German Air Force Airlift Operations
German Air Force Airlift Operations

Author: Generalmajor a. D. Fritz Morzik

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2017-06-28

Total Pages: 724

ISBN-13: 1787205711

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Germany’s imaginative employment of transport aircraft in World War II produced as many innovations as Germany’s use of tanks. Indeed, like the tank, the transport aircraft was closely associated with the Blitzkrieg concept. This relationship was advantageous at the outset of the war, but it became dangerous as the war dragged on and German armies outran their surface supply lines in North Africa and Russia. Then ground commanders began to think of air transport as the means of supply. The history of this trend is one of the main themes of this study, which was first published in its English translation in 1961. Some of the questions embodied in this theme—How much air transport is enough? Under what conditions is an air-supply operation feasible? What are the prerequisites for a successful airlift to encircled ground forces? What are the advantages and limitations of the glider?—are as vital and controversial today as they were during World War II. Generalmajor a. D. Fritz Morzik, who began his military career as a non-commissioned officer in the German Air Service in World War I and ended it as Armed Forces Chief of Air Transport in World War II, is especially well-qualified to write the present study. His long career, spanning two world wars, and his experience with both civilian and military transport aircraft testify to the breadth of his practical knowledge.

To Save a City
To Save a City

Author: Roger G. Miller

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2008-04-21

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9781603440905

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Following World War II, the Soviet Union drew an Iron Curtain across Europe, crowning its efforts with a blockade of West Berlin in a desperate effort to prevent the creation of an independent, democratic West Germany. The United States and Great Britain, aided by France, responded with a daring air logistical operation that in fifteen months delivered almost three million tons of coal, food, and other necessities to the people of Berlin. Now, drawing on rare U.S. Air Force files, recently declassified documents from the National Archives, records released since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the memories of airlift veterans themselves, Roger G. Miller provides an original study of the Berlin Airlift. The Berlin Airlift was an enterprise of epic proportions that demonstrated the power of air logistics as a political instrument. What began as a hastily organized operation by a small number of warweary cargo airplanes evolved into an intricate bridge of aircraft that flowed in and out of Berlin through narrow air corridors. Hour after hour, day after day, week after week, a stream of airplanes delivered everything from food and medicine to coal and candy in defiance of breakdowns, inclement weather, and Soviet hostility. And beyond the airlift itself, a complex system of transportation, maintenance, and supply stretching around the world sustained operations. Historians, veterans, and general readers will welcome this history of the first Western victory of the Cold War. Maps, diagrams, and more than forty photographs illustrate the mechanical inner workings and the human faces that made that triumph possible.

Airlift Doctrine
Airlift Doctrine

Author: Charles Miller

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2012-08-01

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 9781478393306

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

n this extremely comprehensive overview of airlift and air mobility, Colonel Miller shows how the worldwide orientation of American foreign policy, the numerous threats to free-world interests, and the speed and complexity of modern warfare have combined with political and resource constraints to produce today's airlift doctrine and force structure. Airlift is the movement of goods and people to where they are needed, when they are needed there. Since the 1920s there has been an evolving awareness and articulation of how to best organize, train, and equip airlift forces for that mission. The worldwide orientation of American foreign policy, the numerous threats to free world interests, and the speed and complexity of modern warfare have combined with political and resource constraints to produce today's airlift doctrine and force structure. Colonel Miller's study traces these many interrelationships to discover what critical airlift decisions were made, why they were made, and what they may mean in the future. Airlift is the backbone of deterrence. A properly structured and equipped airlift force is critical to the successful execution of the national military strategy. How we think about airlift and how we translate those thoughts into a meaningful expression of how to develop, deploy, and employ airlift forces is vital to the national defense. Colonel Miller's study is a definitive step in that important process.

A Concise History of the U.S. Air Force
A Concise History of the U.S. Air Force

Author: Stephen Lee McFarland

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Except in a few instances, since World War II no American soldier or sailor has been attacked by enemy air power. Conversely, no enemy soldier orsailor has acted in combat without being attacked or at least threatened by American air power. Aviators have brought the air weapon to bear against enemies while denying them the same prerogative. This is the legacy of the U.S. AirForce, purchased at great cost in both human and material resources.More often than not, aerial pioneers had to fight technological ignorance, bureaucratic opposition, public apathy, and disagreement over purpose.Every step in the evolution of air power led into new and untrodden territory, driven by humanitarian impulses; by the search for higher, faster, and farther flight; or by the conviction that the air way was the best way. Warriors have always coveted the high ground. If technology permitted them to reach it, men, women andan air force held and exploited it-from Thomas Selfridge, first among so many who gave that "last full measure of devotion"; to Women's Airforce Service Pilot Ann Baumgartner, who broke social barriers to become the first Americanwoman to pilot a jet; to Benjamin Davis, who broke racial barriers to become the first African American to command a flying group; to Chuck Yeager, a one-time non-commissioned flight officer who was the first to exceed the speed of sound; to John Levitow, who earned the Medal of Honor by throwing himself over a live flare to save his gunship crew; to John Warden, who began a revolution in air power thought and strategy that was put to spectacular use in the Gulf War.Industrialization has brought total war and air power has brought the means to overfly an enemy's defenses and attack its sources of power directly. Americans have perceived air power from the start as a more efficient means of waging war and as a symbol of the nation's commitment to technology to master challenges, minimize casualties, and defeat adversaries.

Strategy For Defeat: The Luftwaffe, 1933-1945 [Illustrated Edition]
Strategy For Defeat: The Luftwaffe, 1933-1945 [Illustrated Edition]

Author: Williamson Murray

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2015-11-06

Total Pages: 883

ISBN-13: 178625770X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Includes the Aerial Warfare In Europe During World War II illustrations pack with over 200 maps, plans, and photos. This book is a comprehensive analysis of an air force, the Luftwaffe, in World War II. It follows the Germans from their prewar preparations to their final defeat. There are many disturbing parallels with our current situation. I urge every student of military science to read it carefully. The lessons of the nature of warfare and the application of airpower can provide the guidance to develop our fighting forces and employment concepts to meet the significant challenges we are certain to face in the future.