• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

CHAPTER 5 An F-4 Phantom, P-47 Thunderbolt, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and P-51 Mustang fl y in a heritage-fl ight formation. Courtesy US Air Force The US Air Force Is Born Chapter Outline LESSON 1 The Army Air Forces Become the US Air Force LESSON 2 Military Aircraft Development After World War II LESSON 3 The Role of Airpower from the Korean War to the Vietnam War LESSON 4 Other US Air Force Military Operations That Supported National Objectives LESSON 5 Global Interventions From 1990 In the development of air power, one has to look ahead ‘‘and not backward, and fi gure out what is going to happen, not too much what has happened. ’Brigadier’ General William “Billy” Mitchell LESSON 1 The Army Air Forces Become the US Air Force Y THE END OF WORLD WAR II, most of Europe was Quick Write economically and politically devastated. American B leaders feared that if Western Europe remained weak, it would fall under Communist control. The United States wanted to help Europe get back on its feet. So in After reading the following 1948 Congress passed the European Recovery Program, vignette, write down three important facts about the also known as the Marshall Plan. The plan was a strategy Marshall Plan and what for rebuilding the countries of Europe and repelling it did for Western Europe communism after World War II. The United States invited after World War II. the counties under Soviet control to join, but the Soviets refused to allow them to participate. The Marshall Plan was fi rst suggested by then–Secretary of State George C. Marshall in 1947. Marshall had been a Learn About fi ve-star general, chief of staff of the Army, and one of the • military developments president’s senior military advisors during World War II. after World War II The Marshall Plan was a • the National Security Act great success. It helped of 1947 and the creation Western European industry of an independent Air Force get up and running again. • political developments It also boosted the US after World War II economy by opening • the Cold War and how it up new markets for affected US foreign policy American goods. and the US Air Force • the Berlin Airlift and how The Marshall Plan was the US Air Force helped recognized as a great break the Berlin Blockade humanitarian effort. It earned Secretary of State Marshall the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. Secretary of State George C. Marshall He is the only general Historical Offi ce Public Affairs/Offi ce of the to receive this award. Secretary of Defense 268 CHAPTER 5 The US Air Force Is Born LESSON 1 The Army Air Forces Become the US Air Force Military Developments After World War II Vocabulary After World War II ended, the United States gave in to • Marshall Plan public pressure and began to reduce the military. It also began • democracy restructuring how the military was organized, based on lessons • massive retaliation learned from World War II. This reorganization resulted in a • reserves new military establishment, later to be called the Department • National Guard of Defense. • integration Force Reduction • superpower • satellite government The end of World War II began a new age for the US military. • containment With Europe, Japan, and China in shambles from the war, • takeover the United States and the Soviet Union were the only two • aggression major powers remaining in the world. Taking an active role in • arms world affairs was the best way to protect US national interests. • United Nations (UN) This was especially true with the Soviet Union expanding • Strategic Triad its territories and infl uence. The United States and its allies • missiles saw this expansion as a threat to world peace and democracy. • satellite Democracy is a form of government in which people choose • nuclear deterrence their leaders by voting. If the West didn’t stop Soviet attempts to expand, Europe and perhaps the Middle East might fall • Western Allies under Soviet control. • airlift At the same time, Americans wanted their military family members home from Europe and the Pacifi c, and to return to a peacetime economy. US leaders were certain that, with the invention of the atomic bomb, the United States had all the security it needed. No one would dare attack the United States or its allies for fear of massive retaliation—returning an attack with a large-scale attack, including using the atomic bomb. This led many people to believe that the United States no longer needed a large military force. The result was a period of confusion for US defense policy. LESSON 1 The Army Air Forces Become the US Air Force 269 As a result, the United States rapidly reduced the size of its armed forces after World War II. Within a year after Japan surrendered, the Army shrank from 8 million Soldiers to less than 2 million. The Navy was reduced from 4 million Sailors to 1.6 million, and thousands of ships were retired. Both the Army and Navy created a reserve program in case of future wars. Reserves are military forces not part of the regular military, but trained and organized for a quick call to action. Another goal was to have a National Guard, a military force recruited by each state, equipped by the federal government, and subject to either a state or federal government recall. By 1947, the Army Air Forces (AAF) had been cut from 2.3 million Airmen and 72,000 planes to about 300,000 Airmen and 10,000 planes. More than 90 percent of the AAF’s mechanics left the service. By 1950, about 2 million personnel made up the entire military. This force’s purpose was to meet the threat of communism. Reorganization As the US government was reducing the size of all military branches, it was rethinking how to fi ght wars. The atomic bomb had drastically changed warfare. Both civilian and military leaders saw the need to change US military organization based on the military experiences of World War II. They wanted to correct the intelligence failures and poor coordination between the Army and the Navy that helped lead to the disaster at Pearl Harbor. The law that changed the military organization was the National Security Act of 1947. The National Security Act of 1947 and the Creation of an Independent Air Force As you read in Chapter 3, airpower was vital to the Allies’ victory in World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, the Army Air Forces developed new strategies and tactics. Engineers built more-powerful bombers and fi ghters. US planes delivered the atomic bombs on Japan that ended the war in 1945. US airpower grew up fast, and the atomic bomb made it mature even faster. By 1947, most people were convinced it was time for the Air Forces to gain independence from the Army. The National Security Act of 1947 In July 1947 President Harry S. Truman signed into law the National Security Act of 1947. This act set the stage for military development in the years to come. It authorized the founding of the National Military Establishment (today’s Department of Defense). 270 CHAPTER 5 The US Air Force Is Born The law created the post of secretary of defense, who would answer to the Is Born The US Air Force president of the United States. It created the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency. It established three branches within the National Military Establishment: the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Army, and the Department of the Air Force. This last change marked the creation of an independent United States Air Force (USAF). The fi rst secretary of the Air Force, Stuart Symington, was appointed in September 1947. Separate Air Force As you have read in earlier lessons, the vision of a separate Air Force began with Brigadier General Billy Mitchell after World War I. But the proposal was not seriously considered until the Army Air Forces proved their military value in World War II. By the end of the war, the AAF had become the most powerful air arm in the world. It had long-range bombers that could deliver an atomic weapon. This made the AAF a powerful political tool and key to US plans for preventing another war. Although the independent Air Force was created in July 1947, it did not receive full and formal independence until 18 September that year. On that day President Truman appointed Stuart Symington as the fi rst secretary of the Air Force. It still took another two years for an orderly transfer of functions and personnel from the Army. Waypoints Integrating the Air Force On 26 July 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981. It called for equal treatment of all people in the military services, regardless of race, color, religion, or national origin. Of all the services, the Air Force was the most ready to answer President Truman’s call. It was already studying ways to improve military effi ciency. Integration means including individuals from different groups in society or an organization as equals. Secretary Symington met some Air Force leaders’ objection to integration fi rmly. He told the generals he expected no one to get in the way. Those who didn’t agree with the policy should resign. As early as 1947, Secretary Symington had said publicly that African-Americans should be able to enter the Air Force based on their merits and abilities rather than their race. Over the next few years, under his guidance the Air Force disbanded African-American units.

Load more

  22

Copy Link