Download or read book Forging the Ninth Army XXIX TAC Team the Development Training and Application of American Air Ground Doctrine in World War II written by Combat Studies Combat Studies Institute Press and published by . This book was released on 2019-09 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forging the Ninth Army -XXIX Team: The Development, Training, and Application of American Air Ground Doctrine in World War II by Christopher M. Rein, Ph.D. is the latest volume in the Leavenworth Paper series. This study tells the story of how before D-Day, the US Army developed new doctrine and training for its air-ground teams. As Dr. Rein shows, the close air support provided by these teams often proved decisive as the Allies fought their way across the Rhine and defeated Germany.40 years ago, the Combat Studies Institute published the first Leavenworth Paper, Robert A. Doughty's The Evolution of US Army Tactical Doctrine, 1946-1976. That publication inaugurated a series of studies designed to address the issues most pressing to the Army. The Leavenworth Papers were distinguished by their acute analysis rooted in rigorous research and a well-developed understanding of how military organizations operate. The series remains vital to today's professional dialogue, demonstrating how rigorous historical inquiry can facilitate the understanding of military operations, in all their complexity and variety. Christopher M. Rein's Leavenworth Paper 24: Forging the Ninth Army-XXIX TAC Team is an excellent addition to the series. This new study looks deeply into how the US Army implemented air-ground operations in northwest Europe after Operation Overlord. Based heavily on the personal papers of key leaders, unit reports, and other primary sources, Forging the Ninth Army-XXIX TAC Team shows how the Army trained, organized, and employed its air-ground teams in 1944 and 1945. Relying heavily on experimentation, testing, and objective assessment, the Army and its air forces successfully created organizations and practices that by 1945 often proved decisive on the battlefield. As Dr. Rein's study points out, this success was not inevitable. Army leaders entered World War II convinced their air-ground teams were prepared for modern mechanized warfare. After costly failures early in the war, these men revised doctrine and introduced new training techniques. This account of clear-eyed adaptation and innovation then serves as a contemporary call for continued improvement in the training and application of air-ground doctrine, in ways that might mirror the US Army's experiences in World War II. Leavenworth Paper 24, like the other studies in the series, offers critical insights from the Army's past that can illuminate the challenges of today.
Download or read book Forging the Ninth Army XXIX TAC Team written by Christopher M. Rein and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This study seeks to explore the roots of the successful innovation by examining the development of air ground doctrine, the early failures and efforts to revise it in the Mediterranean theater, and the stateside maneuvers that trained the bulk of the Army's higher-number infantry divisions originally from the National Guard and Reserves that carried much of the load in 1944 and 1945"--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book Commanding Professionalism written by William Stuart Nance and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2023-10-03 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When one thinks of influential World War II military figures, five-star generals such as Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley instantly come to mind. As important as these central figures were to the Second World War, the conflict produced equally effective lower-profile leaders whose influence had an undeniable impact. Among these leaders are William Simpson, commander of the US Ninth Army, and James Moore, his chief of staff. Working in tandem, the pair helmed a unit that gained recognition as "uncommonly normal," an affectionate designation driven by their steadfast professionalism in all endeavors. It was their unobtrusive leadership style that relegated these career military men to the footnotes of military history. Commanding Professionalism: Simpson, Moore, and the Ninth US Army corrects this historical oversight by examining the achievements of these overlooked heroes. Focusing on Simpson and Moore's careers from 1940 through the end of World War II, author William Stuart Nance recounts the pair's working relationship. Together, they successfully maneuvered through the squabbling of the American and British forces and developed an army admired for its consistency of conduct and military prowess, capable of resisting the complex external and political machinations of the time. Simpson and Moore's unflinching devotion to the greater good and their steady handle on the dynamics of command/staff relationships proved essential to the war effort and its ultimate success. Their example, Nance argues, remains aspirational and worthy of emulation in the military command structure of today.
Download or read book The Challenge to NATO written by Michael O. Slobodchikoff and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2021-11 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Challenge to NATO is a concise review of NATO, its relationship with the United States, and its implications for global security.
Download or read book From Active Defense to AirLand Battle written by John L. Romjue and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Trial by Fire Forging American Close Air Support Doctrine World War I Through September 1944 written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Proper doctrine for close support of American ground forces by airpower has been a tumultuous issue since the first days of combat aircraft. Air and ground leaders struggled with interservice rivalry, parochialism, employment paradigms, and technological roadblocks while seeking the optimum balance of missions given the unique speed, range, and flexibility of aircraft. Neither ground force concepts of airpower as self-defense and extended organic artillery, nor air force theories focused on command of the air and strategic attack fit the middle ground of close air support (CAS), leaving a doctrinal void prior to American combat in World War II. This thesis focuses on the critical period from September 1939 through the doctrinal and practical crucible of North Africa, which eventually produced a resoundingly successful system. Theoretical and practical changes in organization and command, airpower roles, and the tactical air control system are examined, with sub-area focus on cooperation and communications technology. Upon examination, discerning leadership, able to transcend earlier compromises and failures, emerges as the essential element for CAS success during the war. While many airpower concepts proved valid, air-ground cooperation through liaison proved indispensable, a lesson repeated even today.
