Could Short's aircraft provide an offshore patrol?

Could Kimmel have persuaded Walter Short to launch a combat air patrol for Hawaii?

Only locally; Army aircraft were restricted to operating close to shore and could not replace long-range maritime reconnaissance.

Walter Short's aircraft were not permitted to operate more than about fifteen miles out to sea. The restriction reflected Army Air Forces concern about losing pilots in sea crashes. That policy made the fighters poorly suited to detecting a carrier force far from Hawaii. Persuading Short to launch a local combat air patrol would therefore not solve Kimmel's much larger ocean-search problem.