As World War I spread across Europe, the US remained reluctant to enter the conflict and remained so for almost three years. During this time, some Americans thought the US had a duty to enter the war and wanted to take a more active role. Several patriotic Americans volunteered to drive ambulances for the French…
Albert Einstein famously said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” He also said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Seems like sound advice from a guy who…
10 percent of conflicts are due to a difference of opinion, 90 percent are due to the wrong tone of voice. –unknown Last year, frustration over the A-10 rhetoric and resulting politics finally became too much for Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Mark Welsh. At the 2015 Air Force Association annual air…
[This article is a continuation of air supremacy and airpower asymmetry.] Today’s Air Force fleet structure is in the midst of an identity crisis, full of contradictions and built upon a multi-role fighter foundation. Despite this, the Air Force Future Operating Concept document categorizes its current force structure as a high-low mixture. It defines this…
On April 21, 1911 War Department Special Order 95 assigned two new Army 2nd Lieutenants to “aeronautical duty with the Signal Corps…to proceed to Dayton, Ohio for the purpose of undergoing a course of instruction in operating the Wright airplane.” This was a momentum step; at the time, being a pilot in the Signal Corps…
The story of how shots of Jeremiah Weed came to be a fighter pilot tradition has been told many times, with more versions than you can imagine. And that is why its time to retell it. There are two things I really like about this story. First, unlike many traditions, it didn’t happen in any…
“Even small groups of combatants, such as a handful of enemy troops manning a mortar position, may eventually be deemed worthy of a PGM [precision-guided munition] in some circumstances.” Though the above statement sounds like some visionary revelation out of Operation Desert Storm, it is not; it’s not even from the 20th century. The above…
Greek mythology states that the ferryman of Hades, Charon, requires payment of one coin to ferry a soul across the River Styx that separates the worlds of the living and the dead. Coins were typically placed in the mouths of loved ones before burial to ensure safe passage to the underworld. Over time this has…
There are three things very hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self. ―Benjamin Franklin Life is tough; it’s tougher if you’re stupid. ―John Wayne What’s the difference between self-reflection and taxes? You can pay someone to do your taxes for you. Self-reflection is a necessary part of growing up, whether you admit it…
In the 2014 movie American Sniper, there is an early scene at the dinner table where Chris Kyle’s father tells him that there are three kinds of people in the world: wolves, sheep, and sheepdogs. In a manner not unlike how Steven Spielberg’s 1975 Jaws re-introduced the world to the story of the USS Indianapolis…
“HACK!” yells the Mayor at the start of every Roll Call. You’d better not be late, and if you can’t make it you’d better have already checked in. Every fighter squadron in the Air Force has a bar located within its confines, it’s renaming as a “heritage room” is inconsequential as it still serves…
Germany, Austria and Italy are standing together in the middle of a pub when Serbia bumps into Austria and spills Austria’s pint. Austria demands Serbia buy it a complete new suit because there are splashes on its trouser leg. Germany expresses its support for Austria’s point of view. Britain recommends that everyone calm down a…