Download or read book The Army Air Forces in World War II Men and planes written by and published by . This book was released on 1948 with total page 920 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Anything But written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2018-11-16 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the United States Army acquired its first Wright flyer and integrated the airplane into battle, the role of airpower has been a constant source of friction between ground and air forces. Army and Air Force cultures, doctrines, shared experiences, and fratricide involving close air support (CAS) have all helped shape the tenuous relationship between the two Services. Since the end of the 1991 Gulf War, there have been 13 CAS fratricide events, killing or injuring 197 people. In all but one instance, training was a causal factor. Yet, there is no formal requirement for joint CAS training. In the early 1980's with the establishment of the U.S. Army ground combat training centers and the corresponding U.S. Air Force Air Warrior training programs, the Services began habitual close air support training. However, with the shift from medium intensity conflict to counter-insurgency and stability operations, pre-deployment CAS training at the CTC's has nearly ceased. While there has not been an increase in fratricide corresponding to this decrease in training, the integration of CAS has decreased and the potential for a fratricide event has increased. The Army and the Air Force must increase their focus on improving joint CAS training as the lives of U.S. soldiers may well depend upon the effectiveness of CAS to hit the correct targets while supporting their operations.Since the introduction of the airplane into military operations, airpower has played an important role in the conduct of war, both in its ability to attack in depth and in its support of friendly ground forces. The initial growth of airpower as a weapon of war was in direct support of ground forces during World War I. Shortly thereafter, early air power theorists such as Giulio Douhet and Billy Mitchell changed the emphasis away from support to ground troops, envisioning vast air armadas that could avoid stalemates on the ground and strike an enemy's political and military centers with strategic bombardment. While ground and air forces have worked together in all major conflicts since World War I, the US Army and US Air Force have continuously disagreed on how airpower best supports ground forces.Prior to the Second World War, most Army generals believed the best use of airpower was to support ground troops by adjusting field artillery, conducting reconnaissance, providing real time intelligence, and providing close combat support. Airpower enthusiasts believed that after achieving air superiority, air forces should concentrate their efforts and use strategic bombing to attack the enemy's centers of gravity; thereby, destroying their ability and desire to wage war. Current US close air support doctrine can trace its foundations to North Africa during World War II.Years of neglect and intra-service rivalry left US forces unprepared for integrated air-ground operations in the deserts of North Africa. Initial integration efforts were disorderly and were most successful at increasing tensions between ground and air commanders.
Download or read book The School of Hard Knocks written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2017-01-31 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This excellent report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. Effective close air support (CAS) requires genuine cooperation from both air and ground forces. Many US military planners take the existing CAS system for granted, but history reveals reliable CAS capabilities require unique capabilities, joint training, and cohesive doctrine to succeed in a dynamic combat environment. This analysis explores the roots of modern CAS in Burma during World War II. By contrasting the efforts of the American Volunteer Group in 1942 with the Eastern Air Command in 1943-1944, the Burma campaigns showcase key CAS challenges, and highlight the Eastern Air Command's innovative solutions. In particular, the case studies focus on four CAS evaluation criteria: responsiveness, effectiveness, integration, and doctrine. Finally, a comparison between the 1943-1944 campaign and current doctrine reveals how the lessons learned in Burma paved the way for modern CAS. In the summer of 2006, insurgent gunfire pinned down a supply convoy bound from Basra to Baghdad. A British Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) in the convoy contacted his higher headquarters requesting assistance. In less than thirty minutes, a US Air Force F-16, flown by the author, conducted a high-speed, low-altitude demonstration of force. The gunfire ceased, the insurgents dispersed, and the convoy completed its mission without any loss of life. The JTAC expected, but could not witness, the storm of activity caused by his request. Initially, the request traveled up the British chain of command to the Land Component Command headquarters. From there, the request became a tasking sent to the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC). In turn, the CAOC contacted both the local Army unit controlling the closest fighters and a KC-10 refueling platform. The air-land command and control structure allowed the F-16s to refuel as they moved from Mosul (about 300 miles to the north) to help the convoy. From start to finish, this example demonstrates the responsiveness, effectiveness, integration, and rigorous doctrine of modern Close Air Support (CAS). While many in the US military take it for granted, effective CAS developed from the blood-soaked lessons of history. This monograph argues modern CAS first appeared during the Burma campaigns of WWII. The Allied coalition pioneered effective CAS in 1943-1944 as Eastern Air Command (EAC) solved problems identified by the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1942. EAC's doctrine, procedures, and techniques laid the foundation for modern CAS.
