Documenting the racial integration of the Air Force from the end of World War II to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, retired Air Force colonel Alan L. Gropman contends that the service desegregated itself not for moral or political reasons but to improve military effectiveness. First published in 1977, this second edition charts policy changes to date. 31 photos.

On April 5, 1945, more than sixty black officers of the U.S. Army Air Forces were arrested for entering a whites-only club at Freeman Field, Indiana, to protest the rigid segregation and unequal policies under which they and all African American airmen were forced to serve. Termed a mutiny by the white commanders at the base, the incident was one of several racial conflicts during the next four years that helped convince senior officers in the newly independent Air Force that segregation was an inefficient personnel policy. Documenting the racial integration of the Air Force from the end of World War II to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Alan L. Gropman contends that the service desegregated itself not for moral or political reasons but to improve military effectiveness. He draws on a range of unpublished records to show that, while proceeding smoothly, Air Force integration initially did little to ensure fair promotion practices or to protect African Americans from off-post discrimination, especially in housing, entertainment, and education. Gropman also outlines the political motivations of President Truman's 1948 Executive Order 9981 for equal opportunity in the military and reviews controversial Kennedy administration initiatives that attempted to place the military at the forefront of civil rights reform. First published in 1977, the book now includes a new preface charting the policy changes that have dramatically increased the numbers of black officers and senior supervisors in the Air Force during the past two decades. Detailing the uneven progress of a major shift in military policy, The Air Force Integrates also illuminates the often pragmatic motivations of those who bring about fundamental social change.

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.

Contains papers presented at the Air Force Historical Foundation Symposium, held at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, on September 21-22, 1995. Topics addressed are: Pt. 1, The Formative Years, 1945-1961; Pt. 2, Mission Development and Exploitation Since 1961; and Pt. 3, Military Space Today and Tomorrow. Includes notes, abbreviations & acronyms, an index, and photographs.

This book describes the struggle to desegregate the post-World War II U.S. Army Air Forces and its successor, the U.S. Air Force, and the remarkable advances made during the next two decades to end racial segregation and move towards equality of treatment of Negro airmen. The author, Lt. Col. Alan L. Gropman, a former Instructor of History at the U.S. Air Force Academy, received his doctorate degree from Tufts University. His dissertation served as the basis for this volume. In it, the author describes the fight to end segregation within the Air Force following President Harry S. Truman's issuance of an executive order directing the integration of the armed forces. Despite resistance to this order, fueled by heated segregationist opposition, integration moved ahead somewhat slowly under the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Progress increased during the administration of President John F. Kennedy, which saw major advances toward achieving equality for Negro servicemen. Colonel Gropman's study is a detailed, comprehensive, and, in many respects, a documentary account. The crucial events it describes more than justify the unusually extended treatment they receive. The volume thus provides a permanent record of this turbulent period in race relations and constitutes a significant contribution to the history of the Air Force.