CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 WHAT IS AN AIR FORCE Organization Training United States Air Force Academy 13 13 18 19 22 22 CHAPTER 2 AIR POWER THROUGH WORLD WAR I Early Aircraft Balloons Airships and Airplanes Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin World War I Reconnaissance Craft Fighter planes Bombers 24 25 26 29 30 32 34 36 36 36 38 40 CHAPTER 3 AIR POWER FROM C 1918 To 1945 The Interwar Years New Strategic Concepts William Mitchell Technological Developments World War II Strategic Bombing The Battle of Britain Curtis LeMay Kamikaze Advances in Aircraft 42 43 49 52
CHAPTER 4 AIR POWER FROM C 1950 TO C 1991 56 The Korean War 56 F 86 58 The Vietnam War 59 B 52 61 Wars in the Middle East 63 The Persian Gulf War 65 67 CHAPTER 5 AIR POWER IN THE MISSILE AGE Avionics Developments in Long Range Capabilities Other specialized and Multirole Aircraft Unmanned Aerial Vehicles The Afghanistan War The Iraq War 70 70 73 75 79 81 CHAPTER 6 MAJOR AIR FORCES OF THE WORLD 84 China 85 England 87 Germany 90 Israel 91 North Korea 94 The Soviet Union and Russia 95 Air Forces in Outer Space 98 101 102 104 108 109 CHAPTER 7 THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE Major Commands Pararescuers Aircraft F 16 Fighting Falcon F 22 Raptor A 10 Thunderbolt II MQ 1 Predator Air Force One C 130 109 110 110 111 113
CHAPTER 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 114 114 116 AIR FORCE World War I World War II Women Airforce Service Pilots Postwar period and Cold War Into the 21st Century 117 120 121 124 125 CoNCLUSION GLOSSARY FOR MORE INFORMATION FOR FURTHER READING INDEX 129 133 135
