INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfihn master. UMI fihns the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter 6ce, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 A PEOPLE^S AIR FORCE: AIR POWER AND AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE, 1945 -1965 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Steven Charles Call, M.A, M S. ***** The Ohio State University 1997 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Allan R. Millett, Advisor Associate Professor John Guilmartin Advisor Associate Professor William Childs Department of History UMI Number: 9731597 UMI Microform 9731597 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeh Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ABSTRACT Central to the rise of American air power was America’s cultural fascination with aviation. Just as many Americans ascribed near-miraculous powers to airplanes in general, many also predicted salvation through air power. Interwar figures like Billy Nfitchell used popular culture to urge the public to trust air power for national defense, but isolationism and anti-militarism limited the success of these efforts. World War U, though, brought unprecedented public support for air power and ended American isolationism. After the war, air power advocates continued the popular culture crusade. Using media that average Americans turned to for diversion and entertainment, air power advocates waged a lengthy campaign to convert the American public to their gospel of revolutionary air power. Capitalizing on public support, air power advocates used speeches, radio addresses, magazine articles, novels, and movies in the late forties to spread their notions that air power had revolutionized warfare as well as human affairs. Initially pointing to an air power threat that could come from any industrialized nation, air power advocates later identified the Soviet Union as a grave threat against which only air power could prevail. Central to the air power advocates’ vision was strategic nuclear bombing. Despite interservice attacks on the reliance on nuclear air power, and international events that prompted calls for greater air defense and tactical air power, air power advocates kept strategic nuclear bombing as the center-piece of air power doctrine and the Strategic Air Command became the predominant force in national defense throughout the fifties. Air power advocates used popular culture to build public support for this predominance and through much of the fifties maintained a steady barrage of movies and magazine articles that presented SAC as the nation’s salvation. In the late fifties, though, fading fascination with aviation and growing fear of nuclear war ended the public’s simplistic faith in air power, and an escalating barrage of anti-air power novels and movies ended the air power advocates’ popular culture crusade. ui This work is dedicated to the three people who worked almost as hard on it as I did; Sandra Kay Call, my wife Jessica Ashley Call, my daughter Nathaniel Charles Call, my son IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the course of this study I received considerable help from numerous people and I take great pride in documenting that assistance. First and foremost has been the help in shaping and refining my ideas from those who I count as my fiiends as well as colleagues. Dr. Pete Maslowski, Dr. Dennis Showalter, Col. Phil Meilinger, Ph D., Col. Rob Owen, Ph D., Lt. Col. Mark Clodfelter, Ph D., and Maj. Mark Conversino, Ph D., all listened to my first vague gropings or read outlines and offered invaluable advice, pointed critiques, and most important, encouragement. For this I am truly grateful. I also wish to thank those unsung heroes of historical research, the archivists who helped me find material that proved so critical to my research. Col. Rauschkolb and the staff of the Air Force Ifistorical research Agency were all very helpful and provided a research stipend at a critical stage of my research, but I especially want to thank archivists Joe Caver and hficky Russell. Their assistance made my work there far more productive than it otherwise would have been, and they maintain by far the most “researcher-fiiendly” working environment of any archive I have ever visited. At the National Archives David Giordano was truly a godsend. He single-handedly turned one inadequate citation into a wealth of invaluable material that unlocked the inner workings of Air Force - Hollywood cooperation. At the Library of Congress Bill Barry in the Motion Picture section went the extra mile in identifying and locating material, and his help allowed me to make advanced arrangements so that my research in Washington would be most productive. Here at Ohio State I wish to thank all the professors who provided help and advice, especially the members of my dissertation committee. I also owe a big debt of thanks to the people of the inter-library loan of5ce. The nature of this study meant many requests for obscure articles and pamphlets, and many people at inter-library loan went above and beyond the call of duty in tracking down my numerous requests. In fact, I spent so much time at their window that before long they came to recognize me on sight. Numerous fellow graduate students provided comments and patiently listened as I bounced my ideas off them. While the list is far too long for inclusion, I wish specifically to mention Kelly Jordan and Bill Roberts, and thank them for their thoughtful input. Both David Mets and Harry Borowski graciously answered innumerable questions and gave me their thoughts on the general topic of my research, and I am deeply appreciative of their kindness. Last, but certainly not least, I wish to thank my family. I have been blessed with a large cheering section of parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, and in-laws, all of whom kept up a steady stream of encouragement and best wishes that meant more to me than words can convey. My greatest strength, though, was my wife and kids who graciously accepted too much time with Dad closeted away. They supported me even if they did not understand my curious interest in this subject, and I only hope I can repay them in kind for their constant faith and affection. VI VITA 31 May 1956 .................................... Bora - Portland, Maine 1988 ..................................................M.S. Systems Management, University of Southern California 1991................................................. M.A History, University of Nebraska, Lincoln 1991-1994.........................................Instructor, Assistant Professor, U.S. Air Force Academy PUBLICATIONS 1. Steven C. Call, “Protesting Against Modem War: A Comparison of Issues Raised by Anti-imperialists and Pro-Boers.” War In History 3 (1) (1996). FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History VII TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract...............................................................................................................................ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments ...............................................................................................................v Vita....................................................................................................................................iiv Chapters: 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................1 2. Prologue.................................................................................................................17 3. Let Your Faith So Shine: Individuals in the Air Power Crusade ........................... 89 4. Air Power’s Armies: Advocacy Groups ..............................................................135 5. The Air Power Revolution: Early Postwar Years ...............................................176 6. The Revolution Under Fire: 1949-1953 .............................................................. 228 7. The Heyday of SAC: The High Point of the Popular Culture