The United States Air Force Statistical Digest has been published each year since 1948. It is the longest running continuing publication in the Air Force having first appeared one year after the Air Force was formed as a separate service. Individuals requiring a historical description of Air Force resources, organizations, and activities have found each issue an invaluable addition to their reference sources.
The USAF Statistical Digest summarizes the great volume of statistical information collected and published by the various offices in Headquarters, and certain USAF commands. The more important data on the many activities and operations of the USAF are brought together on a uniform basis to serve as an official and basic reference manual. The Jan 1949 - Jun 1950 "USAF Statistical Digest" is the fifth edition of the publication series. Original editions - Army Air Force Statistical Digest (World War II) and Supplement Number 1, 1945 were followed by AAF Statistical Digest 1946 and USAF Statistical Digest 1947. The present issue includes the majority of the tables carried in the earlier volumes with the exception of the section on World War II combat operations. Historical continuity has been preserved, and each series has been brought forward through 1946. Continuing research in the sources and validity of the data has, in several instances, effected major changes and extended the data to cover earlier periods. Several revisions, both in content and format, have been made during the preparation of this issue. For example, the many reorganizations and regroupings of commands preclude the continuity in any series on personnel information by command. To overcome the changes in command structure, a new box head has been introduced at the appropriate date. By this device, reorganization changes become more readily apparent. Where a command has merely undergone a change in name as in the case of Air Materiel Command - from Air Technical Service Command - the newest name is utilized generally throughout the series.
The US Air Force Statistical Digest summarizes the great volume of statistical information collected and published by the various offices in USAF Headquarters and certain Air Force Commands. The more important data on the major activities and operations of the USAF are brought together on a uniform basis to serve as an official and basic reference manual. The 1948 Statistical Digest is the third edition in the annual Series. Original editions - Army Air Forces Statistical Digest (World War II) and Supplement Number 1, 1945 were followed by AAF Statistical Digest, 1946 and USAF Statistical Digest, 1947. The 1946 and 1947 editions made available Air Force statistics in summarized form as far back as available, with the exception of Combat Operations. The latter data is found only in the 1945 editions. The present issue is the first strictly annual publication and historical continuity may be accomplished by referring to the previous publications. Many new tables have been added on data which has become available during the preparation of this issue. An effort has been made to cover all phases of the Air Force activities for which this publication is the official statistical yearbook.
US Air Force Forward Air Controllers (FACs) bridge the gap between air and land power. They operate in the grey area of the battlefield, serving as an aircrew who flies above the battlefield, spots the enemy, and relays targeting information to control close air support attacks by other faster aircraft. When done well, Air Force FACs are the fulcrum for successful employment of air power in support of ground forces. Unfortunately, FACs in recent times have been shunned by both ground and air forces, their mission complicated by inherent difficulty and danger, as well as by the vicissitudes of defense budgets, technology, leadership, bureaucracy, and doctrine. Eagles Overhead is the first complete historical survey of the US Air Force FAC program from its origins in World War I to the modern battlefield. Matt Dietz examines their role, status, and performance in every US Air Force air campaign from the Marne in 1918, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and finally Mosul in 2017. With the remaking of the post-Vietnam US military, and the impact of those changes on FAC, the Air Force began a steady neglect of the FAC mission from Operation Desert Storm, through the force reductions after the Soviet Union’s collapse, and into the post 9-11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Eagles Overhead asks why FACs have not been heavily used on US battlefields since 2001, despite their warfighting importance. Dietz examines the Air Force FAC’s theoretical, doctrinal, institutional, and historical frameworks to assess if the nature of air warfare has changed so significantly that the concept and utility of the FAC has been left behind. From these examinations, Eagles Overhead draws conclusions about the potential future of Air Force FACs.
