Our Nation is one of a vast array of actors in a complex, volatile, and unpredictable security environment. Globalization and the proliferation of technology mean we face threats across a wide spectrum and competition across all domains. We're confronted by ever-evolving adversaries ranging from one person with a single interconnected computer to sophisticated capable militaries and everything in between. We're also challenged by the shear pace of change among our adversaries fueled by profound information and technology diffusion worldwide. As stated by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force in...

This manual implements Air Force Policy Directive (AFPD) 15-1, Atmospheric and Space Environmental Support. It also implements Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 1 (FCM-H1) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Manual on Codes, Volume I.1, Part A (WMO 306, Vol I.1, Part A) aerodrome routine meteorological reports (FM-15 METAR) and aerodrome special meteorological reports (FM-16 SPECI) codes. It prescribes basic observing fundamentals and terms and establishes aviation code forms for recording and disseminating weather observations. It applies to all Active and Reserve Component...

Many documents, articles, and stories have been written about U.S. Air Force operations in Southeast Asia (SEA). However, given the critical in-depth coverage commensurate with our level of involvement. This volume, the first in a USAF Southeast Asia Monograph series, is an attempt to document the story of AIR-POWER -- and the people behind it -- in our nation's longest armed conflict. For eight years American airman fought with a multitude of missions, evolving weaponry, ever changing tactics and maybe most notable --constantly changing constraints. In this volume, authors from the Air War...

Following the Armistice in 1918, Maj. Gen. Mason M. Patrick, Chief of Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces, directed that a record be made of lessons learned during the war. This information, he believed, was needed for planning the Air Service of the future. The reports prepared by commanders, pilots, observers, and other members of the various Air Service units in response to General Patrick's directive are of considerable historical interest for the information they contain about the Air Service and its employment at the front. A select group of the reports on lessons learned make up...

There has been a tendency to belittle the work of the U.S. Air Service in World War I while singing the praises of heroes like Rickenbacker and Luke. Compared with the bombing of the U.S. Eighth Air Force in World War II or the B-52's in Southeast Asia, the 138 tons of bombs dropped by the U.S. Air Service in France in 1918 may seem almost too insignificant to mention. Any such comparison, however, should not lead to a conclusion that World War I was of little importance in the overall history of the U.S. Air Force. The U.S. Air Service should be viewed in relationship to its own age. World...

In December 1918 Maj. Gen. Mason M. Patrick, Chief of Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), directed his newly appointed Assistant Chief of Staff, Col. Edgar S. Gorrell, to prepare a history and final report on U.S. air activities in Europe during World War I. The narratives written and compiled by Gorrell and his staff were submitted by Patrick to Gen. John J. Pershing, Commander in Chief of the AEF. They summarized Air Service activities from the arrival of the first airmen in France in the spring of 1917 until the Armistice on November 11, 1918. The "Final Report" was published...

In our continuing desire to bring to the reader an in-depth look at the use of airpower in Southeast Asia, we present in this volume a truly monumental effort at recounting the myriad of widely separate but not unrelated events and operations that took place during the Spring Invasion of 1972. In this monograph, the authors from the Air War College present an illuminating story of the people and machines that fought so gallantly during this major enemy offensive. The authors' breadth of experience in and out of combat enables them to provide a penetrating account of how airpower was brought...

Air Leadership is part of a continuing series of historical volumes produced by the Office of Air Force History in direct support of Project Warrior. Since its beginnings in 1982, Project Warrior has captured the imagination of Air Force people around the world and reawakened a keener appreciation of our fundamental purpose as a Service: to deter war, but to be prepared to fight and win should deterrence fail. Military history helps provide a realistic perspective on warfare. Through the study of past events, we gain insight into the capabilities of armed forces and, most importantly, a sound...

The United States Air Force Historical Research Center and its predecessor organizations have over the years received thousands of requests for brief histories of Air Force organizations. Wing commanders ask for historical data that can be used to introduce the unit to new personnel, build morale, and improve "esprit de corps." Headquarters USAF and the major commands require historical information to plan organizational changes. Officers throughout the Air Force need historical material for public affairs purposes. Former members of the Army Air Forces and the Air Force are interested in the...