Table Of Content01TITLEFORE.qxd 5/14/2008 4:52 PM Page i
Preface
REFLECTIONS
ON
AIR FORCE
INDEPENDENCE
HERMAN S. WOLK
2007
i
01TITLEFORE.qxd 5/14/2008 4:52 PM Page ii
The Cover
The cover design incorporates artwork entitled Air Force Memorial,by Keith Ferris. The
original painting is part of the Air Force Art Collection.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wolk, Herman S., 1931-
Reflections on Air Force independence / Herman S. Wolk.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. United States. Air Force--Organization. 2. United States. Army Air Forces--History.
3. World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations, American. I. Air Force History and
Museums Program (U.S.) II. Title.
UG773.W643 2007
358.4'13--dc22
2007047713
ii
01TITLEFORE.qxd 5/14/2008 4:52 PM Page iii
FOREWORD
Almost twenty-five years after publishing Planning and Organizing the
Postwar Air Force, 1943–1947, and a decade after publishing his definitive
work, The Struggle for Air Force Independence, 1943–1947, Herman S. Wolk,
retired Air Force senior historian, returns to the subject that capped his nearly
fifty-year career with the Air Force history program. As Wolk explains, this brief
work is a reflective analysis.
The United States Army’s air arm waged a frustrating and uncertain battle
during the interwar years to gain greater autonomy from the War Department.
For the air arm, the key transition was the establishment in 1935 of the General
Headquarters (GHQ) Air Force under Brig. Gen. Frank M. Andrews. The GHQ
Air Force was the first American air force that consolidated all striking forces.
For several years before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which trig-
gered U.S. entry into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt foresaw the
major role that air power would play in the conflict, and he called for a massive
buildup. The president wanted the major share of aircraft produced to go to the
Allies. Consequently, he was sometimes at cross purposes with his Air Corps
chief, Maj. Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, who was hard at work trying to
increase the Army’s air capability.
The formation in June 1944 of the Twentieth Air Force was a landmark
event in the Army air arm’s drive for independence. With B–29s to send against
the Japanese home islands, the Twentieth gave the Army Air Forces (AAF) what
Arnold termed “a Global Air Force.” Its formation set the precedent for that of
the postwar Strategic Air Command, which provided the United States with its
nuclear deterrence force in the Cold War.
The lessons of World War II were many. Many also were the significant
contributions of the AAF—tactical, strategic, support, humanitarian—that con-
vinced President Harry S. Truman, Congress, and the American people that the
creation of the United States Air Force (USAF) was necessary in the postwar era.
Wolk makes the pivotal connections between politics and the searing expe-
rience of war to explain how and why the USAF was established. His analysis
addresses not only technology, bureaucracy, and politics, but also people. The
service’s founding airmen were more than flyers and technologists; they were,
above all, men of faith who believed in what they were doing. For many years
they fought against long odds. The nation owes them a great debt.
C. R. ANDEREGG
Director, Air Force History and Museums
Policies and Programs
iii
01TITLEFORE.qxd 5/14/2008 4:52 PM Page iv
iv
02ACKNOWAUTHCONT.qxd 5/14/2008 4:53 PM Page v
Preface
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
After decades of writing and lecturing about the struggle for air indepen-
dence, I owe many debts. My colleagues among Air Force historians have been
of great help over the years. The late Thomas Sturm, long a distinguished histo-
rian in the Office of Air Force History, first kindled my interest in the postwar
Air Force.
Aspecial thank you is due Jack Neufeld, former director of the Air Force
Historical Studies Office, for his long-time support and guidance and for giving
me the time to launch this book in an environment free of background noise.
Thanks also go to C. R. “Dick” Anderegg, Director, Air Force History and
Museums Policies and Programs, for his enthusiastic interest in this project, and
upon my retirement from the government, his timely admonition to “finish the
book!”
My heartfelt appreciation goes to the historians of the Office of Air Force
History: the late Col. John F. Shiner, Diane Putney, George Watson, Roger
Miller, Dan Mortensen, George Cully, and Phil Myers, all of whom cheerfully
did the hard work of putting together the superlative Air Power History course.
Richard H. Kohn, former chief of the Office of Air Force History, and Colonel
Shiner deserve special praise as the course’s founders. Colonel Shiner, colleague
and gentleman, will always be remembered as an exemplary scholar and leader.
The Air Power History course, which convenes annually from March to May at
the Pentagon for junior officers, and intensively for two weeks in the early
autumn at Bolling Air Force Base for Air Force field historians, is the only one
of its kind in the country.
I will be forever grateful to the late Robert Frank Futrell, for many years
the dean of Air Force historians. His contributions span the entire Air Force his-
tory program, from Craven and Cate’s The Army Air Forces in World War II, to
his The United States Air Force in Korea, and ultimately, to his definitive Ideas,
Concepts, Doctrine: AHistory of Basic Thinking in the United States Air Force,
1907–1964.All air historians have benefited from his work. Moreover, Frank set
the highest standards for those who would chronicle Air Force history, a subject
he was always eager to discuss. He has been sorely missed by all of us.
