Ideas, Concepts, Doctrine: Basic Thinking in the United States Air Force 1907-1960 - Volume One, Early Days, World War II, Nuclear Weapons, Missiles, Space, Strategic Implications

Nonfiction, History, Military, Aviation, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, International
Cover of the book Ideas, Concepts, Doctrine: Basic Thinking in the United States Air Force 1907-1960 - Volume One, Early Days, World War II, Nuclear Weapons, Missiles, Space, Strategic Implications by Progressive Management, Progressive Management
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Progressive Management ISBN: 9781476117577
Publisher: Progressive Management Publication: March 29, 2012
Imprint: Smashwords Edition Language: English
Author: Progressive Management
ISBN: 9781476117577
Publisher: Progressive Management
Publication: March 29, 2012
Imprint: Smashwords Edition
Language: English

This history seeks to discover and record the mainstream of thought within the United States Air Force (and its predecessors) concerning the role to be played by air and aerospace power in a deadly struggle for national survival. It seeks to trace the development of a theme of institutional thought, describe the organizational framework in which the thinking took place, and identify individual thinkers and their ideas. In great measure this chronology is the story of dedicated professional men who were attempting to discover the capabilities and limitations of new forms of air and aerospace power and to relate these new characteristics of military power to the defense of the United States and its national interests. The story begins with the first heavier-than-air flight in 1903 and closes at the end of 1984. This ending date permits a coverage of Air Force thinking about counterinsurgency warfare and the military operations in Southeast Asia.

A constant concern in developing the narrative has been the problem of how to present the matters under consideration in the most meaningful manner. Since ideas and concepts are frequently interpretations of facts and not facts themselves, a thinker may predict meanings before events transpire or, even more likely, continue over a period of years to draw interpretative meanings from the factual happenings of the past. Fundamentally, ideas often lack a temporal quality, hence a history of ideas lacks the neatness of a history of past events. It is possible that this history of ideas, concepts, and doctrine of air power should have been presented as an anthology of pertinent discourse with accompanying commentary. This technique, however, would have obscured a proper recognition of the circumstance wherein the developing Air Force was itself an excellent manifestation of air ideas. The notion of an anthology was, nevertheless, so persuasive that the author, as often as possible, has allowed the thinkers to speak for themselves and to work their dialogue into the narrative. This practice frequently makes for tedious progress when citations are lengthy, and short quotations run the danger of lifting thoughts out of context. Still summarization of a man's words in contemporary language can easily distort original meanings. The record will show, for example, that air superiority had different meanings to different thinkers during the course of Air Force history. As a matter of practice, the author has sought to present the story of the way things were and what men were thinking in a developing time frame, without attempting a high-gloss interpretation of either the events or the thoughts.

Contents: CHAPTER 1 - EMERGING PATTERNS OF AIR FORCE THOUGHT * CHAPTER 2 - EARLY DAYS THROUGH WORLD WAR I 1907-26 * CHAPTER 3 - GROWTH OF THE AIR FORCE IDEA 1926-41 * CHAPTER 4 - AIR FORCE THINKING AND WORLD WAR II * CHAPTER 5 - THE AIR FORCE IN NATIONAL DEFENSE: ORGANIZATION AND STRATEGY, 1944-49 * CHAPTER 6 - RESPONSES TO SOVIET NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND LIMITED WAR, 1949-53 * CHAPTER 7 - THE AIR FORCE WRITES ITS DOCTRINE 1947-55 * CHAPTER 8 - STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE NEW LOOK 1953-57 * CHAPTER 9 - MISSILE TECHNOLOGY AND THE AIR FORCE 1945-60 * CHAPTER 10 - IMPACT OF MISSILES AND SPACE ON NATIONAL ORGANIZATION AND STRATEGY

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This history seeks to discover and record the mainstream of thought within the United States Air Force (and its predecessors) concerning the role to be played by air and aerospace power in a deadly struggle for national survival. It seeks to trace the development of a theme of institutional thought, describe the organizational framework in which the thinking took place, and identify individual thinkers and their ideas. In great measure this chronology is the story of dedicated professional men who were attempting to discover the capabilities and limitations of new forms of air and aerospace power and to relate these new characteristics of military power to the defense of the United States and its national interests. The story begins with the first heavier-than-air flight in 1903 and closes at the end of 1984. This ending date permits a coverage of Air Force thinking about counterinsurgency warfare and the military operations in Southeast Asia.

