Download or read book How Did the Evolution of Communications Affect Command and Control of Airpower written by Charles G. Crawley and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Communications became an airpower combat multiplier through the evolution of communications equipment, procedures, and understanding. Once commanders understood the importance of reliable, flexible, and survivable communications systems they demanded more. Much of the improvements are attributed to the industrial base, extraordinary efforts, initiative, determination and innovations by key people. Commanders had the capability to communicate worldwide and to higher and lower headquarters. Communications advancements, particularly FM radio and radar greatly enhanced the coordination of airpower. Orders and missions were more easily disseminated throughout the theater. Overall information flow greatly assisted the commander's decision making process. In spite of a myriad of problems, communications, by the end of World War II was a significant airpower combat multiplier. As communications became more technologically advanced, more reliable, responsive, and effective, commanders realized an even greater combat multiplying effect on airpower.
Download or read book How Did the Evolution of Communications Affect Command and Control of Airpower written by Charles G. Crawley and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Command Of The Air written by General Giulio Douhet and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 620 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the pantheon of air power spokesmen, Giulio Douhet holds center stage. His writings, more often cited than perhaps actually read, appear as excerpts and aphorisms in the writings of numerous other air power spokesmen, advocates-and critics. Though a highly controversial figure, the very controversy that surrounds him offers to us a testimonial of the value and depth of his work, and the need for airmen today to become familiar with his thought. The progressive development of air power to the point where, today, it is more correct to refer to aerospace power has not outdated the notions of Douhet in the slightest In fact, in many ways, the kinds of technological capabilities that we enjoy as a global air power provider attest to the breadth of his vision. Douhet, together with Hugh “Boom” Trenchard of Great Britain and William “Billy” Mitchell of the United States, is justly recognized as one of the three great spokesmen of the early air power era. This reprint is offered in the spirit of continuing the dialogue that Douhet himself so perceptively began with the first edition of this book, published in 1921. Readers may well find much that they disagree with in this book, but also much that is of enduring value. The vital necessity of Douhet’s central vision-that command of the air is all important in modern warfare-has been proven throughout the history of wars in this century, from the fighting over the Somme to the air war over Kuwait and Iraq.
Download or read book Centralized Control and Decentralized Execution a Catchphrase in Crisis written by Clint Hinote and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2012-07-23 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Air Force's master tenet of centralized control, decentralized execution is in danger of becoming dogma. Airmen have difficulty communicating the meaning of this phrase in a joint setting. This is partially due to our limited understanding of its history and the imprecise meaning of the words involved. Furthermore, the irregular conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq (and the ongoing service debates in the Pacific) have demonstrated the need for a deeper understanding of this master tenet to advocate effectively for airpower solutions. We must get this right, as it is critical to maximizing airpower's potential. Getting it right, however, requires moving beyond sound bites and bumper stickers.
Download or read book Command and Control and Communications Structures in Southeast Asia written by John J. Lane and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Realizing the Potential of C4I written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1999-06-17 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rapid progress in information and communications technologies is dramatically enhancing the strategic role of information, positioning effective exploitation of these technology advances as a critical success factor in military affairs. These technology advances are drivers and enablers for the "nervous system" of the militaryâ€"its command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) systemsâ€"to more effectively use the "muscle" side of the military. Authored by a committee of experts drawn equally from the military and commercial sectors, Realizing the Potential of C4I identifies three major areas as fundamental challenges to the full Department of Defense (DOD) exploitation of C4I technologyâ€"information systems security, interoperability, and various aspects of DOD process and culture. The book details principles by which to assess DOD efforts in these areas over the long term and provides specific, more immediately actionable recommendations. Although DOD is the focus of this book, the principles and issues presented are also relevant to interoperability, architecture, and security challenges faced by government as a whole and by large, complex public and private enterprises across the economy.
Download or read book The Future of Air Power in the Aftermath of the Gulf War written by Robert L. Pfaltzgraff and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1992 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays reflects the proceedings of a 1991 conference on "The United States Air Force: Aerospace Challenges and Missions in the 1990s," sponsored by the USAF and Tufts University. The 20 contributors comment on the pivotal role of airpower in the war with Iraq and address issues and choices facing the USAF, such as the factors that are reshaping strategies and missions, the future role and structure of airpower as an element of US power projection, and the aerospace industry's views on what the Air Force of the future will set as its acquisition priorities and strategies. The authors agree that aerospace forces will be an essential and formidable tool in US security policies into the next century. The contributors include academics, high-level military leaders, government officials, journalists, and top executives from aerospace and defense contractors.
