Mortensen Daniel R Editor (1 results)
Published by Air University Press, Maxwell AFB, AL 1998
- Softcover
- First Edition
Seller: Ground Zero Books, Ltd., Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.Ground Zero Books, Ltd.
Contact seller5-star sellerTrade paperback. Condition: Good. Presumed First Edition, First printing. 25 cm. xvii, [1], 207 pages. Wraps. Illustrations. Appendix. Bibliography. Index. Slight wear to covers, some sticker residue to upper corner of front cover, a little yellow highlighting to text noted. This work includes essays by Vincent Orange, David R.…Mets, Daniel R. Mortensen, and David Spires. Dr. Daniel Mortensen was an Air Force historian and retired Dean of Research at the Air Force Research Institute. George Vincent Orange (24 September 1935 â" 26 November 2012) was a British-born New Zealand historian, best known for his military biographies of RAF commanders John Slessor, Keith Park, Arthur Coningham, and Arthur Tedder. David R. Mets earned his Ph.D. from the University of Denver. He completed a 30-year career in the US Navy and Air Force in 1979. During his career, he taught diplomatic and military history at both the Air Force Academy and West Point. Essay 1 in this book describes the organization, doctrine, operational practices, and personality of the British-led air forces in the desert west of Cairo from 1940 to 1943. Essay 2 in this book describes and analyzes the events in northwest Africa during Operation Torch and the Battle for Tunisia in the winter and spring of 1942-43. Essay 3 analyzes policy development in Washington, showing, among other things, how policy is a product of headquarters thinking as much as a result of practical experience. Essay 4 analyzes the great tactical aviation exercise in northwest Europe, emphasizing the famous cooperation between George S. Patton and Otto P. Weyland. North Africa provided a stage to expose deep-seated conflicting views of airpower. The soldier viewed the war in terms of brigades, divisions, corps, and armies; some saw the application of airpower as being in direct support of their own combat formations. The airman, on the other hand, saw the application of airpower in terms of the entire theater of operations; therefore, he saw it employed in situations and against enemy forces presenting the greatest threat in the theater. The establishment of three priorities for air missions-superiority, interdiction, and close air support- was a focus of his perspective of theater air operations. Historical experience greatly affected the advocacy of this theater-wide operational scheme, particularly the way airpower was initially commanded and employed in North Africa. Along with an air campaign needing a focus to gain control of the air and interdict the battlefield, there was a need to reorganize the command structure. In essence, the decision to establish a tactical and strategic air force under a single air commander (Northwest African Air Forces under Gen. Carl A Spat) created a theater command structure with coequal air and ground commanders under Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. By this arrangement, the air and ground component commanders received equal footing. It is against this background that the long-standing ideas of airmen brightened, leading to the development and publication of FM 100-20 and, later, to revisions of the basic tactical doctrinal manual (FM 31-35). These manuals served the purpose of articulating what airmen believed about airpower and how their perspectives on its use related to the views of ground forces. These manuals continue even today to be the foundation of what airmen believe about airpower and its relationship to the other services in a combat theater. The North Africa experience provided a model for the organization and employment of tactical airpower in subsequent campaigns in Europe, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War. In each of these campaigns, planners have continued to refine, expand, and improve the effectiveness of tactical air support for all forces in a theater. The priorities for employment are a function of the most pressing threat and the greatest opportunity for imposing a major effect on the fighting ability of the opposing forces. The flexibility of tactical air (its greatest asset) permits a shifting focus between air sup.