 In March 1940, he returned to the position of Director of Training and assumed responsibility for Australia's part in the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS), establishing many schools, acquiring hundreds of aircraft, and overseeing the training of thousands of airmen.The RAAF's Central Flying School was reformed in April 1940 to meet the vital requirement for additional flying instructors, whose numbers would grow from 16 in the first year of the war to 3,600 by 1945.His performance in this role led to Jones being promoted to acting air commodore on 21 February 1941, and appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1942 New Year Honours for "diligence, devotion to duty and perseverance of outstanding merit".