Planning and Organizing the Postwar Air Force, 1943-1947 PDF Download
Are you looking for read ebook online? Search for your book and save it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Download Planning and Organizing the Postwar Air Force, 1943-1947 PDF full book. Access full book title Planning and Organizing the Postwar Air Force, 1943-1947 by . Download full books in PDF and EPUB format.
Author: Office of Air Force History Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub ISBN: 9781508659587 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 382
Book Description
One of the longest and most bitter disputes in twentieth century military affairs has been over the organization of the armed forces, particularly the question of independence for the air forces. From the early period of powered flight apostles of air power, such as the Italian General GuilioDouhet, argued that the proper employment of aviation in war required the massing of air armadas independent of ground or naval forces. As it developed in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s, the dispute was not simply self-serving or bureaucratic-for power or prestige, rank or budget. The argument over an independent air force cut to the very heart of national defense, for who controlled air policy, air doctrine, buying of aircraft, military training, and the structure of the air forces determined the type of military forces the nation would possess and how aviation would be used in war. Ultimately, organization would determine whether the United States would succeed in the air battle and, in the minds of the protagonists, whether the United States would win in In this excellent work of narrative and analysis, Herman Wolk of the Office of Air Force History untangles the complex history that led to the birth of the United States Air Force after World War II. After surveying the struggle for independence to 1941, and planning during World War II for a postwar air force, Mr. Wolk details the events that resulted in the formation of a separate Air Force in September 1947. Significantly, the new Air Force at its birth already possessed a long history and a rich heritage: some forty years as part of the Army, service in two world wars, and a fully developed understanding of its usefulness in war. The new Air Force possessed leaders who knew that how the service was constructed and how it was led and administered would affect how air power could be used, and whether it could contribute fully to the nation's security. Furthermore, the author puts this important story into the broader context of late World War II thinking about postwar defense, and the fierce struggles between 1945 and 1947 over service roles and missions, budgets, and the shape of military policies and forces. There is also another story in these pages, less dramatic but equally important: the birth of a military service. Few times are more crucial for an institution than the era of its birth, when the basic structure of the organization is established and procedures worked out for the conduct of routine organizational activity. The precedents established often survive far into the future. They provide benchmarks against which change is considered or implemented, and from the beginning that first structure and set of procedures shape the life of the institution, from the making of high policy down to the most mundane details of administrative routine.
Author: Herman S. Wolk Publisher: ISBN: 9781410200921 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 384
Book Description
In this excellent work of narrative and analysis, Herman Wolk of the Office of Air Force History untangles the complex history that led to the birth of the United States Air Force after World War II. After surveying the struggle for independence to 1941, and planning during World War II for a postwar air force, Mr. Wolk details the evens that resulted in the formation of a separate Air Force in September 1947. Significantly, the new Air Force at its birth already possessed a long history and a rich heritage; some forty years as part of the Army, service in two world wars, and a fully developed understanding of its usefulness in war. The new Air Force already possessed leaders who knew that how the service was constructed and how it was led and administered would affect how air power could be used, and whether it could contribute fully to the nation's security.
Author: Herman Wolk Publisher: CreateSpace ISBN: 9781477546000 Category : Languages : en Pages : 380
Book Description
One of the longest and most bitter disputes in twentieth century military affairs has been over the organization of the armed forces, particularly the question of independence of the air forces. The argument over an independent Air Force cut to the very heart of national defense, for who controlled air policy, air doctrine, buying of aircraft, military training, and the structure of the air forces determined the type of military forces the nation would possess and how aviation would be used in war.
Author: Office of Air Force History Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub ISBN: 9781508697466 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 136
Book Description
Almost twenty-five years after publishing Planning and Organizing the Postwar Air Force, 1943–1947, and a decade after publishing his definitive work, The Struggle for Air Force Independence, 1943–1947, Herman S. Wolk, retired Air Force senior historian, returns to the subject that capped his nearly fifty-year career with the Air Force history program. As Wolk explains, this briefwork is a reflective analysis.The United States Army's air arm waged a frustrating and uncertain battle during the interwar years to gain greater autonomy from the War Department. For the air arm, the key transition was the establishment in 1935 of the General Headquarters (GHQ) Air Force under Brig. Gen. Frank M. Andrews. The GHQ Air Force was the first American air force that consolidated all striking forces.For several years before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which triggered U.S. entry into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt foresaw the major role that air power would play in the conflict, and he called for a massive buildup. The president wanted the major share of aircraft produced to go to the Allies. Consequently, he was sometimes at cross purposes with his Air Corps chief, Maj. Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, who was hard at work trying toincrease the Army's air capability. The formation in June 1944 of the Twentieth Air Force was a landmark event in the Army air arm's drive for independence. With B–29s to send against the Japanese home islands, the Twentieth gave the Army Air Forces (AAF) what Arnold termed “a Global Air Force.” Its formation set the precedent for that of the postwar Strategic Air Command, which provided the United States with its nuclear deterrence force in the Cold War.The lessons of World War II were many. Many also were the significant contributions of the AAF—tactical, strategic, support, humanitarian—that convinced President Harry S. Truman, Congress, and the American people that the creation of the United States Air Force (USAF) was necessary in the postwar era. Wolk makes the pivotal connections between politics and the searing experience of war to explain how and why the USAF was established. His analysis addresses not only technology, bureaucracy, and politics, but also people. The service's founding airmen were more than flyers and technologists; they were,above all, men of faith who believed in what they were doing. For many years they fought against long odds. The nation owes them a great debt.