Some readers may wonder at the title of this volume. It was
inspired, in a somewhat roundabout way, by Air Force chief of staff
T. Michael Moseley, who struggled mightily during his tenure to, in
his words, "recapitalize the fleet" of aging USAF aircraft during a
period of significant budget constraints. In a world of rapid
change and confounding problems that threaten all of mankind,
intellectual recapitalization of the Air Force has become critical
to survival and success and is at least equal in importance to the
recapitalization of the aircraft fleet. One article, "The Essence
of Aerospace Power: A New Perspective from a Century of
Experience," had been heavily edited to meet the space limitations
of the journal in which it was published. The essays and speeches
are grouped into four broad subject areas, within which they are
arranged chronologically. Part 1, Considering the
Past-Contemplating the Future, examines some classical military
themes and their relationship to modern military problems and the
use of modern airpower. Airpower is a child of technological
development, and Airmen are in love with their high-tech gadgetry.
Technological fascination is not limited to Airmen, of course, but
Airmen have raised that fascination to the status of a fetish,
often to the exclusion of fundamental military thinking that could
profitably inform them about the employment of airpower above the
tactical level. The essays in part 1 address these issues. All were
written and published during the 1980s. Part 2, The End of the Cold
War, looks at problems that were a consequence of this historical
development. Although cause for much joy and relief, the fall of
the Berlin Wall, the self-liberation of the former Soviet empire,
and the dissolution of the Soviet Union also caused great angst in
the US military. It was almost immediately clear to those with any
insight that as the new millennium (in one sense of that word) was
about to begin, the old millennium (in another sense of that word)
had not yet departed. Local and regional politico-military
struggles long suppressed by the Cold War superpowers raised their
ugly heads as the stability of the Cold War gave way to the near
chaos of the post-Cold War. Faced with an enormous amount of
uncertainty, the US military had to reevaluate its size,
composition, and essential missions, all of which fostered spirited
debate within and among the services. The essays and speeches in
part 2 illustrate these concerns from an Airman's point of view and
are representative of the kinds of jockeying for position (and
funding) that went on between the services. These essays and
speeches were all written between 1990 and 1993. The demise of our
arch adversary, the upheaval of the Cold War regime, and the
uncertainty that ensued prompted fierce competition for what all
assumed would be drastically reduced military budgets. To make the
case for maintaining a strong air arm in the post-Cold War era, it
was prudent to begin thinking about the fundamentals of airpower,
its impact during the twentieth century, and its potential to make
important contributions during the post-Cold War era. Thus the
essays in part 3, The Nature and Impact of Airpower, reexamine
these issues and attempt to identify what airpower is really all
about and what makes it so fundamentally different from land and
sea power. These essays, written between 1988 and 2002, examine the
impact of airpower and how it influenced national and military
strategy since it came of age in the middle of the twentieth
century. Finally, the essays and speech selected for part 4,
Educating Airmen, reflect the primary focus of the author's career
for 30 years and the fundamental reason for writing every essay in
this volume as well as every other essay, monograph, and book he's
written.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
