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Politics : To be a Liberal,you have to believe that..... -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Henry Volquardsen who wrote (4641)	10/27/1999 12:48:00 PM
From: Merritt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6418

Henry: I must be getting senile to not remember that the military would have it's own set of definitions. I was in the Navy in the latter part of the 50s, and I didn't agree with their definitions then, either.<g> But, using the definitions you've referenced, I'll concede your points...humph, errmm, hmph.<g> I've never considered the military of that era, WWII, as having given excess credibility to air power since it was considered to be subordinate to the main service corps...The Army Air Corps being the precursor of our Air Force. But then I wasn't privy to their thoughts <g>, nor have I done much reading on WWII, relying on what I saw in the newspapers and especially newsreels, as well as anecdotal conversations I overheard.<ng> I was very young when the war ended, but many of the memories are still quite vivid as that war involved the entire country to a degree that's hard to imagine today. I'm still not so sure that it's the military that imbues air strikes with such strategic importance...I'm inclined to think it's more of a political evolution because we sustain fewer casualties, and it makes for great TV.

To: Henry Volquardsen who wrote (4641)	10/28/1999 5:19:00 AM
From: nihil	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6418

There were many air power doctrines -- Terror bombing of cities -- the Blitz, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Dresden, etc. Excellent for removing architectural landmarks and annoying civilians. The American Strategic Bombing Survey asserted that the burning of Hamburg actually led to an increase in war production because workers released from useless center city activities had to go to work in peripheral defense factories to live. "Bomber Harris" the mad British head of Bomber Command was a blood thirsty tyrant who sacrificed thousands of German and British lives in a campaign most strategists consider achieved nothing positive for the Allies while diverting huge resources from the actual war effort. Close Air Support of Infantry -- an extremely effective butlargely neglected, a doctrine developed by the USMC but rarely practiced because of Air Corps and Navy dedication to other doctrines. High Level Precision Strategic (Daytime) Bombing. -- the idea that by destroying economic and military chokepoints far behind the lines, the complex interrelated enemy was machine could be crippled. Strikes aimed at German Sub Pens, Schweinfurt ball-bearing factories, etc. were costly and had little effect. Supply and Troop Interdiction -- focused on preventing front-line resupply closely coordinated with ground operations. Very effective, but difficult because of time-dependence (as at the Bulge) and the weather. All-weather planes and modern precision weapons make it dominant today. Anti-Fleet Attack -- (Navy) -- the winning doctrine. Carriers replaced battleships, and after destroying the Japanese fleet brought all of Japan under detailed close air attack which petered out when all possible targets were destroyed in summer '45. Air Superiority -- effective destruction of the enemy's air weapon everywhere. Then the precision low level bombing can being at very low cost.