At the Dawn of Airpower: The U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps' Approach to the Airplane, 1907-1917

384 Pages·2022·9.774 MB·English

by  Laurence M. Burke II (author)

AT THE DAWN
OF AIRPOWER
Titles in the Series
Airpower Reborn: The Strategic Concepts of John Warden and John Boyd
The Bridge to Airpower: Logistics Support for Royal Flying Corps
Operations on the Western Front, 1914–18
Airpower Applied: U.S., NATO, and Israeli Combat Experience
The Origins of American Strategic Bombing Theory
Beyond the Beach: The Allied Air War against France
“The Man Who Took the Rap”: Sir Robert Brooke-Popham
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Flight Risk: The Coalition’s Air Advisory Mission
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Winning Armageddon: Curtis LeMay and Strategic
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Rear Admiral Herbert V. Wiley: A Career in Airships and Battleships
From Kites to Cold War: The Evolution of Manned Airborne
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Airpower over Gallipoli, 1915–1916
Selling Schweinfurt: Targeting, Assessment, and Marketing in the Air
Campaign against German Industry
Airpower in the War against ISIS
To Rule the Skies: General Thomas S. Power and the
Rise of Strategic Air Command in the Cold War
Rise of the War Machines: The Birth of Precision Bombing in World War II
The History of Military Aviation
Paul J. Springer, editor
This series is designed to explore previously ignored facets of the history
of airpower. It includes a wide variety of disciplinary approaches, scholarly
perspectives, and argumentative styles. Its fundamental goal is to analyze
the past, present, and potential future utility of airpower and to enhance
our understanding of the changing roles played by aerial assets in the for-
mulation and execution of national military strategies. It encompasses
the incredibly diverse roles played by airpower, which include but are not
limited to efforts to achieve air superiority; strategic attack; intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance missions; airlift operations; close-air
support; and more. Of course, airpower does not exist in a vacuum. There
are myriad terrestrial support operations required to make airpower func-
tional, and examination of these missions is also a goal of this series.
In less than a century, airpower developed from flights measured in
minutes to the ability to circumnavigate the globe without landing. Air-
power has become the military tool of choice for rapid responses to enemy
activity, the primary deterrent to aggression by peer competitors, and a
key enabler to military missions on the land and sea. This series provides
an opportunity to examine many of the key issues associated with its usage
in the past and present, and to influence its development for the future.

AT THE DAWN
OF AIRPOWER
THE U.S. ARMY, NAVY, AND MARINE CORPS’
APPROACH TO THE AIRPLANE, 1907–1917
BY LAURENCE M. BURKE II
Naval Institute Press • Annapolis, Maryland
Naval Institute Press
291 Wood Road
Annapolis, MD 21402
© 2022 by The Smithsonian Institution and Laurence M. Burke II
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Burke, Laurence M., II, 1969- author.
Title: At the dawn of airpower : the U.S Army, Navy, and Marine Corps’
approach to the airplane, 1907-1917 / by Laurence Mitchell Burke II.
Other titles: U.S Army, Navy, and Marine Corps’ approach to the airplane,
1907-1917
Description: Annapolis, Maryland : Naval Institute Press, [2022] | Series:
The history of military aviation | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021059325 (print) | LCCN 2021059326 (ebook) | ISBN
9781682477298 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781682477502 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Aeronautics, Military—United States—History—20th
century. | Naval aviation—United States—History—20th century. |
BISAC: HISTORY / Military / Aviation | HISTORY / Military / United
States
Classification: LCC UG633 .B845 2022 (print) | LCC UG633 (ebook) | DDC
358.400973--dc23/eng/20220118
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021059325
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021059326
∞ Print editions meet the requirements of ANSI/NISO z39.48-1992
(Permanence of Paper).
Printed in the United States of America.
30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First printing
This book is dedicated to the memory of my late wife,
who would have been thrilled that I have a book in print.

Contents
Acknowledgments xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Prologue xvii

Introduction 1
1 Army 1907–1910: The Army Gets a Plane 11
2 Navy/Marines 1909–1912: The Origins 35
of Naval Aviation
3 Army 1911–1912: More Pilots, More Planes 57
4 Navy/Marines 1912–1913: Return to Annapolis 82
and the Beginnings of Marine Corps Aviation
5 Interservice Organization I: Finding Common Interests 1 01
6 Army 1912–1914: A Permanent School and a 113
Move Toward Operational Status
7 Navy/Marines 1914–1917: Reorganization and 151
Disruption in Naval Aviation
8 Army 1915–1917: The European War, Scandal, 187
and a Deployment
9 Interservice Organization II: Joint Boards 227

Conclusion 247

Notes 261
Sources Cited 316
Index 325
xi