Toward Independence: The Emergence of the United States Air Force, 1945-1947

Toward Independence: The Emergence of the United States Air Force, 1945-1947 PDF

Author:

Publisher: Government Printing Office

Published:

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13: 9780160873201

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

From the Wright Brothers’ first flight, a long convoluted road led to the creation of the modern independent United States Air Force. Despite frustrating bureaucratic delays and political maneuvering, the ultimate goal was clear. Two world wars had devastated whole continents and threatened long term global peace. Only a well-prepared American military establishment, fully utilizing its Air force could provide a strong national defense and help ensure world peace. As aerospace technology took off, an independent Air Force would lead the way into the atomic age, and a new military structure would be required. Just as important and technology, however would be the vision and energy of air power advocates. Over five decades, Air Force people would build the world’s finest air organization by following a simple creed: putting service above self. This nearly 40 page booklet tells a brief history of the Air Force’s beginnings and impact on World War I and World War II to share the strategic role of air power and the changes in warfare including planning for the Postwar military. Within the pages of this booklet, the unification and creation of a Department of National Defense is addressed with the its organization and emphasis under President Truman’s leadership. In 1949 several amendments to the National Security Act gave the Secretary more authority, personnel and power and downgraded the services from executive to military departments. The service secretaries would no longer attend meetings of the National Security Council, but would advise the Secretary of Defense. In the five decades since the creation of the Department of Defense and the separate United States Air Force, controversies over roles and missions have continued to divide the services, especially when they competed for shrinking defense funds. Yet the national security chain of command and the unique role of the Air Force have remained intact. In the 1990s, it would be difficult to imagine a “Revolt of the Admirals.” Throughout Korea, Vietnam and now in the post-Cold War era of joint operations and independence, the revolution in defense organization that occurred fifty years ago has continued to serve the nation well.

Toward Independence

Toward Independence PDF

Author: Herman S. Wolk

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 48

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

From the Wright Brothers' first flight, a long, convoluted road led to the creation of the modern independent United States Air Force. Despite frustrating bureaucratic delays and political maneuvering, the ultimate goal was clear. Two world wars had devestated whole continents and threatened long-term global peace. Only a well-prepared American military establishment, fully utilizing its Air Force, could provide a strong national defense and help ensure world peace. As aerospace tecnnology took off, an independent Air Force would lead the way into the atomic age, and a new mililtary structure would be required. Just as important as technology, however, would be the vision and energy of air power advocates. Over five decades, Air Force people would build the world's finest air organization by following a simple creed: putting service above self.

Toward Independence: the Emergence of the U. S. Air Force, 1943-1947

Toward Independence: the Emergence of the U. S. Air Force, 1943-1947 PDF

Author: Office of Air Force History

Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub

Published: 2015-03-02

Total Pages: 42

ISBN-13: 9781508684602

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

From the Wright Brothers' first flight, a long, convoluted road led to the creation of the modern independent United States Air Force. Despite frustrating bureaucratic delays and political maneuvering, the ultimate goal was clear. Two world wars had devastated whole continents and threatened long-term global peace. Only a well-prepared American military establishment, fully utilizing its Air Force, could provide a strong national defense and help ensure world peace. As aerospace technology took off, an independent Air Force would lead the way into the atomic age, and a new military structure would be required. Just as important as technology, however, would be the vision and energy of air power advocates. Over five decades, Air Force people would build the world's finest air organization by following a simple creed: putting service above self.

Reflections on Air Force Independence

Reflections on Air Force Independence PDF

Author: Office of Air Force History

Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub

Published: 2015-03-03

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 9781508697466

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

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.

The Struggle for Air Force Independence

The Struggle for Air Force Independence PDF

Author: Herman S. Wolk

Publisher: Government Reprints Press

Published: 2001-06-01

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 9781931641197

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This series introduces the core areas of chemical science, covering important concepts in an easy, accessible style. Each title contains a number of experiments and demonstrations, approached through the process of problem, hypothesis, experiment and conclusion. All the books support the QCA schemes of work and contain: definitions of important terms and explanations of key concepts; formulae and word equations; and the periodic table with explanatory notes. This title explores the concepts of the states of matter.