A constant concern in developing the narrative has been the problem of how to present the matters under consideration in the most meaningful manner. Since ideas and concepts are frequently interpretations of facts and not facts themselves, a thinker may predict meanings before events transpire or, even more likely, continue over a period of years to draw interpretative meanings from the factual happenings of the past. Fundamentally, ideas often lack a temporal quality, hence a history of ideas lacks the neatness of a history of past events. It is possible that this history of ideas, concepts, and doctrine of air power should have been presented as an anthology of pertinent discourse with accompanying commentary. This technique, however, would have obscured a proper recognition of the circumstance wherein the developing Air Force was itself an excellent manifestation of air ideas. The notion of an anthology was, nevertheless, so persuasive that the author, as often as possible, has allowed the thinkers to speak for themselves and to work their dialogue into the narrative. This practice frequently makes for tedious progress when citations are lengthy, and short quotations run the danger of lifting thoughts out of context. Still summarization of a man's words in contemporary language can easily distort original meanings. The record will show, for example, that air superiority had different meanings to different thinkers during the course of Air Force history. As a matter of practice, the author has sought to present the story of the way things were and what men were thinking in a developing time frame, without attempting a high-gloss interpretation of either the events or the thoughts.

Contents: CHAPTER 1 - EMERGING PATTERNS OF AIR FORCE THOUGHT * CHAPTER 2 - EARLY DAYS THROUGH WORLD WAR I 1907-26 * CHAPTER 3 - GROWTH OF THE AIR FORCE IDEA 1926-41 * CHAPTER 4 - AIR FORCE THINKING AND WORLD WAR II * CHAPTER 5 - THE AIR FORCE IN NATIONAL DEFENSE: ORGANIZATION AND STRATEGY, 1944-49 * CHAPTER 6 - RESPONSES TO SOVIET NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND LIMITED WAR, 1949-53 * CHAPTER 7 - THE AIR FORCE WRITES ITS DOCTRINE 1947-55 * CHAPTER 8 - STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE NEW LOOK 1953-57 * CHAPTER 9 - MISSILE TECHNOLOGY AND THE AIR FORCE 1945-60 * CHAPTER 10 - IMPACT OF MISSILES AND SPACE ON NATIONAL ORGANIZATION AND STRATEGY

More books from Progressive Management

Cover of the book Crafting Flight: Aircraft Pioneers and the Contributions of the Men and Women of NASA Langley Research Center - NACA Aviation History, Apollo Moon Landing, Viking Mars, Jet Airplanes, Wind Tunnels by Progressive Management
Cover of the book Armed with Information: Evolving Public Affairs to Deliver Operational Effects - Military Implications of Globalization, Changing Nature of Military Conflict, Evolving War Character, Battle of Ideas by Progressive Management
Cover of the book 21st Century Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) Papers - Social Capital, Policing and the Rule-of-Law: Keys to Stabilization, Military Police - Prisons, Iraq, Afghanistan by Progressive Management
Cover of the book The History of Chemical Warfare - From World War I to Iraq, Terrorist Threats, Countermeasures and Medical Management, CWC Treaty and Demilitarization (Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare Excerpt) by Progressive Management
Cover of the book Evolution of Warfare: Military Course on the Art and Concepts of Warfare From The Beginning of Recorded History - Classical Macedonians and Romans, Prussian Influence, American Civil War, World Wars by Progressive Management
Cover of the book Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Perspective - Orientation Guide: Geography, History, Cities, Economy, Society, Security, Military, Religion, Traditions, Mobutu Era, Congo Wars, Hazards by Progressive Management
Cover of the book 21st Century Textbooks of Military Medicine - Care of the Combat Amputee: Treatment of Limb Amputations, Polytrauma, Rehabilitation, Emerging Techniques, Technologies (Emergency War Surgery Series) by Progressive Management
Cover of the book Apollo and America's Moon Landing Program: On The Moon With Apollo 16 - A Guidebook to the Descartes Region by Progressive Management
Cover of the book Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO - From Nuclear Artillery to Ballistic Missiles, TNWs and NSNWs, Nuclear Modernization, Deterrence, Operation Snowcat, Nuclear Zero, TLE (Treaty-limited Equipment) by Progressive Management
Cover of the book Cyberspace Command and Control Model: The Nature of Cyberspace, Computer Networks, Information Environment, Internet, Data Manipulation, Legal Authorities, Cyber Attack, Cybernetics, Systems Theory by Progressive Management
Cover of the book Air Force Doctrine Document 3-60: Targeting - Target Characteristics, Weaponeering, Mensuration, Collateral Damage, Tasking Cycle, Campaign Assessment, Effects-Based Operations (EBO) by Progressive Management
Cover of the book Risk Mitigation and Leadership in Tactical U.S. Army Infantry Training: Combat Readiness Affected by Commander's Authority to Execute Risk Mitigation, Case Studies in Korean and Vietnam Wars by Progressive Management
Cover of the book National Defense Intelligence College Paper: Bringing Intelligence About - Practitioners Reflect on Best Practices - CIA Analysis, Analytical Tradecraft, Process Management by Progressive Management
Cover of the book National Defense Intelligence College Paper: Democratization of Intelligence - Melding Strategic Intelligence and National Discourse - South America, Canada, U.S. Intelligence, Canadian Attitudes by Progressive Management
Cover of the book Geopolitics and Planning for a High-End Fight: NATO and the Baltic Region, Airpower and Geopolitical Angst, The New Russian Threat, Considering a High-End Fight with Russia, Putin by Progressive Management
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy