As one of the most well-known Airmen of the twentieth century, Jimmy Doolittle is the subject of a significant number of books and articles. Despite their many virtues, these efforts have largely overlooked a very important portion of his life—his command of the Eighth Air Force. This study seeks to fill that gap. It draws upon multiple sources, including the mature body of biographical literature, archival documents, and Doolittle’s personal and military records. The overall conclusion is that behind Jimmy Doolittle’s daring and dashing façade was a measure of humility that fostered his growth as a general officer. Although his technical expertise forged trails in aviation history, it was Doolittle’s moral qualities that most significantly hastened the demise of the Luftwaffe. This finding suggests that while it is indeed prudent to foster the technical education of future senior leaders, it is even more important to nurture leaders of courage, boldness, and humility. [Lt Col Benjamin W. Bishop, USAF / 2015 / 123 pages / ISBN: 978-1-58566-245-6 / AU Press Code: P-106]

This study examines the 317th Troop Carrier Group’s experience in the southwest Pacific during World War II to identify its long-term effects. The work focuses on the 317th's role in two specific events, the Battle of Wau in January 1943, and the airborne assault at Nadzab the following September. Each event highlights the combat airlift dichotomy of airland and airdrop. In airland, troops are moved by aircraft and disembark from the aircraft on the ground. In airdrop, troops are moved by aircraft and landed using parachutes. [Maj John D. Poole, USAF / 2017, 107 pages / ISBN: 9781585662708/P-115]

Clausewitz posited centuries ago that “no one starts a war—or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so—without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.” Centuries later Robert Mandel cautioned that “perhaps the least understood, and certainly the least studied, aspect of war is how they end.” Most recently, in Learning to Leave, however, R. Greg Brown has taken a historical and theoretical examination of US national military strategy and examined the two theses to cogently highlight how misconceptions about our outdated security framework hinder disengagement. For example, he finds especially outdated and appalling the nexus between the national security strategy and the national military strategy and outlines their role in extending military engagements. [Maj R. Greg Brown, USAF / 2008 / 152 pages ISBN: 978-1-58566-181-7 / AU Press Code: P-59]

This study examines the role of moral hazard in airlift operations. The author turns to the world of economics and insurance to define moral hazard and then examines two historical case studies through this lens. By conducting a comparative case study of the airlift-dependent operations at Dien Bien Phu and Khe Sanh and examining these in terms of moral hazard, the author establishes that moral hazard plays a role in airlift operations, that this role is not predictive in nature, that this role illuminates risks that may otherwise go unnoticed, and that there is a positive relationship between airlift capacity and moral hazard. The author then examines US airlift operations in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2001 to 2011 in light of the conclusions drawn from Dien Bien Phu and Khe Sanh. This comparison provides additional evidence for the case at hand and demonstrates the relevance to present-day events and concerns. The author postulates that a doctrinal solution best addresses moral hazard in airlift operations by informing the application of airlift in military operations while not arbitrarily curtailing or limiting those operations. The author concludes that such a doctrinal solution helps to inform military judgment and ensures risks associated with airlift-dependent operations are more fully accounted for than they would be otherwise. [Lt Col Robert C. Bearden, USAF / 2015 / 102 pages / ISBN: 978-1-58566-244-9 / AU Press Code: P-105]

This study applies lessons learned from air mobility’s pivotal role in Field Marshal Sir William Slim’s World War II Burma campaign to contemporary air mobility operations. Based on this analysis, the author suggests that modern air mobility practitioners must account for five key essentials: superiority across the air and space domains, proper organization that promotes relationship building at the operational level of war, normalization of the complete air mobility supply chain and its accompanying idea of “air mobility mindedness,” training focused on increased interoperability, and the vital role of leadership. [Derek M. Salmi, Lt Col, USAF / 2014 / 94 pages / ISBN: 978-1-58566-234-0 / AU Press Code: P-97]

In terms of military procurement, sovereignty is the ability to develop and operate equipment free from the external constraints of other nations. This paper questions whether sovereignty is an outdated strategy during times of austerity and if its apparent alternative—collaboration—delivers on its promise of affordability. The author examines Britain’s purchase of military equipment over the past 15 years to determine if the United Kingdom has increasingly favored collaboration over sovereignty. He concludes that sovereignty is a contested subject and that the question challenging nation-states in the future will not be whether to resist collaboration in favor of sovereignty but identifying when to collaborate and what sovereignty to invest in. [Sqn Ldr Gareth Davies, Royal Air Force / 2016 / 103 pages / ISBN: 9781585662630 / AU Press Code: DP-117]

During the rise of fighter generals to preeminence in the Air Force, mobility operations played a significant yet secondary role in airpower strategy. Since the end of the Cold War, however, airlift, air-refueling, and aeromedical-evacuation missions have become an indispensable and direct aspect of US grand strategy. The author examines a shift toward myriad, complex operations demanding mobility aircraft. She also shows that as the number and importance of mobility-centric operations have increased, so has the number of generals with mobility expertise, especially at the most senior levels of the Air Force—a phenomenon that reflects the Air Force’s adaptation to the changing geopolitical environment. [Lt Col Laura L. Lenderman, USAF / 2008 / 110 pages ISBN: 978-1-58566-175-6 / AU Press Code: P-53]

Nearly three years have passed since China’s successful antisatellite (ASAT) test ushered in a new era of space competition. China still offers no answers to one of the most troubling strategic space questions of the twenty-first century: why is China building space weapons? Fundamental changes in the way the United States approaches national security space are long overdue. Poorly implemented policies and futile strategies have hitherto failed to ignite any sense of urgency or rationality in Washington. China’s test must serve to demark the end of failed American assumptions vis-à-vis its future competitive edge in space. Colonel Mastalir suggests that the best response for the United States is to prepare for a very different future in space, not with weapons in kind, but with enduring solutions to preserve the utility of space exploitation for all nations. He recommends that the United States take action to properly align the US instruments of national power to produce an enduring, coherent, multilateral approach toward space power. [Lt Col Anthony J. Mastalir, USAF / 2009 / 149 pages / ISBN: 978-1-58566-197-8 / AU Press Code: P-71]

This paper investigates the role that science fiction had on the early development of military space policy. It examines three science fiction motifs: the concept of space as a frontier, the fear of nuclear apocalypse, and the central theme of human spaceflight. Using Yuen Foong Khong’s Analogical Explanation Framework, this paper contends that science fiction of the pulp era assisted policymakers in defining the nature of the situation, providing prescriptions for policy, evaluating moral rightness, and in two of the cases, warning about the dangers of other options. Conversely, this paper assesses that, unlike historical analogies, the future analogies or motifs of science fiction did not help evaluate the stakes or predict the chances of success of a given policy decision. This paper is a timely reminder that when science fiction is used correctly, it is often a helpful tool in investigating and analyzing imaginary future war scenarios. As the next era of space exploration develops, and the US military stands up the Space Force and renews its focus on the protect and defend mission, science fiction provides a pathway for the investigation of new policy alternatives.

This study assesses the influence of the Yom Kippur War of October 1973 on the development of the United States Air Force. The author demonstrates how vicarious lessons based on Israeli combat experience interacted with American lessons from Vietnam. The study concludes that the Yom Kippur War reinforced a conventional paradigm of “war as battle” and also encouraged a long-term trend of American-Israeli parallelism. [Joseph S. Doyle, Squadron Leader, RAF/2019/97 pages/AU Press Code DP-0031]