Pointblank: Acts on the Eve of War, 1938-1939
Abstract
In 1942, American B-17s began populating the English countryside to do battle with Germany. The bombers were new and untested in combat while the crews that flew them were young and inexperienced, a recipe for disaster. In the opening months of 1944, the Allies needed to subdue the German war machine in France before they crossed the English Channel and hit the beaches. The interdiction campaign that ensued used bombers and fighters, some new and untested in combat with inexperienced crews, another recipe for disaster. The glue that held the Army Air Forces together during those trying times was the theory, doctrine, and tactics nurtured at the Air Corps Tactical School during the interwar period and embodied by AWPD-1. Airpower was not decisive by itself, but its absence would have decisively defeated the Allies. The Air Corps Tactical School provided the foundation that enabled an unprepared nation to meet its toughest challenge. This thesis explores the mature Air Corps Tactical School syllabus of the 1938-1939 school year through the lenses of the Air Force, Bombardment, and Attack courses. The aspirational Air Force course established a uniquely American way of air warfare that set the tone for the Army Air Forces. Meanwhile, the creativity of the Bombardment course developed planning methods critical to the success of the Combined Bomber Offensive. Finally, the Attack course portrayed an Air Corps struggling to find an attack aviation identity meeting both the requirements of the Army and its Air Corps.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- AD1019448
Entities
People
- Paul M. Peconga
Organizations
- Air University