Alexander P. de Seversky and the Quest for Air Power

12. Prophet of Air Power

178 12 Prophet of Air Power Because Alexander P. de Seversky inherited the fundamental concepts of air power from Gen. Billy Mitchell, it is worth a few moments to examine the source and substance of Mitchell’s ideas. Chapter 4 discusses briefly the general’s experience and appreciation for the importance of aircraft in attacking enemy troops and safeguarding American soldiers against enemy airplanes when he served as chief of air service for the First Army of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I. Thus, while some air power enthusiasts saved all their affection for bombers, Mitchell endorsed a “balanced air force” that contained a mix of specialized aircraft. He accepted, for example, pursuit planes as not only vital in destroying enemy aircraft but also in protecting bombers. Five years after his 1925 court-martial and resignation from the military, Mitchell wrote a popular book on aeronautics , Skyways, in which he detailed his latest and mature views on military aviation.1 The Prophet’s Master In Skyways, he narrated in considerable detail an unfortunate episode experienced by a bombardment squadron during the St. Mihiel battle in September 1918. Mitchell sent eighteen bombers behind German lines to drop ordnance on the hillside village of Conflans, which housed enemy soldiers and supplies. Regrettably, the squadron failed to connect with its escort of pursuits. Even though each of the bombers carried two or more guns, the squadron was attacked with devastating effect. Over German-held 179 Prophet of Air Power territory, the bombers were pounced upon from different angles by enemy fighters that were fast and maneuverable. Only five planes of the bombardment squadron made it to Allied lines, but not safely. All surviving aircraft were damaged and most crew members were wounded. While Mitchell readily acknowledged that bombers needed fighters and guns for protection , he also recognized that the exercise of air power occurred primarily through bombardment. The bomber, then, must be the centerpiece of any air force. Moreover, he argued that aviation cannot dig trenches in the sky or otherwise play a strictly defensive role; it “must attack to bring results.”2 In addition to the lessons he learned in 1918 as an American commander of military aviation, Mitchell enhanced his understanding of air power through reading commentaries and holding conversations on the subject with numerous Allied aviators. Three contemporaries, however, played special roles in advancing or affirming Mitchell’s views. Maj. Gen. Hugh Trenchard of England symbolized a pathfinder for a process Mitchell fervently hoped to duplicate in the United States. When the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service merged to form the Royal Air Force on April 1, 1918, Trenchard served as the first RAF chief of air staff. The notion of an independent air force on equal terms with that of an army or navy was also the focal point of Giulio Douhet, the second personality to impact Mitchell. The Italian general published Il Dominio dell’Aria (The Command of the Air) in 1921. Mitchell borrowed Douhet’s argument: Aerial warfare would raise such havoc in the enemy country that it would force a quick resolution to the conflict in contrast with the lengthy horror of trench warfare experienced during the Great War. Finally, Mitchell also valued the work of British historian Basil H. Liddell Hart. The title of his 1925 book, Paris: Or the Future of War, is a reference to Homer’s epic poem about the Greek conflict with Troy. In Skyways, Mitchell adopted Hart’s “vital center” concept and paraphrased Hart’s thesis: “Aircraft enables us to jump over the army which shields the enemy government, industry, and people and so strike direct and immediately at the seat of the opposing will and policy [emphasis original].”3 Between 1921, when Mitchell and de Seversky first worked together, and 1936, when Mitchell died, the general impressed and bequeathed his ideas on air power and a separate air force to the Major. To be sure, by 1940 de Seversky had updated Mitchell’s examples and modified his arguments because circumstances and aircraft had changed dramatically since Skyways 180 Prophet of Air Power appeared. After 1930, the general had a hard time getting his ideas in print. Many book publishers and magazine editors felt the air power topic had been milked dry along with its audience of readers. Disappointed over the Great War and distressed over the Great Depression, most Americans adopted an...