Show R t lr N NR R pE EN Washington D D. D C. C TERRITORIAL BASES The island bases of the United best States are arc now considered our safeguard against invasion But army and navy get a aI scorching rebuke in a report prepared prepared prepared pre pre- I pared by the house appropriations subcommittee subcommittee that inspected terri terri- I 1 tonal bases I I Written by Rep James G. G I ham am of Nevada chairman of the I recommends the group the report I immediate creation of an independent independent inde I pendent air force This would be I I intended to correct two chief abuses i i 1 The location of army and ana navy bases almost side by side in flat I I unprotected country thus inviting destruction by enemy bombs 2 I Failure to build hangars repair shops and other facilities under under- I ground I Regarding the first criticism the I report states This I policy of concentrating highly essential essential essential essen essen- military or industrial structures structures structures tures in very limited areas cannot I be too strongly condemned and andI I may constitute an error of gravest consequences This is as true in our II territorial as well as our continental defenses The lesson of the destruction of the Polish air force by the Germans at the beginning of the war seems to have gone entirely unheeded by byJ bythe J the aeronautic bureau chiefs responsible responsible responsible re re- In a flat country pros protected pro pro- s I air fac facilities may be impractical impractical I but where there are adjacent I hills it seems inexcusable to deliberately deliberately deliberately build bases invitingly located for bombing attacks and so close together that an enemy plane can hit one if it misses the other i Everywhere the story is the j I same from Hawaii to Puerto Rico I from Alaska to the Virgin Islands R Jamaica and Trinidad Also no adequate plans have been I I ed for water reserves except to contract contract contract con con- conI I tract for drilling a few wells with gave uncertainties as to quality I I and quantity I I conclusions are that thata I a tragedy of the first magnitude 1 I may develop unless immediate I steps are taken to rectify conditions I at the territorial bases His I tion is the centralization of all military military military mili mili- tary air forces under a single head with cabinet rank i I |