air force heritage. overview air power before wwi wwii – strategic bombardment korea war +...
TRANSCRIPT
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Air Force Heritage
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Overview
• Air Power before WWI• WWII – Strategic bombardment• Korea War + Technology• Air Campaigns of Vietnam • The Space Race• DESERT STORM
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Air Power Before WWI
• Thought mostly as a ‘communication, observation and reconnaissance’ asset • Very unprepared for war
• 14th among airpowers in the world• 131 Officers, 1087 enlisted men…. NO combat
capable aircraft
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Billy Mitchell
• General ‘Billy’ Mitchell• Studied Sir Hugh Trenchard (RAF)• Forward Action, relentless offensive
• Pushed for an independent Air Force• Demonstration –sinking 3 captured German
ships
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End of WWI
– St. Mihiel - France• One of first US offensives of the war• 1,500 planes over battlefield in support of ground
forces• Achieved Air Superiority – Could attack ground forces, airfields, comm
centers• At the end of the war• 45 Squadrons• 781 aircraft kills, 73 balloon kills
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WWII - CBO
• Combined Bomber Offensive• Americans and British against Germany• Around the clock bombing
• Strategic Bombing• Started as high altitude, daylight, precision
bombing – tight bomber formations with on-board guns
B-17 B-24
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WWII - CBO
• Huge losses – led to fighter escorts + fighters with longer range (P-51 Mustang)
• Attacked Germany aircraft industry to gain air superiority• Once air superiority was achieved could attack any
target for the remainder of war
• Doolittle Raid• Aircraft carriers
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WWII - Other
• Tuskegee Airmen – first African American military pilots• North Africa ground attack mission• Fighter escorts – ‘Red Tails’
• WASPs – Women’s Air Force Service Pilots• Ferried planes across Atlantic
• National Security Act of 1947
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Korean War
• Part of the Cold War• North Korean troops, supported
by Soviets crossed into South Korea
• Jet Fighter Aircraft!• MIG-15 – technologically
superior• Higher airspeed at altitudes
above 30,000, lighter, higher climb rate, smaller turn rate
• F-86 Saberjet – superior training of pilots
• 792 MIF-15 kills vs 78 F-86 losses
F-86
F-80
MIG-15
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After the Korean War
• Secretary of the Air Force:• “the Korean War was a special case and air power
can learn little from there about its future role in US foreign policy”
• Nuclear development and ‘deterrence’• B-52 Stratofortress – capable of delivering nuclear weapons
over Soviet Union• ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missiles)• Led to Atlas, Thor, Titan I, Titan II, Minuteman I, II and
III and Peacekeeper missile systems• Navy’s missile launching submarines
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Air Campaigns of Vietnam
• ROLLING THUNDER – interdiction campaign meant to stem flow of men and supplies into S. Vietnam– ‘Graduated’ use of force against select targets– Hoped would bring N. Vietnam to peace talks– Instead allowed them to build up air defense network– Canceled when became obvious it was not working
B 52 Stratofortress
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Air Campaigns of Vietnam
• LINEBACKER I – Bombing campaign• More intense than ROLLING THUNDER• Targeted comm centers, road networks,
railroads, bridges, military barracks, harbors• Intended to cut off supplies to N. Vietnamese in
the South + limited N. Vietnams ability to make war
• More impact in 9 months than ROLLING THUNDER did in 4 years
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Air Campaigns of Vietnam
• LINEBACKER II• Employed a large number of B-52s• A true strategic bombing campaign• Specific targets in Hanoi and Haiphong
• Ran concurrently with LINEBACKER I• Brought N. Vietnam to peace talks
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The Space Race
• Mercury – First manned space program• Alan B. Shepard – first American in space• Flight was about 15 min• Objectives – to put a man in space and to return
safely, to test effects of space flight• Gemini• Intermediate step between Mercury and Apollo• Carried 2 astronauts• Objectives - perform first orbital docking and first
space walk, to perfect re-entry and landing
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The Space Race
• Apollo• First mission to moon• Objectives were to land on the moon and return to
Earth and gather moon samples
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DESERT STORM
• INSTANT THUNDER – named related to ROLLING THUNDER• Quick, decisive campaign • Destroy Iraq’s ability to fight
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The Five Strategic Rings
17
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Phases of DESERT STORM
Phase I: Strategic Air Campaign– Focus on targets from ‘5 rings’– Government offices, military HQ,C4I, CBRNE, missile sites, electrical +petroleum production, Iraqi AF– About one week
Phase II: Suppression of enemy Air Defenses over Kuwait vicinity– About 2 days
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Phases of DESERT STORM
Phase III: Air Attacks on ground forces in Kuwait and vicinity– Republican Guard and regular Iraqi forces in
Kuwait– Planned to last several weeks or reduce forces to
below 50% (historically the point of ineffectiveness)
Phase IV: Ground Operations as directed
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Overview
• Air Power before WWI• WWII – Strategic bombardment• Korea War + Technology• Air Campaigns of Vietnam • The Space Race• DESERT STORM