US Air Force: concise history of the %20US air force

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DI1TRIBUTION

STATEMENT

A

Approved

for

Public

Release

Distribution

Unlimited

A

Concise

History

of

the

U.S.

AirForce

StephenL.

McFarland

Air

Force

History

and

Museums

Program

1997

20050429

021

A

Concise

History

of

the

U.S.

Air Force

Except

in

a

few

instances,

sinceWorld

War

II

no

American

soldier

or

sailor has

been

attacked

by

enemy air

power. Conversely,

no

enemy

soldier

or

sailor

has acted

in

combat

without being attacked or

at

least

threatened

by

American

airpower.

Aviators have

brought

the

air

weapon to

bear

against

ene-mies whiledenying

them the same

prerogative. This

is

the

legacy

of

theU.S.

Air

Force, purchased

at

great cost

in

both human

and

material resources.More often

than not, aerial

pioneers

had to

fight technological igno-rance, bureaucratic opposition, public apathy,

and

disagreement

over purpose.

Every

step

in

the

evolution

of

air

power

led

into

new and

untrodden territory, dri-

ven

by

humanitarian impulses;

by

the

search

for higher, faster,

and

farther

flight;or

by the

conviction that

the

air

way was the

best

way.

Warriors have

always cov-eted

the

high ground.

If

technology

permitted

them

to

reach

it,

men,

women

and

an

air

force

held

and

exploited

it-from

Thomas Selfridge,

first among

somany

who

gave

that

"last

full

measure

of

devotion";

to

Women's

Airforce Service

Pilot

Ann

Baumgartner,

who

broke

social

barriers

to

become

the

first

American

woman

to

pilot

a

jet;

to

BenjaminDavis, whobroke

racial

barriers

to

become

the

first

African American

to

command

a

flying

group;

to

Chuck

Yeager, a

one-timenon-commissioned

flight officer who

was the

first

to

exceed

the

speed

of

sound;

to

John Levitow,

who

earned

the

Medal

of

Honor

by

throwing

himself

over

a

liveflare

to

save

his

gunship crew;

to John

Warden,

who began

a

revolution

in air

power thought

and

strategy that

was

put

to

spectacular

use

in

the

Gulf

War.

Industrialization

has

brought

total

war

and

air

power

has

brought

the

means

to

overfly

an

enemy's

defenses

and

attack

its

sources

of

powerdirectly.

Americans have perceived air

power

from

the

start

asa

more efficient means

of

wagingwar

and

as a

symbol

of

the

nation's

commitment

to

technology

to

mas-terchallenges,minimize

casualties,

and

defeat adversaries.

REPORT DOCUMENTATION

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PLEASEDONOTRETURNYOURFORM

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-

To)

1997

I

_______________

4.TITLE

AND SUBTITLE

5a.

CONTRACT

NUMBER

Atoncise

History

of

the

U.S.

Air Force

n/a

5b.

GRANT NUMBER

n/a

Sc. PROGRAM

ELEMENT

NUMBER

n/a

6.

AUTHOR(S)

5d.

PROJECT

NUMBER

n/a

McFarland,Stephen

L.

5e.

TASK

NUMBER

n/a

5f.

WORKUNIT NUMBER

n/a

7.

PERFORMING ORGANIZATION

NAME(S)

AND

ADDRESS(ES)

8.

PERFORMING ORGANIZATION

Air

ForceHistory

Support

Office

REPORTNUMBER

3

BrookleyAvenue

Box

94n/a

Boiling

AFB

DC

20032-5000

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ANDADIQRESS(ES)

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DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITYSTATEMENT

Approved

for

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distribution

is

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13.

SUPPLEMENTARYNOTES

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14.

ABSTRACT

Provides

a

short history

of

military

air

power

in

theUnited

Statesfrom the

Civil

War tothe

Gulf

War.

84pp.,

photos, suggestedreadings

GPO

Stock

No.008-070-00727-4ISBN:0-16-049208-4

15.

SUBJECT

TERMS

16.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATIONOF:

17.

LIMITATION OF

18.

NUMBER

19a.

NAMEOF RESPONSIBLE PERSON

a.

REPORTb.

ABSTRACT

c.

THIS

PAGEABSTRACT

OF

Richard

1.

Wolf

PAGES

JU

19b.

TELEPHONENUMBER

(Include

areacode)

UU

84

202-404-2186

Standard

Form

298

(Rev.

8/98)

Prescribed by

ANSI

Std.

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