip it into shape." Despite reservations, Patrick accepted the position. He instituted realistic plans and discipline to the unit and by the end of the war, the Air Service had become efficient and well run. Patrick then oversaw the demobilization of the combat Air Service units and returned to the Corps of Engineers, planning to spend his last few years until retirement as commander of the army’s engineering school.

But by 1921, the Air Service had fallen into disarray again. With the decrease in defense spending after the war, the Air Service’s budget had been cut by 60 percent between 1919 and 1921. At the end of the war, it had counted almost 2,219 officers, but by 1921, only 950 remained. Billy Mitchell was staging bombing tests against naval targets to prove that aviation deserved a larger share of the military budget, but his public crusading was doing more to damage the cause than further it. Because Air Service Chief Charles T. Menoher was unable to manage Mitchell, Menoher was asked to resign. The War Department then turned to Patrick, who seemed to be the only army officer who could manage Mitchell. He was assigned to "come in and shake the foolishness out of this new service and sit on the lid."

On arrival, Patrick studied the Air Service’s operations. He quickly understood the degree to which budget cuts were destroying the service’s ability to fulfill its mission. During 1923 congressional budget hearings, Patrick said that the budget cuts had left an Air Service that was "practically demobilized and unable to play its part in any national emergency with its present inadequate strength and organization." The Air Service had too few pilots flying too few outdated airplanes. World War I surplus planes still formed the base of the Air Service, and most of these were not well maintained--in 1922, the Air Service counted 3,369 planes, but only 910 were usable. With the rapid improvements in aircraft design, even these planes were obsolete, and would be liabilities if they had to go into combat. Patrick fought to increase the Air Service’s size, adding personnel, especially trained pilots, and building up the supply of equipment. This would ensure that the Air Service would be able to enter combat on the first day of war to gain air superiority and maintain it.

 Patrick knew he had to learn to fly in order to gain the respect of his men. So, at the age of 59, he earned his pilots license. He flew whenever possible to demonstrate his confidence in the Air Service’s equipment and personnel. And although in 1920, he had spoken out publicly against an independent air service, he began changing his mind after he took over the Air Service. As an experienced military man, he knew that while the principles of war never change, the weapons do. He learned about the theories of aerial warfare and studied the results of World War I. He realized that airplanes were most effective when used for offense. He began to embrace the theory that military aviation could be divided into two areas: air service (attached to ground units, performing tasks such as reconnaissance and artillery targeting) and air force (pursuit, bombardment, and other units devoted to offensive purposes). Because air force activity did not depend on coordination with ground units, Patrick felt there was no reason it had to be part of the army. This theory became the backbone of his campaign for an independent air service.

Click on Picture to enlarge

This plane is painted in the special colors of the DH-4B of Maj. Gen. Mason M. Patrick, Chief of Air Service, U.S. Army from Oct. 1921 to Dec. 1927

Patrick encouraged his senior staff to lobby for independence. He wrote articles aimed at military personnel and lectured at the War and Staff Colleges. But he was also realistic and knew that he needed to build successes gradually within the system without alienating anyone. He used his experience and political acumen to slowly lobby and work toward independence.

Unfortunately, Patrick’s staff did not always understand the need for tact and diplomacy. Billy Mitchell continued to provoke the General Staff, despite Patrick’s efforts to protect him. From 1921 to 1924, he was sent on fact-finding missions, and from there he was assigned to a base in Texas. When Mitchell was finally court-martialed, there was nothing Patrick could do to help him without damaging his own crusade for independence. Yet, he did order his executive assistant, Ira Eaker, to provide Mitchell’s defense team with any Air Service files it might need.

Patrick introduced a carefully crafted bill in January 1926 that would give the Air Service limited autonomy, similar to the Marine Corps. After many changes and much debate, the Army Air Corps Act of 1926 was passed in June. The Air Service was now the Air Corps, the name change reflecting its new independence. Personnel were increased, with 90 percent of all officers required to be pilots. A five-year expansion plan for personnel and equipment was created. And the contracting system was revised, allowing for better collaboration between the Corps and industry.

Many officers wanted to hold out for total independence and found the Air Corps Act unsatisfactory. But in Patrick’s eyes, it was a success. It addressed many of the problems that he had been trying to correct, especially in terms of personnel. He knew that this was the first step toward autonomy. The future of an independent air branch was now ensured.

