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Authored and co-edited with Dr. David R. Mets, School for Advanced Airpower
Studies, Air University. Plotting a True Course: Strategic Bombing
Air Attack Theory and Doctrine Since World War II. Westport, CT: Greenwood/Praegar
Press, 2003.
ISBN: 0-275-97717-X
As I was wrestling with the question of why we wrote this book, I was also rereading
I. B. Holley's brilliant little work on military thinking entitled Ideas
and Weapons. As he delved into the effects that the long bow had on the
role of the mounted knight at Crécy and Agincourt in the Middle Ages,
and radar had on air power during the Battle of Britain, I was reminded how
historically fleeting miliatary advantage usually is. As Holley writes, "Sometimes
the advantage of a superior weapon is decisive before countermeasures can be
evolved. It follows then that the methods used to select and develop new weapons
and the doctrines concerning their use will have an important bearing upon the
success or failure of armies—and of nations."
I can think of no better reason to write a book that is designed to stimulate discussion about the fundamental reasons for the existence of airpower and the forces that apply it. Certainly, examining Air Force theory and doctrine for the past fifty-plus years and how it has evolved from resulting military experiences is just as important today as it was in 1953 when Dr. Holley first wrote his book
I am also reminded of the personal angle that Dr. Mets has often mentioned to his students and colleagues. The Douhetian eternal vision of air power winning wars and ending aggression without employing large numbers of ground and sea troops is worth pursuing in the hope of reducing the number of American body bags and telegrams sent to wives, parents, and children. It is particularly applicable to those of us with children or grandchildren who are of military age or who are near that time. For professional and personal reasons, we have compiled this bood and hope it will provide our students and colleagues with food for thought.
Table of Contents:
Preface by William P. Head
Introduction by David R. Mets
Technology, Thought, Troops: General Carl A. Spaatz and the Dawn of the Nuclear Age by David R. Mets
War from above the Clouds: B-52 Operations during the Second Indochina War and the Effects of the Air War on Theory and Doctrine by William P. Head
Strategic Attack in the Gulf War by Col. P. Mason Carpenter
Kosovo: An Initial Analysis by William P. Head
Should Deterrence Fail: Strategic Attack Theory and Planning in the Nuclear Era by Lt. Col. Mark J. Conversino
Conclusion: Strategic Bombing and Airpower Doctrine and Theory-Then and Now, Some Final Thoughts by William P. Head