Download or read book Evolution of Command and Control Doctrine for Close Air Support written by Riley B. Sutherland and published by Military Bookshop. This book was released on 2014-02 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Case Studies in the Development of Close Air Support written by Benjamin Franklin Cooling (III) and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 620 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: En gennemgang af udviklingen inden for taktisk flystøtte
Download or read book A Concise History of the U S Air Force written by Stephen Lee McFarland and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 1997 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Except in a few instances, since World War II no American soldier or sailor has been attacked by enemy air power. Conversely, no enemy soldier orsailor has acted in combat without being attacked or at least threatened by American air power. Aviators have brought the air weapon to bear against enemies while denying them the same prerogative. This is the legacy of the U.S. AirForce, purchased at great cost in both human and material resources.More often than not, aerial pioneers had to fight technological ignorance, bureaucratic opposition, public apathy, and disagreement over purpose.Every step in the evolution of air power led into new and untrodden territory, driven by humanitarian impulses; by the search for higher, faster, and farther flight; or by the conviction that the air way was the best way. Warriors have always coveted the high ground. If technology permitted them to reach it, men, women andan air force held and exploited it-from Thomas Selfridge, first among so many who gave that "last full measure of devotion"; to Women's Airforce Service Pilot Ann Baumgartner, who broke social barriers to become the first Americanwoman to pilot a jet; to Benjamin Davis, who broke racial barriers to become the first African American to command a flying group; to Chuck Yeager, a one-time non-commissioned flight officer who was the first to exceed the speed of sound; to John Levitow, who earned the Medal of Honor by throwing himself over a live flare to save his gunship crew; to John Warden, who began a revolution in air power thought and strategy that was put to spectacular use in the Gulf War.Industrialization has brought total war and air power has brought the means to overfly an enemy's defenses and attack its sources of power directly. Americans have perceived air power from the start as a more efficient means of waging war and as a symbol of the nation's commitment to technology to master challenges, minimize casualties, and defeat adversaries.
Download or read book The United States Air Force and the Culture of Innovation 1945 1965 written by Stephen B. Johnson and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Roots of the Command and Control of Air Power written by Francisco M. Gallei and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "To paraphrase Martin van Creveld, commanding and controlling forces has been around since time immemorial and a failure to have effective command and control is 'to court disaster.' It is no difference for warfare in the third domain. Effective command and control of air forces improves a commander's ability to make and execute good decisions in a timely manner. It provides unity of effort, massing of forces as necessary, and flexibility to react to battlefield dynamics. Nations, and specifically their military services, continuously evaluate their environment and make strategic decisions regarding force composition. In the next decade, the United States Air Force (USAF) will face many challenges. Once is ensuring an appropriate command and control system for a changing and evolving Air Force. Command and control of air forces is seldom thought of or discussed until needed, and then usually as an afterthought. Unlike aircraft, which are the highly visible symbols of airpower, command and control is generally unseen. It operates in the background, ignored until it is unavailable or fails ... In the current fiscal environment, a mission not as 'glamorous' as flying is easily neglected in search for 'savings.' History suggests this would be inadvisable -- command and control is airpower's sinew. Without it the structure has no connectivity. Discussions regarding air forces and their successes and failures generally revolve around a myriad of other topics such as strategy, doctrine, battles, aircraft quality, or production rates. A holistic examination of effective command and control of air forces is missing from the literature. No comparative historical studies exist examining how air forces developed command and control systems. How does an air force integrate organization, processes, and technology into a command and control construct? ... this study compares and contrasts three national (British, American, and German) approaches to command and control of airpower through World War II. It examines the commonalities and differences between the countries and their unique approaches to the problem of commanding and controlling air forces. It will also hopefully offer insights into the larger question of how national air forces often develop along different lines"--Pages 4-5.