General Patrick retired the next year. He had led American military aviation through its most controversial years, lending his wisdom, leadership, and organizational and managerial experience to provide structure and focus. He called his years of service "the most strenuous, most interesting years" of his life. Since his retirement, Patrick’s service has been obscured by flashier personalities such as Billy Mitchell or Benjamin Foulois. Even the air force base named after him in Florida has been overshadowed by the adjacent NASA facility, Cape Canaveral (now called Cape Kennedy). But it was Patrick’s calm and political acumen that brought military aviation through its brash adolescence into independent adulthood.

--Pamela Feltus

Sources:

Copp, DeWitt S. "A Few Great Captains": The Men and Events that Shaped the Development of U.S. Air Power. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1980.

Hurley, Alfred F. Billy Mitchell: Crusader for Air Power. New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1964.

 

 

Biography   MAJOR GENERAL MASON M. PATRICK

U N I T E D   S T A T E S   A I R   F O R C E

Retired Dec. 12, 1927.   Died Jan. 29, 1942

.

He was chief of American Expeditionary Force's Air Service in World War I, postwar head of U.S. Air Service, for whom Patrick Air Force Base, Cocoa, Fla., is named. He was born Dec. 13, 1863 at Lewisburg, W.Va., and died Jan. 29, 1942, in Washington, D.C.

Mason Mathews Patrick, son of a surgeon of the Confederate Army, attended private schools in Lewisburg and graduated number two in his class from the U.S. Military Academy in 1886, being a classmate of General John J. Pershing. Patrick served at Long Island, N.Y., for three years. In June 1889 he gave aid to survivors of the Johnstown, Pa., flood. For four years he was in charge of river and harbor work in North and South Carolina.

From 1892 to 1895 he taught at West Point. He went back to engineering work on rivers in Ohio and Tennessee. In 1901 he went to Washington as assistant to the chief of engineers, and returned to West Point for three years as instructor. In 1906 he commanded the 2d Battalion of Engineers in Cuba. From 1909 to 1916 he was in charge of river and harbor work in Virginia and Michigan.

In mid-1916 Patrick organized and commanded the 1st Regiment of Engineers at San Antonio, Texas, serving with it on the Mexican border. In August 1917 he sailed for France to command the 1st Engineers in World War I. In May 1918 General Pershing named him chief of the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force, with rank of major general.

After the war he returned home and became chief of the Air Service on Oct. 5, 1921. Although 60 years old, he learned to fly under instruction of Major Herbert A. Dargue, who later became a major general. As early as 1923 the visionary Mason Patrick stated in a public speech: Undoubtedly the next war will be decided in the air."

In his six-year tenure as chief of Air Service he approved the first flight around the world by Army pilots in 1924 and the Pan-American goodwill flight to every capital in Central and South America. He initiated the experimental flying organization at Wright Field, Ohio, and recommended legislation for the Air Service to become the Air Corps in 1926, under the Secretary of War, but apart from the War Department, which eventually led to the independent U.S. Air Force.

Patrick retired as chief of the Air Corps, Dec. 12, 1927. On Aug. 26, 1950 the Air Force's long-range proving ground base at Cocoa, Fla., was named Patrick Air Force Base in honor of the old airman who died at Walter Reed General Hospital Jan. 29, 1942 at the age of 78.

(From the book "U.S. Air Force Biographical Dictionary" by Col. Flint O. DuPre, USAFR)

 

 

Mason Matthews Patrick
Major General, United States Army

Click on Picture to enlarge

Born at Lewisburg, West Virginia, December 13, 1863, he graduated from West Point in 1886 and was commissioned in the Engineers. For three years, he was at the Engineers School of Application, Willette Point (later Fort Totten), New York, graduating in 1889 and receiving promotion to First Lieutenant in July. In that year he joined relief efforts following the flood at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, May 31.

From 1892 to 1895 he taught engineering at West Point. From 1897 to 1901 he was involved in Mississippi River improvements, advancing to Captain in May 1898, and after two years in the office of the Chief of Engineers he returned to the West Point faculty in 1903-06. Promoted to Major in April 1904, he was assigned in 1907-09 as Chief Engineer for the Army of Cuban Pacification. From 1909 to 1912 he was engaged in river and harbor work in Virginia, becoming a Lieutenant Colonel in 1910.

In 1910-12, he was also a member of a board directing the raising of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor. He was in river and harbor work in Michigan, 1912-16, and was promoted to Colonel of the 1st Engineer Regiment in March 1916, served on the Mexican Border in that year and in 1917 was sent to France for World War I duty. In August he was promoted to temporary Brigadier General and in September was named Chief Engineer of Lines of Communication and Director of Construction and Forestry of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF).

