495), 26 July 1947. The act established the United States Air Force, a completely separate branch of the U.S. Of the United States military and naval services, only the Army Ground Forces suffered more battle deaths. The AAF credited its own forces with destroying a total of 40,259 aircraft of opposing nations by all means, 29,916 against Germany and its allies and 10,343 in the Pacific. Between August 1945 and April 1946, its strength fell from 2.25 million men to just 485,000, and a year later to 304,000. The Air Transport Command, which retained its mission to support the entire military establishment worldwide, was trimmed from nine to three divisions and by the end of 1946 its personnel reduced by 80%. Aircraft inventory dropped from 79,000 to less than 30,000, many of them in storage. Combat losses of aircraft totaled 22,948 worldwide, with 18,418 lost in theaters fighting Germany and 4,530 lost in combat in the Pacific. The food industry is the largest user of water worldwide, consuming far more than is available on an annual renewable basis. Though far from providing the initial impulse, the President’s message of 19 December 1945 contributed considerable impetus to a series of developments within the executive and legislative branches of the government which led directly, if belatedly, to the adoption of the National Security Act of 1947. -R.

Total sorties flown by the AAF during World War II were 2,352,800, with 1,693,565 flown in Europe-related areas and 669,235 flown in the Pacific and Far East. Eighth Air Force had only flown six relatively unopposed missions when AWPD/42 was drawn up, and the prior mistake in AWPD/1 of disregarding the need and feasibility of long-range fighter escorts was repeated. AWPD/42 revised the priorities, placing U-boat facilities first, followed by transportation, electricity production, petroleum production, and rubber production. This resulted in a revision of rotation policies whose “guidelines” had the effect of again setting fixed limits for a tour of duty for the remainder of the war. On 1 July 1942 the War Department first set a one-year tour of duty for all AAF combat crews, but a simple, uniform policy service-wide was unrealistic and never put into effect. A rebuilt air force of 70 groups, the authorized peacetime strength, was anticipated, with reserve and national guard forces to be available for active duty in an emergency. However considerable opposition to a large peacetime military establishment, and to the financial cost of such an establishment, resulted in planning cuts to 48 groups. The tiny holes in the bag are large enough to let air particles pass by, but too small for most dirt particles to fit through.

In September 1944 Arnold, without rescinding his “no fixed tours” order, notified field commands that his objective was to provide enough replacement crews that rotation “based on war weariness” became unnecessary. Arnold began to build reserves in tactical units to provide enough personnel for multiple crews for each aircraft but was hampered by the rotation policies, particularly among those fighting in Europe. Total aircraft losses for the AAF from December 1941 to August 1945 were 65,164, with 43,581 lost overseas and 21,583 within the Continental United States. The United States Army Air Forces incurred 12% of the Army’s 936,000 battle casualties in World War II. 36 members of the Army Air Forces received the Medal of Honor for actions performed during air missions, 22 of them posthumously. 63,209 members of the USAAF were other battle casualties. 52,173 were battle casualty deaths: 45,520 killed in action, 1,140 died of wounds, 3,603 were missing in action and declared dead, and 1,910 were non-hostile battle deaths. About one million deaths in China were attributable to air pollution in 2017. Alternative energy vehicles (AEVs), e.g. electric, hydrogen fuel cell, and natural gas vehicles, can help achieve both carbon emission mitigation and air quality improvement.

35,946 non-battle deaths included 25,844 in aircraft accidents, more than half of which occurred within the Continental United States. The AAF approved in April 1944 the use of 30 days leave in the United States on a limited basis as a substitute for rotation but by August found it counterproductive for rehabilitative purposes. July 1942 and August 1945 amounting to $35,185,548,000. The Navy Department did not acknowledge its own findings and continued to oppose creation of a separate Air Force during hearings for unification bills introduced in October 1945. When the hearings failed to submit a report, President Harry S. Truman on 19 December 1945 came out strongly in support of an air force on a parity with ground and naval forces, reminding Congress that prior to the war independent Army and Navy Departments had often failed to work collectively or in coordination to the best interest of the nation. In February 1946, ill health forced the retirement of Arnold before he could fulfill his goal of achieving independence of the Air Force as a service equal with the Army and Navy. Bletsou AA, Asimakopoulos AG, Stasinakis AS, Thomaidis NS, Kannan K (February 2013). “Mass loading and fate of linear and cyclic siloxanes in a wastewater treatment plant in Greece”.