cause of Maxwell Field was freshman Congressman J. Lister Hill, a World War I veteran who served with the 17th and 71st U.S. Infantry Regiments. He, as well as other Montgomery leaders, recognized the historical significance of the Wright Brother's first military flying school and the potential of Maxwell Field to the local economy. In 1925 Hill, a member of the House Military Affairs Committee, affixed an amendment to a military appropriations bill providing $200,000 for the construction of permanent buildings at Maxwell Field. This amendment did not have the approval of the War Department nor the Army Air Corps, but as a result of this massive spending on Maxwell Field, the War Department kept it open. Hill recognized that to keep Maxwell Field open, it needed to be fiscally or militarily valuable to the War Department. In September 1927, Hill met with Major General Mason M. Patrick, chief of the Army Air Corps, and his assistant, Brigadier General James E. Fechet, to discuss the placement of an attack group at Maxwell Field. Both made it clear that Maxwell Field was too close to Montgomery and was not a suitable location for an attack group. In fact, they asked Hill as "a friend of the Air Corps" not to "embarrass" the Corps by asking that the group be placed there. They warned that if he persisted, they would "very much oppose" the effort. However, General Patrick not wanting to alienate the new and up and coming Congressman (who was also a member of the House Military Affairs Committee) sought to appease Hill by offering to create an observation squadron at Maxwell Field. Hill welcomed the gesture; however, the creation of an observation squadron fell short of the long term on-going mission sought by Hill for Maxwell Field. Hill continued to argue for the attack group to be placed at Maxwell Field. He argued that because of the permanent buildings scheduled to be built, it would be fiscally advantageous for the placement of the attack group at Maxwell Field. Hill's arguments were an extension of ones that had been presented to him by Major Roy S. Brown, former commandant of Maxwell Field from 1922 to 1925. In 1927, Major Brown was the commander of the Air Corps Tactical School located at Langley Field, Virginia. Major Brown urged Hill to keep his name out of it because of the easily traceable insider