In May 1918 he was appointed by General John J. Pershing to command the combined Air Service of the AEF, until then an uncoordinated collection of often competing units attached to Army and Corps staffs. In June he was advanced to temporary Major General. He remained with the Air Service until June 1919, returning then to the U.S. and to various engineering duties, including Assistant Chief of Engineers in 1920-21. In October 1921, he was promoted to Major General and appointed Chief of the Air Service and, the better to execute his responsibilities, he learned how to fly. Under his direction the Air Service established experimental facilities at Wright Field, Ohio, and a large training facility at San Antonio, Texas. it made great progress in aircraft design and doctrine and its pilots set innumerable speed, distance and altitude records. During April-September 1924, a team of Army pilots in Douglas Liberty 400 bombers made the first round-the-world flight, covering 26,345 miles in 363 hours of flying over a span of 175 days and winning the Collier Trophy for the Air Service. In 1925, he sat on the court martial of his former assistant, Colonel William Mitchell. As a result of urging by Mitchell and Patrick, among others, the Air Service was reorganized as the Air Corps in July 1926, receiving an additional degree of autonomy under an Assistant Secretary of War.

He was reappointed Chief of the Air Service in October 1925 and retired from the Army in December 1927. The following year he published "The U.S. In the Air." From 1929 to 1933 he was Public Utilities Commissioner for the District of Columbia.

He died in Washington, D.C. on January 29, 1942 and was buried in Section 6 of Arlington National Cemetery on January 31, 1942

Click on Picture to enlarge

Mason Patrick was the first real head of American aviation. Although an Army engineer for 30 years, in 1918 General John J. Pershing, Patrick's West Point classmate, appointed him as commander of the Air Service in France. In Pershing's words, there were many fine people in  the air arm, but they were "running around in circles"; he wanted Patrick to make them go straight. Although knowing virtually nothing about aviation at that point, Patrick was an excellent organizer and administrator.

By the end of the war, the Air Service was an efficient and well run combat arm. After the armistice Patrick returned to the Corps of Engineers, but in late 1921 he was recalled to the Air Service. His predecessor, Charles Menoher, could not get along with the most famous airman of the day, William ("Billy") Mitchell, and, in the resulting power struggle, Menoher lost. Because Patrick had managed the difficult airman during the war, he was given the opportunity to do so again. For the next six years Patrick remained at the helm, although Mitchell left the service in 1926.

Patrick's memoir, The United States in the Air (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran, and Co., 1928) is, as the title implies, a rather sweeping look at the function and organization of airpower in this country, rather than a strictly autobiographical work. It is disappointing. The style is leaden, and we are provided very few insights into the personalities and issues so turbulent at the time. Except for the oftrepeated story of how Patrick-upon his assumption of command in October 1921-confronted Mitchell, and won, the controversial airman is barely mentioned. Similarly, the key issues of air strategy during and after the war, the organization of the new air arm and its role in national defense, and its relationships with the Navy are extremely muted. In short, although Patrick was a key player at a most important time in American airpower history, this book sheds little light on anything of importance during that era.

Patrick's only biographer to date is Bruce A. Bingle, who wrote "Building the Foundation: Major General Mason Patrick and the Army Air Arm, 1921-1927," MA thesis, Ohio State, 1981. Bingle does a workmanlike job of presenting a bureaucratic history of the Air Service as seen through the eyes of Patrick. It is a fairly sympathetic account, and portrays the air chief as an airpower advocate as determined as Billy Mitchell, but possessing far more tact and political acumen. Missing, however, is a more personal insight into Patrick's personality and leadership style.

 

PATRICK, MASON MATTHEWS
 

Click on Picture to enlarge

(1863-1942). Major General. Air Corps, 1921-1927. Born 13 December 1863, Lewisburg, WV. BS, United States Military Academy, 1886. Commissioned Additional Second Lieutenant, Corps of Engineers, July 1886 and served to grade of Colonel, 1886-1918. Career assignments include: Chief of Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces, 1918-1919; Assistant Chief of Engineers, 1920-1921; Chief of Air Service (later Air Corps), 1921-1927. Retired December 1927. Died 29 January 1942, Washington, DC. Patrick AFB, FL named in his honor. Author of The United States in the Air (1928).