 In 1909, a frail contraption was flown across the English Channel by Louis Blyriot. What this little plane could do, impressed a young American who began to wonder even then about the military effects, not one, but many flying machines in the air at the same time. That young lieutenant was Henry Hap Arnold. He was to become the commanding general of the greatest air force in history. Two and a half million men and 70,000 aircraft. Army presents picture. An official report produced for the armed forces and the American people. Now to show you part of the big picture, here is Sergeant Stuart Queen. The birth and growth of our air force into the powerful fighting unit it is today began within the United States Army. During this period, for almost his entire 46 years of service, General Hap Arnold, commanding general of the Army Air Forces, completely dedicated himself to building America's strength in the skies. We owe much to him for this development and for our air supremacy and victory in World War II. Here today is his story. In 1911, when getting a heavier-than-air machine aloft was still something of a miracle, Second Lieutenant Hap Arnold was engaged in a project having nothing at all to do with flight and everything to do with launching his military career. He was trying very hard to become a first lieutenant. Meanwhile, the discovery of the Wright Brothers was becoming increasingly interesting to the United States Army, the spirit of the Wright Brothers, that a practical answer could be found to almost any problem, was to be an inspiration to Hap throughout his life. The Wrights made it seem that anything was possible. Creating an enthusiasm among young aeronauts that was sometimes carried to extremes, when Hap volunteered to learn to fly, his CEO said, I know of no better way for a person to commit suicide. Skeptical as many were, the Signal Corps had made concrete plans to obtain the necessary planes for a course of instruction. In school at the Wright Brothers Field at Dayton, Hap labeled all the parts. Long ago, before nomenclature became complicated, this was the way it was. From Dayton, Ohio to the Chief Signal Officer, sir, I have the honor to report the following progress made by me in learning to operate a Wright airplane. During the week, I've made 12 flights with an instructor and one flight by myself. My instruction under the personal supervision of the instructor in the machine is finished. And from now on, all my flights will be made alone for experience. Very respectfully, Henry H. Arnold, 2nd Lieutenant, 24th Infantry. Hap was one of the first qualified pilots in the United States Army. In later years, he never lost the glow of pride and the respect for this symbol of achievement. Hap was the first to win the Mackay Trophy for air reconnaissance. And in 1912, he set a high altitude record of 6,450 feet. In the earliest days of airmail service, he was one of our first troriers. All this experience in the Embryo Aviation Division of the Signal Corps helped him to train others to fly and put him in the front line of those gaining important knowledge about military aviation. Not only better planes and more thorough pilot training, but more men for servicing planes. These were problems which Hap seemed to grasp with a quick understanding. The nation was still only barely aware of aviation's military potentialities. Suddenly, we were in desperate need of trained flyers. From the ranks of the infantry and from all services, men were carefully selected for the aviation section of the Signal Corps. Even more important was our need for aircraft. Administrative problems, including aircraft production, became Hap's responsibility. On the home front, Hap began to learn some lessons that were to have great meaning when he was in command of the Air Force many years later. To produce aircraft for war, one must plan and build long before. Many were the planes and engines finished too late for combat. Hap firmly resolved that America would not be caught short again. With the war over, the nation relaxed. But for Hap and other American airmen, this was the beginning of a battle to convince Americans of the importance of air power. Using some old German battleships as targets, Billy Mitchell showed what precision bombing could do. In the post-war years, Hap was in the forefront of those crying to keep the spark of interest in aviation alive. Sun flying seemed one of the ways. To average Americans, this was worth watching. Real steps ahead, important to aviation's future. Safer parachutes, for example. Observation from the air became a means of keeping forest fires under control. In the winter of 1932 under Hap's command, there were airdrops of food to the snowbound Indians of the Southwest. This, one of the earliest airlifts, was a prelude to that in Berlin 16 years later. There were also experiments in the field of photo reconnaissance. There was help in the development of new bombers. In these years, Hap was carrying forth the program of building the air core. He was deeply convinced of its military importance. Helping to build the air core didn't interfere with building a lively family. These old home movies show time passing in the Arnold family and pleasantly. They reveal as do all pictures of Hap. The reason for his nickname, picked up in the days of West Point. The family reflects the dad's good humor, and the dad growing older and wiser still exudes the quality for which millions will soon know him. No moniker ever stuck more firmly to a man than to Hap. 1934, the B-10, a new all-metal plane carrying a 2,000 pound bomb load. Then the fastest bomber in the world. Under Hap's command, a long-range test flight from Washington, DC to Fairbanks, Alaska was undertaken to determine the feasibility of air operations in this part of the globe. Under extreme Arctic conditions, the mission, unusual for its time, was carried out successfully. In his return, Hap was honored with the Mackay Trophy a second time. 1938, on the day before Hitler won a victory at Munich, Major General Hap Arnold was appointed Chief of the U.S. Army Air Corps. Your arm for air defense immediately. The strong air force is absolutely essential to keep war out of America. From the beginning, the Commander-in-Chief found in Hap someone he could rely on. He respected Hap's judgment. Together, they saw that time to build and expand had now become precious. Hap's plans went ahead. Planes for ground support, fighter bombers, long-range bombers, fast interceptors, an air force that was both tactical and strategic. Remembering the First World War, Hap pressed for the quantity production of aircraft that would be necessary for a global conflict. For a war of far greater proportions than the world had ever known, planes for training men, pilots, navigators, bombardiers, gunners, and ground crews, the race against time was on. In these months, Hap worked tirelessly to mold the Army Air Corps into a fully prepared fighting service. Achievement came in spite of opposition from those who, even at this late day, felt that we were well protected by oceans on either side. Hap brought into critical focus the need for huge quantities of aircraft and past numbers of men to fly and maintain them. Well aware of the time and money involved, Hap had been steadily extending the Army Air Corps training program, coordinating this with our growing air strength. Since 1939, he had fostered the idea of having civilian schools help to train pilots in the first stage. Army Air Corps training had been systematized, and it would include many young men from all walks of life. It is pilots, or for that matter, were meant to be pilots. Though some took to the air unsteadily, the huge quotas of trained pilots, mechanics, and other personnel were soon being met. A man at a desk with a huge task, requiring long-range planning and careful utilization of our limited air strength on a worldwide battlefield. In the war, isolated operations began to foreshadow the future effect of long-range bombing. The daring low-level raid on Tokyo was a carefully designed attack, which brought home to Japan the real meaning of war. The leader of this successful mission, Jimmy Doolittle, was welcomed home by a much-gratified chief. Hap always took great pride in the achievement of his men, and they were made aware of his personal interest. In the following months of battle against the Luftwaffe, American pilots demonstrated a kind of bravery that did credit to the Army Air Corps and that heartened the nation. The opportunity afforded. There were frequent visits to his men. Always Hap was received with enthusiasm and affection. No commander was better liked, more deeply respected. As Hap went about the vast problem of building American air power, of deciding what types of planes for what specific purposes, a concept began to form in his mind. Perhaps this concept went back to the day when he first saw the plane in which a Frenchman had flown across the channel. That day when he thought, if one plane, why not many in the air at the same time? Now he saw the huge strength possible in mass formations of long-range bombers, each a fortress in the air, a multitude of flying fortresses in continued strategic bombing of the enemy, meanwhile destruction of the enemy air force in combat, air supremacy. This was his goal. This was the biggest task of his life. With production chief Bill Knudsen, he toured plants and factories. As time went on, as people came to know who Hap was and the job he was doing, his reputation grew. Deadly serious, but always human. This was the way Hap did business. Thank you, Doctor Noyce. You know, Doctor, after looking over my audience, I'm going to give my prepared speech back to Captain Sheffield. And if you want it for your record, you can ask Captain Sheffield for it. And I'll be sure, I'm sure that he'll be glad to give it to you. Now on with the show. I think that you people here are entitled to a little bit of background on this thing that we call air power. Air power. No one was better suited to talk about it than Hap or better able to put words into action to mold our air force into the strongest in the world. Hap's keen awareness of the significance of air power made him invaluable on the international scene. At many conferences, including Casablanca, Hap was able to work smoothly and effectively with our allies. But here and for months to come, Hap was to argue for an idea that was not particularly acceptable. Mass bombing of the enemy during daylight hours. The plan was not greeted with favor. For at this time, the British were successfully carrying out a program of night bombing. While night bombing by the RAF was proving effective, it was Hap's argument that daylight precision bombing could cause far greater devastation than was possible during darkness. On the agenda at Casablanca, where questions as to where the limited number of planes could be best utilized, General Arnold's plans received the green light from the other allied participants. In the Atlantic, serious damage was being caused by German U-boats. The menace B-24s were assigned to the anti-submarine command. The number of German submarines harassing our convoys began to decline. There were other problems. Hap went over the air needs of this theater with General Joseph Stillwell and General Chanel. Here it was decided that a difficult flying route over the Himalayas could provide a flow of supplies to the Chinese. The airlift over the hump was one of the extraordinary accomplishments of the war. As commanding General U.S. Army Air Forces was a member of the allied staff which met to