Introduction To The United States Air Force

To lead the US Air Force into the future, it is necessary to understand the past and present nature of the force. With this in mind, Air Force leaders have always sought to arm members of the force with a basic knowledge and understanding of Air Force culture and history. This volume is a contribution to that ongoing educational process, but as the title states, this is only an introduction. The information provided here merely scratches the surface of the fascinating stories of the people, equipment, and operations of the Air Force Topics that are covered here in only a few short paragraphs have been, and will continue to be the subject of entire books. We hope this volume will be a starting point and a reference work to facilitate your continuing study of aerospace power. The reader should keep in mind that all the people, operations, and aerospace craft included in this book have been important to the US Air Force, but they are not the only ones that have been important. The US Air Force has gained much from other nations, other US military services, and civilian organizations and these outside influences on the US Air Force are not included in this volume. This Introduction to the United States Air Force is organized into two parts and five appendices. The first part is organized chronologically and groups significant operations and personalities together in several critical periods in the development of the US Air Force. The second part covers aerospace craft and is organized by type (fighters, bombers, missiles, etc,) in order to show the development of each type over time. Following Part II are appendices listing the senior leaders of the early air forces (before the creation of the US Air Force in 1947), the Air Force Chiefs of Staff, the Chief Master Sergeants of the Air Force, Fighter Aces, and Medal of Honor Winners.

Spanning over two decades, this short pamphlet gives an overview of the efforts to unravel the mysteries of UFO sightings and their potential implications.

Each forward-thinking air force has now to consider potential threat scenarios that are futuristic and require some degree of planning. This volume contains data on 14 nations and their attempts to modernize, mobilize and keep ahead of their adversaries.

Except in a few instances, since World War II no American soldier or sailor has been attacked by enemy air power. Conversely, no enemy soldier orsailor has acted in combat without being attacked or at least threatened by American air power. Aviators have brought the air weapon to bear against enemies while denying them the same prerogative. This is the legacy of the U.S. AirForce, purchased at great cost in both human and material resources.More often than not, aerial pioneers had to fight technological ignorance, bureaucratic opposition, public apathy, and disagreement over purpose.Every step in the evolution of air power led into new and untrodden territory, driven 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 coveted the high ground. If technology permitted them to reach it, men, women andan air force held and exploited it-from Thomas Selfridge, first among so many who gave that "last full measure of devotion"; to Women's Airforce Service Pilot Ann Baumgartner, who broke social barriers to become the first Americanwoman to pilot a jet; to Benjamin Davis, who broke racial barriers to become the first African American to command a flying group; to Chuck Yeager, a one-time non-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 live flare 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 power directly. Americans have perceived air power from the start as a more efficient means of waging war and as a symbol of the nation's commitment to technology to master challenges, minimize casualties, and defeat adversaries.

“Laslie chronicles how the Air Force worked its way from the catastrophe of Vietnam through the triumph of the Gulf War, and beyond.” —Robert M. Farley, author of Grounded The U.S. Air Force’s poor performance in Operation Linebacker II and other missions during Vietnam was partly due to the fact that they had trained their pilots according to methods devised during World War II and the Korean War, when strategic bombers attacking targets were expected to take heavy losses. Warfare had changed by the 1960s, but the USAF had not adapted. Between 1972 and 1991, however, the Air Force dramatically changed its doctrines and began to overhaul the way it trained pilots through the introduction of a groundbreaking new training program called “Red Flag.” In The Air Force Way of War, Brian D. Laslie examines the revolution in pilot instruction that Red Flag brought about after Vietnam. The program’s new instruction methods were dubbed “realistic” because they prepared pilots for real-life situations better than the simple cockpit simulations of the past, and students gained proficiency on primary and secondary missions instead of superficially training for numerous possible scenarios. In addition to discussing the program’s methods, Laslie analyzes the way its graduates actually functioned in combat during the 1980s and ’90s in places such as Grenada, Panama, Libya, and Iraq. Military historians have traditionally emphasized the primacy of technological developments during this period and have overlooked the vital importance of advances in training, but Laslie’s unprecedented study of Red Flag addresses this oversight through its examination of the seminal program. “A refreshing look at the people and operational practices whose import far exceeds technological advances.” —The Strategy Bridgei

