The Naval Station at Alameda 1916-1940: A Case Study in the Aptitude of Democracy for Defense

Abstract

THE NAVAL AIR STATION at Alameda, California, came into commission before the veil of secrecy was dropped over the activities of rearmament and operation which, since December, 1941, have altered much of the landscape of the United States. Within its wired enclosure and its patrols, designed to keep military secrets where they ought to be, events are happening with which civilians have deep concern, but of which they have no right as yet to be informed. The story of the station as tool for victory may one day be told. But time is not yet ripe for this. It is, however, neither untimely nor improper, in study of the capacity of the United States for war, to examine the behavior of the United States at peace; to make case study of defense project during the quarter of century between the dream of navy base at the Golden Gate, and the fulfillment of the dream when, November 1, 1940, Captain Frank R. McCrary, one-time chief of the Bureau of Naval Aeronautics, raised his flag within the enclosure of the station, and took command.' Democracy, turned now into self-examination as aggressor nations both deny its validity and attempt its annihilation, is a vehicle so lumbering that part of the world has come to doubt whether it is dependable carrier for national interest.2 It suffers from the very defects of its convincing virtues. The procedure which makes it safe for its neighbors and for itself, in moments of peaceful and deliberate balancing of conflicting aims and interests, leaves it uncovered when danger threatens. Its inherent inability to see danger while danger lies below the horizon of imagination, or to devote to policy abroad the efforts and resources which are all too insufficient to satisfy the needs at home, perhaps makes democrats menace to any world but world of similar democrats. In the years since the Alameda Naval Air Station went into com-