Hey West Point, here’s an airpower reading list from an expert
By Lt. Gen. David Deptula (USAF, ret.) Best Defense department of airborne victory –Winged Defense: The Development and Possibilities of Modern Air Power Economic and Military, William Mitchell, 1925 — The Air Campaign: Planning for Combat, John Warden, 1988 —The Transformation of American Air Power, Benjamin S. Lambeth, 2000 —The Influence of Air Power upon History, ...
By Lt. Gen. David Deptula (USAF, ret.)
By Lt. Gen. David Deptula (USAF, ret.)
Best Defense department of airborne victory
–Winged Defense: The Development and Possibilities of Modern Air Power Economic and Military, William Mitchell, 1925
— The Air Campaign: Planning for Combat, John Warden, 1988
—The Transformation of American Air Power, Benjamin S. Lambeth, 2000
—The Influence of Air Power upon History, Walter J. Boyne, 2003
—Airpower Advantage: Planning the Gulf War Air Campaign, 1989-1991, Diane T. Putney, 2004
—The Art of Airpower: Sun Tzu Revisited, Sanu Kainikara, 2009
—Learning Large Lessons: The Evolving Roles of Ground Power and Air Power in the Post-Cold War Era, David E. Johnson, 2007
—The Foundations of US Air Doctrine: The Problem of Friction in War, Barry D. Watts, 1984.
—A History of Air Warfare, John Olsen, 2010
—Global Air Power, John Olsen, 2011
—Ideas, Concepts, Doctrine: Basic Thinking in the United States Air Force, Frank Futrell, 1989
—The Icarus Syndrome, Carl Builder, 1993.
I would replace Douhet on the USMA History Department’s top 10 classics with “Winged Defense.”
Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1
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