Case Studies in the Development of Close Air Support

Cooling, Benjamin F. (Editor)

ISBN 10: 091279965X / ISBN 13: 9780912799650

Published by United States Air Force, Air Force History & Museums Program, Washington, DC, 1990

About this Item

x, 606 p. This is one of the Special Studies. Illustrations. Maps (with color). Footnotes. Notes. Bibliography. Index. In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets, that are in close proximity to friendly forces, and which requires detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement of these forces. The requirement for detailed integration because of proximity, fires or movement is the determining factor. CAS may need to be conducted during shaping operations with SOF forces, if the mission requires detailed integration with the fire and movement of these forces. A closely related subset of air interdiction, battlefield air interdiction (AI) denotes interdiction against units with near-term effects on friendly units, but which does not require integration with friendly troop movements. The term battlefield "air interdiction" is not currently used in U.S. joint doctrine. Close air support requires excellent coordination with ground forces. In advanced modern militaries. Very good. No dust jacket. Black mark inside front cover, probably obliterating the name of the previous owner.

Seller Inventory # 71634

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Case Studies in the Development of Close Air Support
• Publisher: United States Air Force, Air Force History & Museums Program, Washington, DC
• Publication Date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 091279965X
• ISBN 13: 9780912799650
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: Presumed first edition/first printing.
• Seller catalogs:
  • Korean War

About this title

Synopsis

Since the introduction of aircraft to warfare, ground commanders have seen them as a powerful addition to their plans for dislodging and pursuing an enemy or for defending against assaults on friendly positions. For military aviators, battlefield support is one of a range of possible uses of aircraft in attacking hostile forces. Often, more profitable targets are in the enemy's war industries or in the opposing army's rear areas, where supplies and units are exposed on transportation nets leading to a fighting front. This book examines the development of various doctrines on the application of aviation against battlefield targets. Written by several well-known military and aviation historians, these analytical essays present examples of close air-support experience from World War I to the Arab-Israeli war of 1973. Dr. Benjamin Franklin Cooling served as the Air Force project coordinator and general editor for this volume. He received his doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Pennsylvania and began a career as a historian in the 1960s. He has served in various research and supervisory positions with the U.S. Army Center of Military History, the U.S. Army Military History Institute, and the Office of Air Force History. An authority on the history of the American Civil War, Dr. Cooling has published widely on military and naval topics of that era. He has been executive director of the American Military Institute, a research fellow at the Naval War College, and a lecturer in military history at the U.S. Army War College. In 1989, Dr. Cooling became Chief Historian of the Department of Energy.