Download or read book The Paths of Heaven the Evolution of Airpower Theory written by Phillip S. Meilinger and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2012-08-01 with total page 682 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Airpower is not widely understood. Even though it has come to play an increasingly important role in both peace and war, the basic concepts that define and govern airpower remain obscure to many people, even to professional military officers. This fact is largely due to fundamental differences of opinion as to whether or not the aircraft has altered the strategies of war or merely its tactics. If the former, then one can see airpower as a revolutionary leap along the continuum of war; but if the latter, then airpower is simply another weapon that joins the arsenal along with the rifle, machine gun, tank, submarine, and radio. This book implicitly assumes that airpower has brought about a revolution in war. It has altered virtually all aspects of war: how it is fought, by whom, against whom, and with what weapons. Flowing from those factors have been changes in training, organization, administration, command and control (C 2), and doctrine. War has been fundamentally transformed by the advent of the airplane. Billy Mitchell defined airpower as “the ability to do something in the air. It consists of transporting all sorts of things by aircraft from one place to another.”1 Two British air marshals, Michael Armitage and Tony Mason, more recently wrote that airpower is “the ability to project military force by or from a platform in the third dimension above the surface of the earth.”2 In truth, both definitions, though separated in time by almost six decades, say much the same thing. Interestingly, however, most observers go on to note that airpower includes far more than air vehicles; it encompasses the personnel, organization , and infrastructure that are essential for the air vehicles to function. On a broader scale, it includes not only military forces but also the aviation industry, including airline companies and aircraft/engine manufacturers. On an even broader plane, airpower includes ideas—ideas on how it should be employed. Even before the aeroplane was invented, people speculated—theorized—on how it could be used in war. The purpose of this book is to trace the evolution of airpower theory from the earliest days of powered flight to the present, concluding with a chapter that speculates on the future of military space applications.3 Attempting to find the origins of airpower theory, trace it, expose it, and then examine and explain it, is no easy task. Perhaps because airpower's history is short—all of it can be contained in a single lifetime—it lacks first-rate narrative and analytical treatments in many areas. As a result, library shelves are crammed with books about the aerodynamics of flight, technical eulogies to specific aircraft, and boys' adventure stories. Less copious are good books on airpower history or biography. For example, after nearly five decades, we still do not have an adequate account of American airpower in the Southwest Pacific theater during World War II, or the role of George Kenney, perhaps the best operationallevel air commander of the war. Similarly, we need a biography of one of the most brilliant thinkers and planners in US Air Force history; the only airman ever to serve as Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and the third youngest general in American history—Lauris Norstad. Nor do we have a complete, official history of airpower's employment in the war in Southeast Asia. Much needs to be done to fill such gaps.
Download or read book National Command and Control written by and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Air Power s Lost Cause written by Brian D. Laslie and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-05-14 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive treatment of the air wars in Vietnam. Filling a substantial void in our understanding of the history of airpower in Vietnam, this book provides the first comprehensive treatment of the air wars in Vietnam. Brian Laslie traces the complete history of these air wars from the beginning of American involvement until final withdrawal. Detailing the competing roles and actions of the air elements of the United States Army, Navy, and Air Force, the author considers the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war. He also looks at the air war from the perspective of the North Vietnamese Air Force. Most important for understanding the US defeat, Laslie illustrates the perils of a nation building a one-dimensional fighting force capable of supporting only one type of war. ,
Download or read book Air Power History written by Sebastian Cox and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-11-05 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: he 20th century saw air power transformed from novelists' fantasy into stark reality. From string and canvas to precision weaponry and stealth, air power has progressed to become not only the weapon of first political choice, but often the only conceivable option. This rapid development has given rise to considerable debate and controversy with those holding entrenched views rarely slow to shout their case. Many myths have grown over the period, ranging from the once much vaunted ability of air power to win wars alone through to its impact as a coercive tool. This volume examines the theory and practice of air power from its earliest inception. The contributors have been drawn from academia and the military and represent some of the world's leading proponents on the subject. All significant eras on air power employment are examined: some are evidently turning points, while others represent continuous development. Perhaps more importantly, the book highlights the areas that could be considered to be significant, and invites the reader to enter the debate as to whether it constitutes a continuum, a turning point, or indeed a revolution.
Download or read book USAF written by Office of Office of Air Force History and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-03-17 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Under normal circumstances, the command and control of the nation's strategic air forces is a tremendous task. At the start of the 1960's, for example, an average of 122 bomber and tanker aircraft of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) were airborne each day, with inflight refueling taking place at the rate of once every 6.8 minutes. Large-scale exercises by the command often involved more than 500 aircraft. The enormous size of SAC, with 260,000 men and thousands of aircraft scattered around the globe and with intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM's) beginning to enter the force, greatly compounded the problems of command and control. To supervise and direct this widely dispersed force, the Air Force and SAC over the years built a worldwide communication network for the rapid transmission of information and action directives. The network in 1960 included: {a) a primary alert system of voice communications between SAC's underground control center at Offutt, AFB and all base control rooms in the United States and overseas; (b) a single sideband high frequency point-to-point radio system; {c) a telephone system for day-to-day operational control purposes; and {d) a teletype system to convey printed operational information. These several systems generated huge amounts of data on the daily status of the force which were continuously processed and displayed in the SAC control center. As early as 1954, however, the flood of information bad become so great the SAC commander {CINCSAC) expressed concern over the center's inability to stay current with the disposition of the force. The primary difficulty involved the center's machinery for data reduction, correlation, and display. Based on manual World War II devices and techniques, the processing fell further and further behind the improved operational capabilities of the airborne elements.
