This Air Force publication examines the 1930s Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Alabama, was the nurturing ground for American air doctrine. Those who studied and taught there were the same individuals who prepared America for war, and then led its airmen into combat. Chapter 1 - Early Military Education * Development of Military Educational System * The Impact of World War I * Establishment of Schools for Air Officers * Air Service Field Officers' School at Langley Field * Chapter 2 - The Air Corps Tactical School at Langley Field * Establishment of the Air Service Tactical School * Air Corps Board at Langley * Staff and Faculty, 1920-1931 * Students, 1920-1931 * Curriculum Changes * Demonstrations and Exercises * Plans for the Move of the School to Maxwell Field * Chapter 3 - The Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field * Expansion of the School * The Air Corps Board at Maxwell * 23d Composite Group * Demonstrations and Exercises * The Academic Department * Staff and Faculty, 1931-1940 * Students, 1931-1940 * Chapter 4 - Development of Doctrine at the Air Corps Tactical School * The School as the Air Corps Doctrinal Center * Observation Aviation * Doctrine of Air Force Employment, 1920-1926 * Evolution of the Theory of Daylight, High-Altitude Precision Bombardment of Pinpoint Targets * Conflict with the War Department General Staff * Clarifying and Refining the Bomber Concept * Air-Ground Cooperation * Impact of Bomber Concept on Theory of Air Superiority * Changing Concept of Pursuit Employment * Chapter 5 - Discontinuance of Air Corps Tactical School * Planning for Short Courses * Suspension of the School * Establishment of AAF School of Applied Tactics * Establishment of the Air University * Notes * Appendices * 1. Academic Department, Air Corps Tactical School * 2. Staff and Faculty, Air Corps Tactical School, 1920-1942 * 3. Air Corps Tactical School Graduates, by Class, 1920-1940 In the 1930s the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Alabama, was the birthplace and nurturing ground for American air doctrine. The work undertaken at the school became manifest in the skies over Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific in the Second World War. Those who studied and taught there were the same individuals who prepared America for war, and then led its airmen into combat. This band of men spawned and shaped the independent United States Air Force in the postwar era. Their influence is still felt today, for they developed the airpower doctrines and institutions that enabled the United States to prevail in the Cold War. Their strategic vision, evolved from the thoughts of Douhet, Mitchell, and Trenchard, is now embodied in the Air Force's notion of Global Reach-Global Power. The legacy of the Air Corps Tactical School continues on with the comprehensive programs of the Air University, the world's premier airpower training institution. From flight within the atmosphere to flight within space, American airmen fly their missions based on principles enunciated in the lecture halls of Maxwell Air Force Base.

In the 1930s, the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Alabama, was the nurturing ground for American air doctrine. Those who studied and taught there were the same individuals who prepared America for war, and then led its airmen into combat.

From the foreword: "In the 1930s the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Alabama, was the birthplace and nurturing ground for American air doctrine. The work undertaken at the school became manifest in the skies over Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific in the Second World War. Those who studied and taught there were the same individuals who prepared America for war, and then led its airmen into combat. This band of men spawned and shaped the independent United States Air Force in the postwar era. Their influence is still felt today, for they developed the airpower doctrines and institutions that enabled the United States to prevail in the Cold War. Their strategic vision, evolved from the thoughts of Douhet, Mitchell, and Trenchard, is now embodied in the Air Force's notion of Global Reach-Global Power. The legacy of the Air Corps Tactical School continues on with the comprehensive programs of the Air University, the world's premier airpower training institution. From flight within the atmosphere to flight within space, American airmen fly their missions based on principles enunciated in the lecture halls of Maxwell Air Force Base."

In the 1930s the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Alabama, was the birthplace and nurturing ground for American air doctrine. The work undertaken at the school became manifest in the skies over Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific in the Second World War. Those who studied and taught there were the same individuals who prepared America for war, and then led its airmen into combat. This band of men spawned and shaped the independent United States Air Force in the postwar era. Their influence is still felt today, for they developed the airpower doctrines and institutions that enabled the United States to prevail in the Cold War. Their strategic vision, evolved from the thoughts of Douhet, Mitchell, and Trenchard, is now embodied in the Air Force's notion of Global Reach-Global Power. The legacy of the Air Corps Tactical School continues on with the comprehensive programs of the Air University, the world's premier airpower training institution. From flight within the atmosphere to flight within space, American airmen fly their missions based on principles enunciated in the lecture halls of Maxwell Air Force Base.

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.