Some Tuskegee Airmen statistics: More than 989 missions of the 99th, 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons for the Twelfth Air Force; 500 missions of the 99th Fighter Squadron by early June 1944; at least 311 missions of the 332d Fighter Group for the Fifteenth Air Force (June 1944-May 1945); 179 bomber escort missions of the 332d Fighter Group for the Fifteenth Air Force; 172 heavy bomber escort missions of the 332d Fighter Group for the Fifteenth Air Force; 112 aerial victories of the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332d Fighter Group combined during World War II; 96 Distinguished Flying...

The first paper tells the story of GPS. It is not only a story of scientific and technical achievement, but also one of suspense that illustrates the difficulties of introducing revolutionary technologies. The failures and successes in that program attest to the vision and perseverance of the people who made it happen. The GPS finally solved the problem that had challenged seafarers since antiquity. It has also enabled a multitude of civilian and military applications. The second paper looks at a development that has revolutionized the employment of air power. The use of laser research and...

The first paper tells the story of GPS. It is not only a story of scientific and technical achievement, but also one of suspense that illustrates the difficulties of introducing revolutionary technologies. The failures and successes in that program attest to the vision and perseverance of the people who made it happen. The GPS finally solved the problem that had challenged seafarers since antiquity. It has also enabled a multitude of civilian and military applications. The second paper looks at a development that has revolutionized the employment of air power. The use of laser research and...

Almost twenty-five years after publishing Planning and Organizing the Postwar Air Force, 1943-1947, and a decade after publishing his definitive work, The Struggle for Air Force Independence, 1943-1947, Herman S. Wolk, retired Air Force senior historian, returns to the subject that capped his nearly fifty-year career with the Air Force history program. As Wolk explains, this brief work is a reflective analysis. The United States Army's air arm waged a frustrating and uncertain battle during the interwar years to gain greater autonomy from the War Department. For the air arm, the key...

Early on the morning of January 17, 1991, the Persian Gulf War began. It consisted of massive allied air strikes on Iraq and Iraqi targets in Kuwait. The United States Air Force spearheaded the air offensive and furnished the bulk of the attacking aircraft. During forty-two days of fighting, the U.S. Air Force simultaneously conducted two closely coordinated air campaigns: one in support of allied ground forces; the other, attacking strategic targets. Planners of the strategic air campaign sought to isolate and incapacitate Saddam Hussein's government; gain and maintain air supremacy to...

This study surveys the changes in the size and functions of Headquarters United States Air Force (USAF) since its inception in September 1947. It examines both the external and internal factors that influenced the Headquarters USAF organization. Additionally, it surveys and evaluates the many reorganizations that were implemented over time. Divided into three sections. this study begins with a consideration of the external influences that have shaped the Headquarters USAF organization. The second section addresses Air Force internal changes. The third section considers the statistical jumble...

This is the second in a series of research studies-historical works that were not published for various reasons. Yet, the material contained therein was deemed to be of enduring value to Air Force members and scholars. These works were minimally edited and printed in a limited edition to reach a small audience that may find them useful. We invite readers to provide feedback to the Air Force History and Museums Program. Dr. Theodore Joseph Crackel, completed this history in 1993, under contract to the Military Airlift Command History Office. Contract management was under the purview of the...

This is the third in a series of research studies-historical works that were not published for various reasons. Yet, the material contained therein was deemed to be of enduring value to Air Force members and scholars. These were minimally edited and printed in a limited edition to reach a small audience that may find them useful. We invite readers to provide feedback to the Air Force History and Museums Program. The author, Marcelle S. Knaack, a member of the Office of Air Force History, undertook the research and writing of this book as a consultant, after she retired. Tragically, she passed...

Tactical airlift matured in Vietnam. American airlift personnel worked with the French prior to their pull-out in the mid-1950s, and started assisting South Vietnamese in the years just prior to the massive American involvement. Tactics were developed, and then changed constantly in an effort to adapt to current military situations. Sometimes the old procedures did not apply. For example, the dropping of paratroops, long a staple of tactical airlift, was only marginally successful and in 1966 was largely abandoned in favor of helicopter-borne assault forces. But the early involvement in...

Tactical airlift matured in Vietnam. American airlift personnel worked with the French prior to their pull-out in the mid-1950s, and started assisting South Vietnamese in the years just prior to the massive American involvement. Tactics were developed, and then changed constantly in an effort to adapt to current military situations. Sometimes the old procedures did not apply. For example, the dropping of paratroops, long a staple of tactical airlift, was only marginally successful and in 1966 was largely abandoned in favor of helicopter-borne assault forces. But the early involvement in...