Book contents
- War’s Logic
- Cambridge Military Histories
- War’s Logic
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I First Principles and Modern War
- 1 Alfred Thayer Mahan and Sea Power
- 2 Billy Mitchell and Air Power
- Part II The Revolt of the Strategy Intellectuals
- Part III The Counterrevolution of the Military Intellectuals
- Part IV The Insurrection of the Operational Artists
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
2 - Billy Mitchell and Air Power
from Part I - First Principles and Modern War
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2021
Book contents
- War’s Logic
- Cambridge Military Histories
- War’s Logic
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I First Principles and Modern War
- 1 Alfred Thayer Mahan and Sea Power
- 2 Billy Mitchell and Air Power
- Part II The Revolt of the Strategy Intellectuals
- Part III The Counterrevolution of the Military Intellectuals
- Part IV The Insurrection of the Operational Artists
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 2 analyzes the ideas of the airpower theorist William (Billy) Mitchell. It describes his life and his "America," which in the words of period novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald, was "careless and confused." Mitchell, like his America, pursued his goals aggressively regardless of the consequences. This chapter also discusses how Jominian first principles – concentration, offensive action, and decision by battle – figured in Mitchell’s thinking. It ends by explaining how Mitchell’s model of war’s nature was essentially the same as Mahan’s, the traditional model.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- War's LogicStrategic Thought and the American Way of War, pp. 32 - 56Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021