War Books: Air Force Scholarship for the Army

Editor’s Note: Welcome to another installment of our weekly War Books series! The premise is simple and straightforward. We invite a contestant to recommend five books and tell us what makes each one special. War Books is a resource for MWI readers who want to learn more about important topics related to modern war and are looking for books to add to their reading list.

This week’s War Books episode is by Dr. Heather Venable, an associate professor of military and security studies at the Air Command and Staff College and an MWI research fellow. We asked Dr. Venable: What five books would you recommend to Army readers to better understand the role of air power in war?

Overlord: General Pete Quesada and the Triumph of Tactical Air Force in World War IIby Thomas Hughes

This biography of Army Air Forces officer General Pete Quesada is a perennial favorite among students at the Air Command and Staff College. It highlights Quesada’s leadership and adaptability during World War II, and in particular how he improved air-ground cooperation. Since this mission often caused tension between the Army and Air Force, it is worth appreciating how well both sides learned to work together effectively, contributing significantly to the defeat of Germany.

How the war was won: air and sea power and the Allied victory in World War IIby Phillips O’Brien

From a very different perspective, Phillips O’Brien looks at how air power contributed to the defeat of Germany and Japan, making the highly revisionist and fascinating argument that there were no decisive land battles in World War II. Readers of Army reports will find this contradictory statement fascinating to the point of being nonsensical. Turn the page. O’Brien is a masterful scholar who makes a compelling case for how air and naval power wore down the German and Japanese forces. You don’t have to accept his argument about decisive land battles to understand how much air power can contribute. out of the battlefield to what happens At the battlefield. Air forces do not need to be directly overhead to provide extremely useful support to ground combat.

History of air warfareedited by John Andreas Olsen

This excellent overview of air warfare offers brief historical case studies from World War I to Operation Allied Force, with almost every chapter written by a leading air force expert. Although there is one example (the chapter on Operation Iraqi Freedom) where focusing exclusively on naval aviation paints an incomplete picture, overall the reader can expect a careful analysis of the book’s case studies.

(Bonus book: If you prefer a similar approach to air warfare but focus on newer campaigns, replace Air power in the age of supremacyedited by Phil Haun, Tim Schultz and Colin Jackson.

TThe air war in Vietnamby Michael Weaver

This very comprehensive book provides a thorough analysis of air power with detailed treatment of various air power missions. The result of meticulous research, this book provides soldiers with a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the use of air power. Although the capabilities and limitations of air power have changed considerably since the Vietnam War, the actual ideas underlying the use of air power are far more consistent, making this book extremely relevant to understanding air power today.

Tactical Air Forces and the Vietnam War: Explaining Effectiveness in Modern Air Warfareby Phil Haun

A retired A-10 pilot and political scientist provides a useful model for successful air-to-ground operations, focusing primarily on the Vietnam War. He argues that air power is most successfully used when it works in conjunction with land forces near the battlefield. However, this has not been the Air Force’s preferred method in the past for several reasons. While he makes a compelling case for the usefulness of what he calls battlefield air defense, it is important to note that more traditional defenses have sometimes been incredibly successful, particularly by attacking ships in the Southwest Pacific and Mediterranean during World War II. The author concludes the paper by applying his theory to far more recent conflicts, including the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Dr. Heather Venable is an Associate Professor of Military and Security Studies at the Air Command and Staff College, where she serves as the Air Force Strategy and Operations Course Director and as a Research Associate at MWI.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the United States Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense.

Photo credit: R. Nial Bradshaw, US Air Force