The Development of the B 52 and Jet Propulsion : A Case Study

Science & Math

Mandeles, Mark David

Astronomy & Space Science

Air Univ Pr

This is the sort of monograph a senior scholar of Prof. David R. Mets’s stature should write. As its title says, the study is first of all an effort to place a consequential airpower thinker in the context of the discourse. Since Professor Mets has been researching and writing about airpower history and topical studies for over forty years, he is well qualified to do the job. Beyond its surface intent, however, this study is also a forum for Mets to give forth a little on the broader meaning of the discourse and on some of its specific parts. Consequently, what starts out as an essay on Col. John Warden’s place in the pantheon of great airpower thinkers becomes also an opportunity to hear new things about the missions of air warfare, the historical processes that shaped airpower thought, and the reality and importance of the revolution in military affairs. In his straightforward approach to analysis, Professor Mets begins his discussions of three better-known airpower thinkers of the 1920s – Giulio Douhet, Hugh Trenchard, and Billy Mitchell – with a close examination of their personal backgrounds. He pays particular attention to their professional education and operation flying experience. Mets then lays out the salient elements of each thinker’s aerial theories, again paying particular attention to the views of each on the relationship of air warfare to warfare in general, its potential for independent decisiveness, target priorities, the air arm’s suitability for organization independence, command arrangements, and air superiority. With those bodies of theory laid out for easy summation and comparison, Dave then does the same thing for John Warden. His subsequent comparison of the four individuals – three who context included precision munitions and space surveillance – is revealing. Although Warden’s professional education and direct operational experience far outshine those of his predecessors, his core theories reflect as much continuity with their ideas as they reflect differences and accommodations to contemporary technology. These relationships are obscured sometimes by terminology differences, however, and it is one of Professor Mets’s more important contributions that he cuts through them to show where Warden draws more from his predecessors than is obvious at first.

Air Campaign: John Warden and the Classical Airpower Theorists

History

Mets, David R.

Military

Inside the Cold War: A Cold Warrior's Reflections

Adams, Chris

Colonel Chun undertakes a case study of an experimental US antisatellite defense fielded by the Air Force in the 1960s as a departure for assessing the need for an ASAT system today. The author argues that the US Air Force was able to develop a relatively effective system based on rudimentary technology. Using aging booster rockets (the Thor ICBM) and existing tracking and targeting radar systems, the Air Force was able to intercept satellites. Colonel Chun argues that extrapolating from this historical example several states, particularly North Korea, Iran, India, and the Peoples Republic of China, could use widely available improved missiles and radar systems to develop ASAT weapons that would make critical US and allied space systems (military and commercial) vulnerable to attack, thus seriously undermining our offensive and defensive capabilities and perhaps wreak havoc on our economic system.

Shooting Down a Star: America's Thor Program 437, Nuclear Asat, and Copycat Killers (Cadre Paper)

Engineering & Transportation

Chun, Clayton K.S.

Engineering

From the Preface, "Operation Deliberate Force was the North Atlatnic Treaty Organization (NATO) air campaign conducted between 30 August and 20 September 1995 to advance the cause of peace in the Balkans region. Lt. Gen. Jay W. Kelley, commander of Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, and Gen. James L. Jamerson, deputy commander in chief of United States European Command, Stuttgart, Germany, jointly chartered the Balkans Air Campaign Study (BACS) in October 1995. They directed the BACS team to 'capture' the planning and operational experience of Deliberate Force on behalf of Air University students preparing for future responsibilities as air-warfare planners and leaders, and on behalf of the broader community of air-warfare thinkers. Their specific direction entailed (1) writing a 'mile-wide-and-foot-deep' report laying out the salient events, causal relationships, and implications of this important air campaign and (2) assembling a comprehensive archive of relevant oral and documentary evidence to support future research into the planning, execution, and diplomatic exploitation of Deliberate Force."

Deliberate Force: A Case Study in Effective Air Campaigning : Final Report of the Air University Balkans Air Campaign Study

Europe

The World Wide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) is constituted of four general types of elements: sensors, command posts, computers, and communications networks. Whereas previous books dealt mainly with the first two types, this book is concerned far more strongly with the second two. The same conditions that cleared the way for the establishment of WWMCCS and that permitted its subsequent growth simultaneously guaranteed that it would not be able to function effectively. We might conclude that WWMCCS was born to fail. This work documents how this interplay of organization, technology, and ideology shaped the development of WWMCCS during the cold war's three final tense decades. David E. Pearson, an Army veteran, graduated magna cum laude from the University of Mass. at Amherst, received his PhD from Yale, and was a Fellow in International Security Studies at Ohio State University. (Originally published by Air University Press)

The World Wide Military Command and Control System: Evolution and Effectiveness

Pearson, David E.

In the 52-year history of the United States Air Force (USAF), only one airman has risen to serve as a regional commander in chief (CINC). In the same period, 74 soldiers, sailors, and Marines have filled CINC billets. To determine if, and perhaps how, airmen could become geographic CINCs in the near future, this paper examines the root of the issue through historical analysis and asks "what are the qualities necessary for airmen to perform effectively as war-fighting commanders in chief?"The study uses the careers of two early theater CINCs, Generals Dwight Eisenhower and Jacob Devers, to establish a baseline for analysis. Relying heavily on primary sources from the Air Force Historical Research Agency, it then conducts biographical case studies on General Lauris Norstad, the only USAF theater CINC, and German Field-Marshal Albrecht Kesselring, the only airman ever to command a theater during war. The paper also examines the present-day relevance of the issue through interviews with senior Defense Department officials and a review of contemporary literature on joint command. Every source consulted in this study concurred: to perform effectively as war-fighting commanders in chief, airmen-indeed, all officers-need comprehensive joint military proficiency; an incisive geostrategic-political-military vision; and strong, but nuanced and deft, skills in leadership and interpersonal relations.The paper concludes with a discussion of how airman CINCs could contribute to the national defense and of the cultural obstacles that work against Air Force officers in the CINC selection process. The interview subjects unanimously contended that would-be airman CINCs face a self-imposed burden: their career tracks focus almost exclusively on Air Force-specific jobs, with relatively little time in joint staff, unified/combined command staff, or civilian agency billets that provide the breadth and exposure vital to a CINC's joint understanding and political-military awareness.

Once in a Blue Moon: Airmen in Theater Command : Lauris Norstad, Albrecht Kesselring, and Their Relevance to the Twenty-First Century Air Force (Cadre Paper)

Belote, Howard D.

Americas

Uninhabited Combat Aerial Vehicles: Airpower by the People, for the People, but Not With the People (Cadre Paper)

Clark, Richard M.

Science and Technology: The Making of the Air Force Research Laboratory

Chief of the Laboratory's history office in Albuquerque, Duffner traces how the US Air Force consolidated 13 separate laboratories into one. He begins with a discussion of why the decision was made, then explores how the plan was implemented in the mid-1990s. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Duffner, Robert W.

The War in the Air, 1914-1994

Raaf Aerospace Centre

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