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Show The expanded program, the department de-partment stated, would make the army air force one of the world's largest universities for applied science, sci-ence, with a total of more than 100 flying and technical training schools in operation. The training course envisages the use of 41 civilian schools giving 10 weeks of elementary training, 15 military and three civilian schools giving basic training, three flexible gunnery military schools, one civil navigation school, three replacement training renters for pilots, bombar-j diers and navigators, and three nav-l igator and six bombardier schools.' Technical training of enlisted specialists spe-cialists will be conducted at 19 other oth-er schools and three replacement training centers. Secretary Stimson also announced a three-fold expansion of the officers' offi-cers' training course at Fort Ben-ning Ben-ning in rifle and machine gun use, and new, developments in a second program to train over 350,000 civilian civil-ian employees in army-operated defense de-fense plants. United States Army Step Up Training to Reach Goal by June 30. WASHINGTON. Increasing its 54 combat groups to 84, the army air force is to be expanded by June 30 to 400,000 men, with a subsequent expansion to 500,000 in view. This statement by the war department depart-ment contrasted the new objective with the June 30, 1940, air force personnel, per-sonnel, comprising only 45,914 enlisted en-listed men, 3,322 regular and reserve re-serve officers and 1, 94 flying cadets, ca-dets, a total of 51,130. Secretary Stimson explained that the aim was to meet "growing requirements re-quirements for adequate defense of the United States and areas within the Western hemisphere vital to that defense." Some of the groups provided by the new air training program would be assigned to overseas service in the Western hemisphere, the department depart-ment said, but the bulk of them would be allocated to the air force combat command. Trainer Planes in Plenty. This command includes bombardment, bombard-ment, pursuit and reconnaisance groups, and each group is composed of two or more squadrons, depending depend-ing on type of equipment and tactical tacti-cal tasks. Mr. Stimson said he did not know just how many more planes would be required for the enlarged program, pro-gram, but said it could be safely assumed that trainer planes were coming along fast enough- to insure that it would be fully under way by June 30. Completion of the program, involving in-volving the provision of the necessary neces-sary planes, materiel, personnel, bases and equipment presented "a problem worthy of the utmost effort, efficiency and co-ordination on the part of the army, the army air forces, the aviation industry and the American people," the department stated. The expansion will be carried out within the framework of the present pres-ent army air force, now in process of detailed organization by Maj. Gen Henry H. Arnold, chief of this branch. It calls for the training of 30,000 pilots and 100,000 technicians |