Book Description

This handbook provides a compact overview of the evolution of military airpower for young company-grade Airmen. It is designed as a primer and perhaps as a companion to a lifetime study of the profession. Military power has three main elements: ideas, people, and materiel. Each chapter follows that model. The narrative describes the main ideas, and a biographical sketch introduces someone who played a key role in that area. The illustrations portray some of the people and materiel involved. On the assumption that most Airmen know who airpower icons like Billy Mitchell and Hap Arnold were, the illustrations show some of the other important but less well-known figures. Of course, no short work can cover all the ideas, people, and materiel associated with each airpower topic, so each chapter also suggests some further reading that will start the officer on the lifetime study of his or her profession. The library call numbers of each work are given at the end of each entry. Air University Press, Air Force Research Institute.