In the U. S. armed forces, there are two chief services, the Army and the Navy. To suggest that there might or should be a third—a separate air force—is a private blasphemy rarely hazarded in public.
In the early '20s, Brigadier General Billy Mitchell let the blasphemy roll off his curly tongue—and wrecked a brilliant military career. Admiral Sims, who had a beard and a social background, uttered sacrilegious sentiments about air power and was not struck down, but the bodacious blurt did him no good with his brother Navy men. Since...