Download or read book The Air Force Way of War written by Brian D. Laslie and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2015-06-23 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Laslie chronicles how the Air Force worked its way from the catastrophe of Vietnam through the triumph of the Gulf War, and beyond.” —Robert M. Farley, author of Grounded The U.S. Air Force’s poor performance in Operation Linebacker II and other missions during Vietnam was partly due to the fact that they had trained their pilots according to methods devised during World War II and the Korean War, when strategic bombers attacking targets were expected to take heavy losses. Warfare had changed by the 1960s, but the USAF had not adapted. Between 1972 and 1991, however, the Air Force dramatically changed its doctrines and began to overhaul the way it trained pilots through the introduction of a groundbreaking new training program called “Red Flag.” In The Air Force Way of War, Brian D. Laslie examines the revolution in pilot instruction that Red Flag brought about after Vietnam. The program’s new instruction methods were dubbed “realistic” because they prepared pilots for real-life situations better than the simple cockpit simulations of the past, and students gained proficiency on primary and secondary missions instead of superficially training for numerous possible scenarios. In addition to discussing the program’s methods, Laslie analyzes the way its graduates actually functioned in combat during the 1980s and ’90s in places such as Grenada, Panama, Libya, and Iraq. Military historians have traditionally emphasized the primacy of technological developments during this period and have overlooked the vital importance of advances in training, but Laslie’s unprecedented study of Red Flag addresses this oversight through its examination of the seminal program. “A refreshing look at the people and operational practices whose import far exceeds technological advances.” —The Strategy Bridgei
Download or read book Busting the Bocage written by Michael Dale Doubler and published by Fort Leavenworth, Kan. : U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. This book was released on 1988 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Toward Combined Arms Warfare written by Jonathan Mallory House and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1985 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
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 Scholars in Foxholes written by Louis E. Keefer and published by McFarland. This book was released on 1988 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes a short-lived World War II program to train gifted young men in engineering and languages.
Download or read book Trial by Fire Forging American Close Air Support Doctrine World War I Through September 1944 written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Proper doctrine for close support of American ground forces by airpower has been a tumultuous issue since the first days of combat aircraft. Air and ground leaders struggled with interservice rivalry, parochialism, employment paradigms, and technological roadblocks while seeking the optimum balance of missions given the unique speed, range, and flexibility of aircraft. Neither ground force concepts of airpower as self-defense and extended organic artillery, nor air force theories focused on command of the air and strategic attack fit the middle ground of close air support (CAS), leaving a doctrinal void prior to American combat in World War II. This thesis focuses on the critical period from September 1939 through the doctrinal and practical crucible of North Africa, which eventually produced a resoundingly successful system. Theoretical and practical changes in organization and command, airpower roles, and the tactical air control system are examined, with sub-area focus on cooperation and communications technology. Upon examination, discerning leadership, able to transcend earlier compromises and failures, emerges as the essential element for CAS success during the war. While many airpower concepts proved valid, air-ground cooperation through liaison proved indispensable, a lesson repeated even today.
Download or read book A Pattern for Joint Operations written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2017-10-30 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Air Force publication examines a subject of importance not only to the Army but also to the Air Force: the origin and development of American close air support doctrine and practice in World War II. The idea for the study resulted from a review of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Army and Air Force chiefs of staff, concluded on 22 May 1984, and of the initiatives that emerged from that historic document, particularly Initiative 24, which reaffirmed the Air Force's mission to provide close air support to the Army. The project has been a cooperative effort between the U.S. Army Center of Military History and the U.S.A.F. Office of Air Force History; an Air Force historian was assigned to write the study under the supervision of the Center of Military History. The resulting work, ultimately the best judgment of the author based on historical evidence, is titled A Pattern for Joint Operations; World War II Close Air Support, North Africa. The concentration is on the North African campaign because that was the first major large-unit test of American ground armies in World War II, and in that campaign the basic system of close air support for American ground and air forces in World War II was first worked out. Close air support doctrine both then and now is critical to the services. As this study demonstrates, the doctrine that had been conceived and practiced prior to the first American battles of World War II fell apart in the mud and fog of Tunisia. Both air and ground commanders in 1941 recognized the necessity of close cooperation between the staffs and forces in joint and combined forces. What they had to learn in 1942 was the degree to which close air support doctrine tested that cooperation and required alteration. The struggle of ground and air leaders to define and construct a command and control system, and ultimately to allocate and commit precious air resources to requisite ground missions, has as many lessons today as it did more than forty years ago. We believe this study merits careful reading by all those who must plan and prepare for combat. PROLOGUE * Chapter I - ORGANIZATION, DOCTRINE, AND WEAPONS FOR CLOSE AIR SUPPORT * The Interwar Years * Increasing Influence of the Air Arm, 1938-1942 * Requirements for Hemisphere Defense * Requirements for War With the Axis * Doctrine for War * Aircraft: Enabling the Execution of Close Air Support * Chapter II - NORTH AFRICAN CLOSE AIR SUPPORT OPERATIONS * World War II Operations and North Africa * Planning Close Air Support for North Africa * Operations: TORCH Landings and the Offensive Against Tunisia * Operations: Reorganization and the Second Tunisian Offensive * Operations: Kasserine and a New Look at Close Air Support * Close Air Support After Kasserine * EPILOGUE
Download or read book An Enduring Challenge written by Irving Brinton Holley (Jr.) and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