Warren A. Trest, formerly senior historian in the Office of Air Force His-
tory and in the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base,
Alabama, was a constant source of encouragement and an expert on the history
of Air Force roles and missions.
I was extremely fortunate in the 1970s to interview Gens. Ira Eaker, Curtis
LeMay, and Haywood “Possum” Hansell. In lengthy correspondence, Generals
v
02ACKNOWAUTHCONT.qxd 5/14/2008 4:53 PM Page vi
REFLECTIONS ON AIR FORCE INDEPENDENCE
Eaker and Hansell generously provided me with priceless recollections of their
wartime and postwar experiences. Both were great gentlemen, whose insights
and good humor made a lasting impression. Their service goes back well before
World War II, and for their devotion in peace and in war, the nation owes them
much gratitude. This also holds true for an entire generation of air leaders, born
before the turn of the twentieth century, many of them now forgotten, who are
the true founders of the United States Air Force.
W. Stuart Symington, assistant secretary of war for air in 1945, 1946, and
1947, and then the first secretary of the Air Force, took time from his senatorial
duties, and subsequently from his law practice, to discuss his large role in the
postwar struggle for air independence.
I am extremely thankful to the late Gen. Jacob E. Smart, wartime hero and
air planner, who, in his nineties, still had one of the keenest minds in the Air
Force. Adevotee of history, General Smart participated in many of our seminars
over the years, and was always gracious and perceptive.
Maj. Gen. John W. Huston, a former chief of the Office of Air Force His-
tory, has been a frequent telephone correspondent, and as a biographer of General
Arnold, and editor of Arnold’s diaries, he has been most helpful in sorting out
Arnold’s prewar and wartime issues and controversies.
Richard P. Hallion, also a former chief of the Air Force History Office,
helped to bring out important historical connections during our many chats over
the years.
Many thanks go to Richard Wolf, historian and production chief in the
Office of Air Force History. His expertise in all areas of editing and production
made such a significant contribution to this book.
I have for a long time admired Mary Lee Jefferson’s fine work as a writer
and editor in the Office of Air Force History. I owe her a great debt for her won-
derful, timely efforts in making my manuscript into a book.
My deepest gratitude goes to my wife, Sandy, who served as my produc-
tion guru. She not only cast a sharp eye on the manuscript, she also contributed
all manner of things over the long haul. During the entire research and writing
process she provided the loving devotion and support that made this book possi-
ble. Our children, Jill Lori Kephart and Traci Ann Sheffer, provided constant love
and understanding, as did our grandchildren, Julie Adam, Michael Adam, Kelsea
Kephart, and Dalton Kephart, who seemed to know that Grandpa was up to
something in his third floor office. I owe much love and thanks for the quiet time;
and, finally, I owe special thanks to Coach Kreg Kephart, our son-in-law, for so
much help given in so many ways over a long period of time.
vi
02ACKNOWAUTHCONT.qxd 5/14/2008 4:53 PM Page vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THE AUTHOR
Herman S. Wolk was, until his recent retirement, a senior historian with the
United States Air Force. After earning B.A. and M.A. degrees from the American
International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, he studied at the Far Eastern
and Russian Institute at the University of Washington from 1957 to 1959. He
served as a historian at Headquarters, Strategic Air Command, from 1959 to 1966
and in the Office of Air Force History, from 1966 to 2005. In 1973 and 1974 he
was a member of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Special Project on the
History of the Strategic Arms Competition, and he is a Fellow of the Inter-
University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society.
Mr. Wolk is the author of Strategic Bombing: The American Experience
(1981); Planning and Organizing the Postwar Air Force, 1943–1947 (1997); and
Fulcrum of Power: Essays on the United States Air Force and National Security
(2003). He is a contributing author to We Shall Return! MacArthur’s Comman-
ders and the Defeat of Japan (1988); The Pacific War Revisited (1997); and
Winged Shield, Winged Sword: AHistory of the United States Air Force(1997).
He has published many articles and essays and is now working on Cataclysm:
General Hap Arnold and the Defeat of Japan, to be published by the University
of North Texas Press.
vii
02ACKNOWAUTHCONT.qxd 5/14/2008 4:53 PM Page viii
REFLECTIONS ON AIR FORCE INDEPENDENCE
viii
02ACKNOWAUTHCONT.qxd 5/14/2008 4:53 PM Page ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
I. BETWEEN THE WARS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
II. ORGANIZING FOR WAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
III. THE AIR OFFENSIVE IN EUROPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
IV. THE TWENTIETH AGAINSTJAPAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
V. THE AAF AND THE ATOMIC BOMB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
VI. THE POSTWAR DRIVE FOR INDEPENDENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
EPILOGUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
ix
