Author Description

This is the milestone official comprehensive history of the United States Air Force with compelling stories about America's airmen and their aircraft. This document, Volume II, picks up the narrative at the Korean War, takes it through the War in Southeast Asia, the Gulf War, to the drawdown following the end of the Cold War. Part IV: A Decade of Deterrence, 1950-1960 * Chapter 13 - The Air War over Korea * Chapter 14 - The Emergence of the Strategic Air Command * Chapter 15 - The Air Force as an Institution * Chapter 16 - Containing Communism * Part V: The War in Southeast Asia, 1960-1975 * Chapter 17 - Flexible Response: Evolution or Revolution? * Chapter 18 - The Air Force and Operations Short of War * Chapter 19 - The War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1968 * Chapter 20 - Vietnamization and Withdrawal, 1968-1975 * Part VI: Regrouping after Vietnam, 1975-1982 * Chapter 21 - Modernizing after Vietnam * Chapter 22 - Carrying Out National Policy * Part VII: The Post-Cold War Era, 1982-1997 * Chapter 23 - Peace is not Always Peaceful * Chapter 24 - From the Deserts to the Mountains * Chapter 25 - Metamorphosis: The Air Force Approaches the Next Century More than any other military organization, the U.S. Air Force searches out and listens to the experience history offers. Few problems arise from a void or occur without precedent; and while every challenge possesses its unique aspects, the perspective of time and the careful consideration of what already has succeeded or failed inevitably improves the effectiveness of today's decisions and the quality of planning for the future. History is therefore important to the Air Force; the recorded past is a foundation for doctrine, policy, strategy, tactics, equipment development, organization, force structure, and virtually every other element of air power. This volume, published in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Air Force as an independent service, is especially valuable. Not only should it both inspire and enligh