Mitchell predicted that strategic bombing would threaten the United States within ten years of 1919. He wanted capital-ship funding redirected to an Air Service that would replace the Navy as the first line of defense. The geographical objection centers on where contemporary heavy bombers could be based. British squadrons moved to Canada are offered as the only plausible way for such aircraft to reach the United States within that horizon. The proposal therefore depended on an enemy, basing arrangement, and aircraft capability that needed to be specified.
Notable Point · 1:22:15-1:23:38
Aircraft range limits Mitchell's predicted threat by 1929
Mitchell's proposed shift from naval defense to air defense depended on where hostile heavy bombers could reach the United States.