Army & Navy: Big Man, Big Job

The best anti-aircraftsman in the country got a job worthy of his talents. Major General Sanderford (“Sandy”) Jarman was put in charge of the newly formed First Army Anti-Aircraft Artillery Command. A mountain of a man, who stands 6 ft. 5 in. tall and weighs 250 lb., he has an enormous beat to cover. It stretches from Canada to South Carolina, from the East Coast to the Mississippi. Sandy Jarman needed many more men, much more equipment than he had.

If Sandy Jarman had had his way, the U.S. today would be pockmarked with anti-aircraft batteries. For 20 years he has agitated for bigger & better anti-aircraft defenses, has raised lumps on his skull butting against conservative prejudices and tightwad spending policies. He played a big part in developing the uncanny directors that put modern anti-aircraft guns on their targets. In 1939 he took over the command of the Panama Coast Artillery, established in the Canal Zone jungles the best U.S. anti-aircraft system in existence.

During November’s Carolina maneuvers, he helped General Hugh Drum devise hard-hitting “tank-killer” units that stymied the Armored Divisions, with a handful of men and the same guns created a top-flight anti-aircraft defense. After maneuvers, Drum brought Jarman north, gave him the coordinated anti-aircraft command. Jarman’s new command is still subordinate to the Coast Artillery on matters of procurement and personnel, but tactically it is subject only to First Army Commander Drum.

The most tempting target for air attack in Jarman’s bailiwick is, of course, New York City. To defend it in its entirety, Jarman would have to divide the city into 6,000-yd. squares, place an anti-aircraft battery at the corner of each square. But in case of a raid, he will be quite happy if he can protect power plants, aircraft factories, docks and shipyards.

His guns are being established three or four miles from such vital spots. Through a combination of radio locators and civilian spotters, the Army expects to know the position of enemy planes long before they are over the continental U.S. If they should get through the interceptors, antiaircraft batteries to the rear should have their range, bag many of them.

One headache for anti-aircraftsmen is the danger of shooting down friendly planes along with enemy craft. During World War I, a zoning system was used.

Interceptors were confined to one zone, anti-aircraft batteries to the other. But pilots on the tail of a bomber will not let go, zone or no zone. With anti-aircraft enormously improved in accuracy, ground batteries today can plug enemies even while their interceptors are closing in.

Occasionally, however, anti-aircraft barrages still knock out a friendly plane.

Anti-aircraft barrages also knock out unwary civilians. The fragments that rain down after a blast range from-steel splinters as small as a fingernail to hunks as big as a fist. They are lethal if they land spang on an unhelmeted head, but usually cause only minor injuries. Out of every hundred civilians struck by anti-aircraft shrapnel in the British Isles, where 750,000 men & women are engaged in anti aircraft defense, only one is killed; flying glass is much more dangerous.