Billy Mitchell and Airpower

During the interwar period a number people advocated major changes in military doctrine and organizations, particularly in the use of airpower. Three important airpower advocates were Giulio Douhet, Hugh Trenchard, and Billy Mitchell, who all insisted that the air arm should be independent of the army and navy. Trenchard in fact was the commander of the first independent air force in the world, the Royal Air Force (RAF), while the United States Air Force (USAF) did not become fully independent of the Army until 1947. Both Douhet and Mitchell were sufficiently outspoken in their support of airpower that they made enemies among traditionalist generals, and both faced court-martials for their views. In the low-budget years of the 1920s and 1930s, Trenchard also had to battle the army and navy for scarce resources and to protect the survival of the independent air arm from the rival services....
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