Here is a comprehensive history of the people and vehicles of the United States Air Force, from World War I through the start of the 21st Century. This Introduction to the United States Air Force is organized into two parts and five appendices. The first part is organized chronologically and groups significant operations and personalities together in several critical periods in the development of the US Air Force. The second part covers aerospace craft and is organized by type (fighters, bombers, missiles, etc.) in order to show the development of each type over time. Following Part II are appendices listing the senior leaders of the early air forces (before the creation of the US Air Force in 1947), the Air Force Chiefs of Staff, the Chief Master Sergeants of the Air Force, Fighter Aces, and Medal of Honor Winners. Contents: Part I - Major Operations and Personnel of the United States Air Force * Part II - Aerospace Craft of the United States Air Force WORLD WAR I AND THE INTERWAR YEARS: 1916-40 * Mexican Punitive Expedition (1916-17) * St Mihiel Offensive of World War I * Sinking of the Ostfriesland (1921) * Pan American Goodwill Flight * Question Mark Flight (1929) * Airmail Operation (1934) * "Hap" Arnold's B-10 Flights to Alaska * Foulois * Bullard * Mitchell * Rickenbacker * Luke * Patrick * Andrews * Doolittle Raid on Tokyo * Kasserine Pass * Battle of the Bismarck Sea * Ploesti Raid (August 1943) * Regensburg/Schweinfurt Raids (1943) * Operation Overlord (1944) * Bombing Tokyo * Hiroshima and Nagasaki * "Hap" Arnold * Chennault * Eaker * Spaatz * Gabreski * Kuter * Bong * "Jimmy" Doolittle * Kenney * Whitehead * McGuire * Tibbets * INDEPENDENT AIR FORCE, COLD WAR, AND KOREA: 1946-64 * X-1 Supersonic Flight * Berlin Airlift * Pusan Perimeter Defense * Corona * Strategic Air Command (1946-92) * Cuban Missile Crisis * Yeager * Vandenberg * Hess * Jabara * McConnell * Blesse * Risner * Twining * Tunner * LeMay * Schriever * Aldrin * Grissom * Slayton * Rolling Thunder (1965-68) * Arc Light (1965-67) * Bolo (January 1967) * Linebacker I (1972) * Pitzenbarger * Dethlefsen * Sijan * Ryan * James * Levitow * Brown * Ritchie * Jones * Olds * Aderholt * El Dorado Canyon * Just Cause (December 1989) * Iraq * Warden * Horner * McPeak * Somalia (1992-94) * Provide Promise and Deny Flight: Bosnia (1992-96) * Uphold Democracy: Haiti (1994) * Kosovo Crisis (1999) * Fogleman * Short * Part II * Wright 1909 Military Flyer and Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny" * DeHavilland DH-4 and SPAD XIII * P-6E and P-26 * P-39 and P-38 * P-40 and P-47 * P-51 and Bell P-59 * P-61 and F-80 * F-84 and F-86 * F-100 and F-101 * F-102, F-104, and F-106 * Republic F-105 and McDonnell Douglas F-4 * General Dynamics F-111 and McDonnell Douglas F-15 * Lockheed Martin F-16 and Lockheed F-117 * Boeing and Lockheed Martin F-22 * GMB/MB-1, Boeing B-9, and Martin B-10 * B-17 and B-24 * North American B-25 and Martin B-26 * Boeing B-29 and Convair B-36 * Boeing B-47 and Convair B-58 * Boeing B-52 and Rockwell B-1 * B-2 * Northrop A-17 and Douglas A-20 * Douglas A-26 and Douglas A-1 * Vought A-7 and Fairchild A-10 * KC-97 and Boeing KB-50 * Boeing KC-135 and McDonnell Douglas KC-10 * Curtiss-Wright C-30 and Douglas C-47 * Curtiss C-46 and Douglas C-54 * Fairchild C-82/119 and Douglas C-124 * Lockheed C-69/121 and Fairchild C-123 * Lockheed C-130 and Lockheed C-141 * Lockheed C-5 and Boeing E-3 * Northrop Grumman E-8 and Boeing C-17 * Vultee BT-13 and North American AT-6 * Lockheed T-33 and North American T-28 * Beech T-34 and Cessna T-37 * Northrop T-38 and Raytheon T-1 * X-1 and Lockheed U-2 * X-15 and North American XB-70 * SR-71 * PGM-17 Thor and General Dynamics HGM-19 Atlas * Martin LGM-25 Titan and Boeing LGM-30 Minuteman * LGM-118 Peacekeeper * Delta II * AGM-86 and Boeing AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile * Corona * Defense Meteorological Satellite Program and Defense Satellite Communications System * TRW Defense Support Program and Rockwell Navstar