Looking Skyward

<p>The twentieth century's first decades were a time of enormous technological achievement that had profound influences on the modern battlefield. The invention of the airplane and its subsequent adaptation for military use inarguably changed the face of twentieth-century warfare. It was during this dynamic period that America's earliest airmen began to articulate ideas on how air power might best be used and what its presence might mean to the future conduct of war. These thoughts represented the barest beginnings of an airminded culture in the U.S. military. In addition to defining what American soldiers knew and believed about aviation this culture eventually founded the professional impetus for a separate air arm.<br>Thus a study of the ideas put forth by these first airmen is an important historical endeavor lending a more complete understanding of the development of American airpower. This essay relies primarily on articles that appeared in contemporary professional journals and popular periodicals. Airmen laid out a collective argument from which emerge several identifiable themes-crude tenets about the application of airpower as a weapon of war. Conclusions posit these themes as the reflection of a coherent airminded perspective and discuss their historical relevance as a benchmark for later efforts to further develop American air power.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>