 The small size of this first order reflected the fact that what had been known as the USAAC up until late June 1941 was still a relatively small, underfunded peacetime organization.After the late-June 1941 reorganization of the USAAC into the United States Army Air Forces, roughly six months before the attack on Pearl Harbor changed the outlook for the United States regarding involvement in global hostilities against the Axis literally overnight, priority had to be given to building as many existing fighters – P-38s, P-39s, and P-40s – as possible while simultaneously training pilots and other personnel, which meant evaluation of the XP-51 did not begin immediately.However, this did not mean it was neglected, or testing and evaluation mishandled.