The United States needs airpower, but does it need an air force?
In Grounded, Robert M. Farley persuasively argues that America
should end the independence of the United States Air Force (USAF)
and divide its assets and missions between the United States Army
and the United States Navy.
In the wake of World War I, advocates of the Air Force argued
that an organizationally independent air force would render other
military branches obsolete. These boosters promised clean, easy
wars: airpower would destroy cities beyond the reach of the armies
and would sink navies before they could reach the coast. However,
as Farley demonstrates, independent air forces failed to deliver on
these promises in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War,
the first Gulf War, the Kosovo conflict, and the War on Terror.
They have also had perverse effects on foreign and security policy,
as politicians have been tempted by the vision of devastating
airpower to initiate otherwise ill-considered conflicts. The
existence of the USAF also produces turf wars with the Navy and the
Army, leading to redundant expenditures, nonsensical restrictions
on equipment use, and bad tactical decisions.
Farley does not challenge the idea that aircraft represent a
critical component of America's defenses; nor does he dispute that
-- especially now, with the introduction of unmanned aerial
vehicles -- airpower is necessary to modern warfare. Rather, he
demonstrates that the efficient and wise use of airpower does not
require the USAF as presently constituted. An intriguing scholarly
polemic, Grounded employs a wide variety of primary and secondary
source materials to build its case that the United States should
now correct its 1947 mistake of having created an independent air
force.
General
Imprint: |
The University Press of Kentucky
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
Studies in Conflict, Diplomacy and Peace |
Release date: |
March 2014 |
First published: |
March 2014 |
Authors: |
Robert M Farley
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 28mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Paper over boards / With dust jacket
|
Pages: |
272 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8131-4495-5 |
Categories: |
Books >
Social sciences >
Politics & government >
Political science & theory
|
LSN: |
0-8131-4495-7 |
Barcode: |
9780813144955 |
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