Air Force Heritage

1
Air Force Heritage
2
Overview

• World War I
• Interwar
• World War II
• Berlin Airlift
• Korean War
• Vietnam Conflict
• Operation Desert Storm
• Operations to the present

3
World War I

• Early sentiment Airpower could not win wars
  ground forces were the best option
• Brigadier General Mitchell proved the skeptics
  wrong
• Executed a successful air campaign at the battle
  of St. Mihel

4
Interwar

• Increased interest in aviation, both civil and
  military
• Charles Lindberghs 1927 non-stop flight from New
  York to Paris
• Sinking of the unsinkable German Battleship,
  Ostfriesland by Mitchell-trained MB-2 Bombers
• The Air Corps Tactical School created

5
World War II

• Introduction of the B-17 in the Combined Bomber
  Offensive
• Sustained heavy bomber losses to German forces
• Fighter escorts establishedlesson learnedthe
  need for Air Superiority

6
World War II, cont.

• Different air power focus in Pacific Theater
• The delivery of the Atom Bomb
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan
• Led to the unconditional surrender of Japan

7
Berlin Airlift

• Operation Vittles
• Response to Russias road and rail blockade
• Supplied West Berlin with essential items

8
Korea

• Without reinforcements, air forces interdicted
  ground forces and performed emergency airlift
• Focus then shifted to close air support upon
  arrival of UN forces

9
Vietnam

• Policy of graduated response
• Inefficient use of airpower capabilities
• Targets picked by Washington DC
• Operation Rolling Thunder
• Operation Linebacker I
• Operation Linebacker II

10
Desert Storm

• Learned valuable lessons from Vietnam
• Command and Control under one Air Boss
• Hyperwar precision guided munitions targeted
  key nodes of enemy infrastructure
• Quick and decisive outcome

11
Operations to the Present

• Enhanced aerospace power tenets and principles
  from Desert Storm
• Integration of technology, intelligence

12
Knowledge Bowl Info

• 9 Rounds, 7 questions per round
• Question is read, student raises hand
• Instructor selects student, 10 seconds to respond
• Correct response 10 points, incorrect response
  -5 points

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Summary

• World War I
• Interwar
• World War II
• Berlin Airlift
• Korean War
• Vietnam Conflict
• Operation Desert Storm
• Operations to the present