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This Is the Airpower Theorist the Air Force Needs (And Already Has)

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rangerrebew:
February 17, 2019
This Is the Airpower Theorist the Air Force Needs (And Already Has)

There is no need to borrow from seapower theory to think soundly about airpower theory.
by Heather Venable

If one’s main text on airpower is Douhet’s Command of the Air, as it appears to be at the Naval War College, then it is no wonder that one feels the need to call for a Corbett of airpower .

James Holmes recently argued that airpower needs a theorist with the heft of Clausewitz. This, he insists, would help us to steer clear of tiresome, never-ending debates about whether the Air Force needs to invest more in A-10s, F-35s, or light-attack aircraft.

Perhaps Holmes correctly suggests that these debates on the blogosphere have been overdone. Yet he frames his entire article in this same tired discussion. And he is flat out wrong that Douhet is still the “best available guide to air-power theory.” He omits an entire body of airpower theory from his discussion in arguing that no extant author can help aviators “debate how best to configure air forces and deploy them for tactical, operational, and strategic gain.” Relevant names to add to this discussion include John Slessor, John Warden, and John Boyd, to name a few.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/airpower-theorist-air-force-needs-and-already-has-44697

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