Editing Raynal Bolling (section)

===World War I===
Before Bolling could actually take command of his unit, he was detached in June 1917 for staff duty. French premier [[Alexandre Ribot]] had sent U.S. President Woodrow Wilson a telegram at the end of May urging the United States to contribute 4,500 aircraft; 5,000 pilots; and 50,000 mechanics to the war effort. Because of his legal experience Bolling was assigned to assist in the drafting of legislation to fund the development of military aviation in response to Ribot's proposal. The subsequent Aviation Act (40 ''Stat''. 243), passed July 24, 1917, was the largest single [[Appropriation (law)|appropriation]] for a single purpose to that time, $640 million.<ref>{{harvnb|Mooney|Layman|1944|p=28}}</ref>

In conjunction with that duty, he was also appointed to the advisory Aircraft Production Board of the [[Council of National Defense]] to head an aeronautical commission to Europe known as "the Bolling Mission," to represent [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Newton D. Baker]] and the Board. His commission consisted of himself, two Army pilots trained in aeronautical engineering at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], two naval officers, seven civilian industrial experts, and 93 civilian manufacturing technicians.<ref name="bn4849">{{harvnb|Nalty|1997|pp=48–49}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Maurer|1978|loc=Vol. I|p=53}}</ref><ref group=n>The Navy members were Naval Constructor [[George Conrad Westervelt|George C. Westervelt]] and engine expert Lieut. Warren G. Child. The seven civilians were Robert Glendenning (a banker), [[Howard Carpenter Marmon|Howard Marmon]] (an automobile manufacturer), Herbert Hughes (with Packard; an engine authority), C.H. Heilman and H.B. Hurley (metallurgists), R.A. Vail (Dodge Motor Company efficiency expert), and a Mr. Stay (aluminum castings). 18 of the technicians became officers in the Air Service.</ref> The commission was charged with studying the types of military aircraft being used by the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]], recommend types to be put into production in the United States, and determine what types should be purchased directly from European sources. Bolling was chosen for his business and legal skills in negotiating prices and royalties. The commission left for Europe on June 17, 1917, and arrived in [[Liverpool]] on June 26. After a week in [[London]], where its members fanned out to English airfields and aircraft factories, the commission repeated the process in [[Paris]] for two weeks, [[Italy]] for ten days, and then returned to Paris.<ref name="enc"/> Bolling took advantage of his mission's "quasi-diplomatic" status and his brother-in-law's authority as an [[United States Assistant Secretary of State|Assistant Secretary of State]] to communicate with Washington using the [[United States Department of State|State Department]]'s [[transatlantic telegraph cable]].<ref>{{harvnb|Holley|1997|page= 85}}</ref>

Bolling reported to the [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|Chief Signal Officer]] from Paris on August 15 and recommended that the United States send materials, engines, and parts for assembly of airplanes in Europe.<ref name="enc">{{harvnb|Venzon|2013|pp=97–98}}</ref> To accelerate the number of American pilots, the report recommended that the best cadets then in ground schools be shipped to France to complete their primary flight training under French instructors. The report further recommended an air force of "fighting airplanes and bombers" well beyond the numbers of airplanes providing auxiliary support of ground forces by observation.<ref>{{harvnb|Maurer|1978|loc=Vol. II|p=131}}</ref> In particular Bolling and his Army colleagues, Captains [[Edgar S. Gorrell]] and [[Virginius E. Clark]], were impressed by the concept of long-range strategic bombing, influenced by the Italian use of [[Caproni Ca.3|Caproni bomber]]s against Austrian targets. It was one of a number of aircraft the commission recommended for manufacture by American industry, including the [[Bristol F.2 Fighter|Bristol]] and [[SPAD S.VII|SPAD VII]] fighters,<ref>{{harvnb|Holley|1997|page= 60}}</ref> but of its recommendations, only the [[Airco DH.4|deHavilland DH-4]] was suitable for American production methods or engines and thus built in quantity before the war ended.<ref name="bn4849"/> Bolling prepared the preliminary aeronautical contract with the French, calling for delivery of 5,000 airplanes by July 1, 1918, which was signed on August 30, 1917, by the French air minister and General Pershing, now in command of the [[American Expeditionary Force]].

