Looking Skyward: The Emergence of an Airminded Culture in the U.S. Army

Abstract

This brief study of the earliest American airmen and their influence on the development of an airminded culture is a work in progress. Historians have heretofore given this subject only incomplete attention, and there remains a rich opportunity for further rewarding scholarship on the topic. It is hoped that continued research in this area will strengthen the interim conclusions presented here, adding historical depth to the legacy of those men who dedicated their careers to building a United States Air Force. This essay relies primarily on articles that appeared in contemporary professional journals and popular periodicals. Airmen laid out a collective argument from which emerge several identifiable themes crude tenets about the application of airpower as a weapon of war. Conclusions posit these themes as the reflection of a coherent airminded perspective and discuss their historical relevance as a benchmark for later efforts to further develop American air power. Secondary support is drawn from extant historical monographs that provide an account of military aviation's early development.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2002
Accession Number
ADA420444

Entities

People

  • Ronald G. Machoian

Organizations

  • Air Command and Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Reconnaissance
  • Aerial Warfare
  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Airplanes
  • Artillery
  • Balloons
  • Birds
  • Military Aircraft
  • Military Applications
  • Military Aviation
  • Military Operations
  • Military Science
  • United States
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • History

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Theoretical Analysis.