determine the future course of the war. Here at the Cairo Conference and at Quebec, Hap became known for his judgment and common sense. Among leaders of other nations, Hap was not only the good-natured man with the encyclopedic knowledge of planes and all matters concerning air power, he was a first-rate diplomat upon whom our military staff could depend. By this time, there was complete acceptance of Hap's daylight bombing program by the Allied command. Hap had won a personal victory in a difficult realm. Pilots had been needed in large number early in the war and with Hap's encouragement, a women's branch of the Air Force was organized. The women's Air Force service pilots, known as the WASPs, did a tremendous job during the war freeing many Air Force pilots for combat duty. At the first graduation ceremony, Hap was the honored guest. August 2, 1943. The 9th Air Force carried out the hazardous low-level raid on a strategic target. The Cloesti oil fields in Romania, 177 B-24 liberators from the Tripoli area, seriously damaged these important oil-producing fields. By 1944, the program for massive high-altitude air bombardments began to reach its peak. How at last, thousands of strategic bombers with new long-range fighter escorts were over Germany at the same time. And now the question was, could this tremendous all-out effort be continued? There was no let-up. There had been thorough planning in every detail that had placed the thousands of planes over Germany at the same time. No one was more instrumental in achieving our long-range plan for strategic bombing of the enemy than Hap Arnold. Through his effort, nothing had been allowed to stand in the way of the plan to use air power to knock Germany out of the war. At the end, we were unmolested in the skies, total air supremacy. At the close of the war in Germany, at the conference in Potsdam, Hap participated in plans for the unfinished work in the Pacific. And after this conference, Hap, with the glow of victory still upon him, recognized the contributions of all the services in the defeat of Germany. This is an appropriate occasion, for we are celebrated tonight the 38th birthday of military air power in the United States. At this time, the newest of the services, services of knowledge, the depth it owes to the armies of our land and the navies of our seas. We dip our wings to their glorious traditions, and tonight particularly, I want also to salute all of those who fly and those who make flying possible, be they of the Marines or of the Navy or in civilian aviation in any of its many forms, or in the Army Air Forces, for they have all played a part in winning this war. To concentrate full attention on the war with Japan, he flew to bases in the Pacific. Friendly and good-natured, he found what he wished to know without seeming to try. Receptive, even tempered, he was on the best terms with his commanders, extremely sensitive to their problems. Now, according to plan, what had knocked out Germany could do the same in Japan. The B-29, the pioneer of air intercontinental bombers, the plane which, thanks to Hap's convictions and leadership, had been in the works long enough to be ready. Three months after VJ Day, General of the Army, Hap Arnold, terminated 42 years of service. Hap lived to see his greatest dream come true. On September 18, 1947, the creation of a separate service, the United States Air Force. Five years after retirement, his full life came to a close. He was buried at Arlington Cemetery in January 1950. Hosts of devoted friends mourned his passing. Throughout the nation, there was a sense of deep personal loss. There's much to remind us of his role in American air power. This is the Arnold Engineering Development Center at Tolofoma, Tennessee. Only in name but in spirit did General Arnold identify with this center, devoted to research and development in the Air Force, to problems of air and space engineering. Since his time, much has happened, and in many ways, what he stood for has come to pass. It was Hap Arnold who sought the best in aircraft and material, continuous experimentation, development, progress in the air. He was foremost in urging a separate Air Force for defending America in the skies. It was he who urged a strategic air command, our global atomic striking force, a massive deterrent to the threat of war. It was he who advocated an Air Force second to none, as a means not only of defense, but of preventing another global catastrophe. He saw the need for greater public interest in matters of air power. Without awareness and support, no nation could expect to remain strong. Years go by as we move faster and faster in and into the age of space. One influence above all seems now more lasting. It was General Arnold who envisioned an institution to train Air Force leaders, capable of guiding our nation's air defense, whatever the future. The Air Force Academy, and every man who is honored to attend there, is profoundly touched by his influence. There is thoroughness and dedication to the task. The standards at the academy may stem in large measure from the example set by the first Air Force leader, who in June 1949 was made the first general of the Air Force. From this academy, that was once his vision, will come other leaders with the training, background and spirit, and with their own vision of what must be done. Such men will help keep America free, as did half- Hardworking and good-natured. We in the U.S. Army are proud of him as a soldier, and for his achievement in helping to build the Air Force of today. Now, this is Sergeant Stewart Queen, your host for The Big Picture. The Big Picture is an official report for the armed forces and the American people. Produced by the Army Pictorial Center, presented by the Department of the Army in cooperation with The Station.