Following his work with the commission, Bolling joined Col. [[Billy Mitchell]]'s aviation headquarters in Paris, which was still being organized, as Chief, Zone of the Interior, Air Service.<ref name="lahm17">{{harvnb|Lahm|1970|p=17 note}}</ref> On September 3, 1917, Pershing created the [[United States Army Air Service|Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force]] and chose Bolling to become Director of Air Service Supply, to administer the Air Service Zone of the Lines of Communication.<ref group=n>In August 1918 the Lines of Communication section was separated from the Paris headquarters, renamed the Service of Supply with an Assistant Chief of Air Service (a brigadier general) in charge, and moved to Tours. Some biographies of Bolling assert that he was "Assistant Chief of Air Service," but his time in the AEF headquarters antedates this position by nine months and the Air Service itself by six.</ref> Bolling was promoted to [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] and his duties were a continuation of those under Mitchell: the supervision of training, the administration of personnel records, the operation of Air Service lines of communication (supply), the activities of the Balloon Division, and the establishment of training schools and air depots for equipment and repair. The most important sections of his new office were those which performed flying training, all balloon activities, and aerial photography units.<ref>{{harvnb|Maurer|1978|p=76}}</ref> One of his first tasks was the accelerated construction of a large flying school at [[Issoudun]] to provide advanced training to cadets completing their preliminary instruction in France, as he had earlier recommended.<ref>{{harvnb|Maurer|1978|loc=Vol. I|p=93}}</ref><ref group=n>Ironically, after a slow trickle at the start, the numbers of cadets arriving in the autumn of 1917 overwhelmed the inadequate and unprepared French flight schools, causing a backlog by the end of 1917 of more than a thousand untrained flying cadets awaiting instruction. Issoudun was forced to cut back its advanced training to open a primary school to help reduce the backlog. In a further irony, many experienced pilots of the 1st Reserve/26th Aero Squadron were used to fill instructor needs at Issoudun and the primary school at Tours.</ref>

On November 17, 1917, the headquarters of the Air Service AEF underwent a shakeup when its new commander, General [[Benjamin Foulois]], arrived from [[Washington, D.C.]], with a large staff and displaced all the existing members.<ref group=n>Foulois' staff numbered 112 officers, all of whom were non-aviators chosen from the General Staff in Washington and many commissioned directly from civilian life. Mitchell called them "carpetbaggers" and considerable internal strife resulted that was not resolved until Pershing directed Maj. Gen. Mason Patrick to take over from Foulois in May 1918.  Bolling was a victim of that strife as Foulois thought him inexperienced in handling large organizations, disregarding his extensive business and legal experience with U.S. Steel, and was critical of his use of State Department cablegrams to communicate with Washington.</ref> Bolling was relieved by Foulois and assigned to be chairman of the Joint Army-Navy Aircraft Committee, ostensibly to coordinate the activities of the military and the aviation industry in procuring aircraft.<ref>{{harvnb|Maurer|1978|loc=Vol. I|p=65}}</ref> He was also Pershing's nominal aviation representative on the [[Supreme War Council]]; however, Foulois sat on both these committees. The assignment proved frustrating as his staff work and proposals were often undermined by competing interests, political in-fighting, and administrative delays.<ref name="enc"/>  Bolling sought a combat command and was picked to become chief of air service for the [[II Corps (United States)|U.S. II Corps]] when it formed in the spring.<ref name="lahm17"/> To prepare himself he visited aerodromes of the [[Royal Flying Corps]] in the vicinity of [[Amiens]] in March 1918 to observe air operations in support of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]] during the [[German spring offensive]].