See how it looked in 1942

U.S. to Need 2,000,000 for Air Force, And 1,000,000 Men to Handle Tanks; British Admit Weakness in Far East

Experts see an army of five to seven million needed in President's war plan

By Joseph G. Harrison | Staff Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8

An American Air Force of at least 2,000,000 men – double the estimated size of Germany’s famed Luftwaffe – will be necessary to man America’s share of the warplanes to be produced during the next two years under President Roosevelt’s war plan, in the opinion of aviation experts here.

At the same time, it is believed that more than 1,000,000 new soldiers will be required to handle what is expected to be this country’s share of the 120,000 tanks which the President promised would have been produced by the end of 1943.

These two facts, coupled with the realization that all other branches of the United States will have to undergo a complementary expansion, are causing experts here to revive talk of an Army of 5,000,000 to 7,000,000.

140,000 Pilots, Crewmen

In his address to Congress on the state of the Union, President Roosevelt called for a 1942-43 production of 185,000 planes, of which 145,000 will be fighting planes. If the United States retains roughly half of these planes, shipping the other half to America’s allies, as past experience indicates may be done, this would mean that pilots, plane crews and ground crews will have to be supplied in immense quantities.

Of the 72,500 combat planes which this country would theoretically retain under the 50-50 division program, probably half would be first-line craft with an equal number in reserve. On the basis of four men to a plane (this takes into account the fact that a well-rounded air force ranges from one-man pursuit ships to nine-man four-engined bombers) at least 140,000 pilots and plane crewmen would be needed to man the first-line craft.

Since it is estimated, however, that some 20 men are needed on the ground for every plane in the air and in reserve, this would mean approximately 1,500,000 ground workers. When one adds the number of pilots who would have to be trained to replace those lost with first-line craft, the total man power needed for America’s share of the President’s program is in the neighborhood of 2,000,000.

1,000,000 in Luftwaffe

These figures do not, of course, take into account the officers, administrative officials and staffs connected with the Army and Navy air schools who are responsible for the mass production of new pilots, mechanics, radio operators, observers, photographers and the many other types of airmen needed for today’s aerial warfare.

The best estimates here as to the present size of Air Marshal Hermann Göring’s Luftwaffe give it approximately 1,000,000 men. Thus the United States is seen as undertaking to establish a two-to-one superiority over the mightiest air arm in history.

While admitting that it is even more difficult to formulate estimates as to the number of Americans which may be needed to fill the armored divisions to be equipped with the tank output of the next two years, it is thought likely that this country will retain a good 50 per cent of this production.

Since the President has called for 120,000 tanks between now and Dec. 31, 1943, this should mean at least 60,000 for the armed forces of the United States, unless unlooked-for developments make it obvious that the Axis can be beaten more quickly and surely by sending a still greater proportion of American tanks to this country’s allies.

The present composition of American armored forces calls for the use of 400 tanks to a division with a safety reserve of at least an equal number. At this ratio, 60,000 tanks would equip 75 armored divisions.

Since the armored divisions of the United States Army have a full strength complement of approximately 14,000 men, well over 1,000,000 troops would be needed to man 75 divisions.

According to the best information available to American military authorities last summer, the German Army contained 20 armored divisions at the time of its attack upon the Soviet Union, while the latter is though to have had in the neighborhood of 40 armored divisions at the time.

Although believing that 2,000,000 men for the air force and 1,000,000 men for the nation’s armored force represent a possible approximation of how the country may stand two years from now, officials warn that all of today’s guesses may be proved to be 100 per cent wrong within a week and that the rapidly shifting pattern of the struggle against the Axis makes it impossible to forecast America’s future role or needs with any degree of accuracy.

A considerable proportion of the men needed for both the Air Corps and the armored divisions are expected to come from enlistments among youths 18 and 19 years old. Although the revised Selective Service program does not touch persons of these ages, the War Department has made it clear that they are not only acceptable but desired.

At his press conference today, Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy declared that the Army hoped to get large numbers of young men 18 and 19 years old since experience has shown that they have “the daring, endurance and courage” necessary for good soldiering.