The Force in U.S. Air Force: Fodder for Your Professional Reading on the Implements of Strategy and Tactics for Conventional Air War - Sampler of Ten Books to Enhance the Expertise of Air Warriors

Professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction, this unique book is based on a "Fodder" article in the Aerospace Power Journal. In them we have sought to give you some tools to help you plan and execute your own professional reading programs. Most of them dealt with subjects unfamiliar to many air warriors/ scholars and addressed new books in that field. One looked at naval aviation and another at the Pacific dimensions of World War II, based on the theory that modern airmen were more familiar with the air war against Germany. Here, I aim to acquaint you with the most prominent conventional air weapons that are the Force in US Air Force and, during that process, review a new book on the development of one of the most famous aerial weapons of all time—the Sidewinder missile. Not until the 24th year of my service as a flyer was I assigned to an aircraft—the AC-130— that had any lethal weapons at all. After giving the matter some thought, I concluded that that experience may have been more typical than otherwise and thus decided to write a "Fodder" article on the weapons of airmen and their acquirement. Typical of this series, this piece concludes with a sampler of 10 books that will enhance the expertise of air warriors/scholars in the tools of their trade.