Autonomy of the Air Arm (The Question of Autonomy for the United States Air Arm, 1907-1945) - Impact of the World War I Years, Army Air Corps Creation, GHQ Air Force, World War II

Autonomy of the Air Arm (The Question of Autonomy for the United States Air Arm, 1907-1945) - Impact of the World War I Years, Army Air Corps Creation, GHQ Air Force, World War II PDF

Author: U. S. Military

Publisher:

Published: 2017-05-30

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 9781521403006

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This unique USAF publication describes early efforts to create an independent Air Force. The Air Service became a combatant arm of the Army in 1920, and in 1926 the Air Corps was created. Over the years, proposals to establish an independent air arm met stout resistance from the War Department General Staff. The Army reorganized after Pearl Harbor, and the Army Air Forces gained autonomy within the framework of the War Department. This book was originally published by Air University as The Question of Autonomy for the United States Air Arm, 1907-1945. In January 1954 it was reissued as an Air University Documentary Research Study entitled Autonomy of the Air Arm. This reprints the text of the 1954 edition, and contains the original's inconsistencies of capitalization, usage, and style. The only editing performed corrects incorrect spelling or punctuation. The question of how best to organize the United States Army's air arm had been contentious from the time of the First World War. Legislation to give the air arm greater autonomy or even independence had been introduced in the Congress in the interwar years. Although independence would not be achieved until after World War II, the air arm during the interwar period made remarkable progress towards this goal. In 1926 the Army Air Corps was established, and in 1934 the Baker Board directed the formation of the General Headquarters Air Force, giving the Army air arm a measure of autonomy. On the eve of the Second World War, the War Department created the Army Air Forces. Although falling short of independence, these were important steps forward on the road to the creation of today's global Air Force. R. Earl McClendon's classic Autonomy of the Air Arm describes the Army air arm's struggle for autonomy over almost forty years, from 1907 to the close of World War II. McClendon's narrative details the contentious evolution of the Army Air Forces (AAF) in March 1942 as a fully coequal branch with the Army Ground Forces (AGF). Following the end of the war, President Harry S. Truman firmly positioned himself in favor of "air parity" and an independent Air Force. McClendon emphasizes that "for the first time in the history of American aviation the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces definitely took a stand in favor of an independent military air arm." Truman's firm leadership on this issue ultimately resulted in passage of the National Security Act of 1947. After four decades of prolonged gestation, the United States Air Force was born. Chapter 1 - Introduction * Chapter 2 - Early Developments, 1913-1917 * Chapter 3 - The Impact of the War Years, 1917-1918 * Chapter 4 - Preliminary Adjustments Following World War I * Chapter 5 - Creation of The Army Air Corps * Chapter 6 - The Establishment of the General Headquarters Air Force * Chapter 7 - The Air Corps and the GHQ Air Force, 1935-1941 * Chapter 8 - Autonomy for the Army Air Forces

Toward Independence

Toward Independence PDF

Author: Herman S. Wolk

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

From the Wright Brothers' first flight, a long, convoluted road led to the creation of the modern independent United States Air Force. Despite frustrating bureaucratic delays and political maneuvering, the ultimate goal was clear. Two world wars had devestated whole continents and threatened long-term global peace. Only a well-prepared American military establishment, fully utilizing its Air Force, could provide a strong national defense and help ensure world peace. As aerospace tecnnology took off, an independent Air Force would lead the way into the atomic age, and a new mililtary structure would be required. Just as important as technology, however, would be the vision and energy of air power advocates. Over five decades, Air Force people would build the world's finest air organization by following a simple creed: putting service above self.

Planning and Organizing the Postwar Air Force 1943-1947

Planning and Organizing the Postwar Air Force 1943-1947 PDF

Author: Office of Air Force History

Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub

Published: 2015-02-28

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 9781508659587

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

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.

Lanterna Rally - Theme by Grace Themes