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  • Field Manual 100-20: The ‘Declaration of Independence’ for tactical airpower

    Field Manual 100-20: The ‘Declaration of Independence’ for tactical airpower

    On February 14, 1943, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, commander of the German Afrika Korps in North Africa, launched a major offensive against Allied positions at the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, North Africa. Within days, the rapid advance of the Afrika Korps, supported by German aircraft, nearly overran the entire Allied position, including several forward airfields, in Tunisia. This battle became the first major defeat of U.S. forces in Africa.
  • “Remembering the victims of the Holocaust”

    “Remembering the victims of the Holocaust”

    Between January 1933, when Adolph Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, and Germany’s surrender on May 7, 1945, the Nazi regime and its collaborators caused the deaths of between five and six million European Jews, one-third of the pre-1939 Jewish population of the world. To remember the victims of the Holocaust and other genocides since 1945, the
  • Air University historian supports major regional Civil Air Patrol event

    Air University historian supports major regional Civil Air Patrol event

    Recently, in my positon as the Director of Aerospace Education for the Alabama Wing Civil Air Patrol (CAP), I had the pleasure of hosting two major exhibits at the “Worlds of Work” job fair at the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds, Dothan, Alabama.  During this two-day event, several thousand eighth-grade CAP cadets from southeast Alabama,

  • Who can concealed carry on base?

    The commander of the 42nd Air Base Wing, Col. Eric Shafa, has authorized the concealed carry of privately owned firearm by qualified law enforcement officers and qualified retired or separated law enforcement officers who are Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act, or LEOSA, credentialed individuals. Additionally, credentialed civilian law enforcement

  • Maxwell Air Force Base and the 42nd Air Base Wing through the Years

    Maxwell Air Force Base is one of the most historic Air Force bases that is still in active status.  Its history spans over a century of aviation in Central Alabama from the Wright Brothers to today.  Since April 1918, a 100 years ago, when the “Air Force” presence began as Aircraft and Engine Depot #3, the base has provided a significant and
  • Elements of the 97th Bomb Group, Eighth Air Force, arrived at Royal Air Force High Wycombe, England on May 12, 1942. On August 17, 1942, three months later, 12 B-17s from the 97 BG, led by then Major Paul Tibbets, carried out the first high altitude AAF heavy bomber raid over Europe against the railroad marshalling yards at Rouen-Sotteville, France.

    Maxwell and the Advent of High Altitude Bombing in Europe during World War II

    Soon after the United States entered World War II, the U.S. Army Air Forces began building up its air forces in Britain. Elements of the 97th Bomb Group, Eighth Air Force, arrived at Royal Air Force High Wycombe, England on May 12, 1942. On August 17, 1942, three months later, 12 B-17s from the 97 BG, led by then Major Paul Tibbets, carried out the first high altitude AAF heavy bomber raid over Europe against the railroad marshalling yards at Rouen-Sotteville, France. The operation was a success as half the bombs landed in the target area and only one of the twelve aircraft sustained minor damage and the raid convinced the British of the ability of American heavy bombers to successfully carry out missions over Europe.
  • Eugene B. Ely takes off in a Curtis pusher aircraft from a platform built over the bow of the USS Birmingham, Nov. 14, 1910, Hampton Roads, Virginia. Ely demonstrated the concept that became the aircraft carrier. (Courtesy photo)

    “Billy” Mitchell and the Rise of Naval Airpower

    The US Navy and the Japanese Navy, 75 years ago, fought two historic naval battles which changed the course of the Pacific War and naval history.  On May 8-4, 1942, in the battle of the Coral Sea, just to the northeast of Australia, the two adversaries fought each other, entirely with naval aircraft, in the first naval battle in which the opposing
  • Learning from the Holocaust, The Strength of the Human Spirit

    Maxwell Air Force Base remembers the victims of the Holocaust

    Maxwell Air Force Base will host a series of events during the week to remember the victims of the Holocaust, to include a base proclamation, tree dedication, and Reading of Names in the Garden of the Maxwell Club on April 24 at 7:45 a.m., a special memorial service in Shelburne Auditorium, building 803 on April 26 at 1:30 p.m., and a memorial 5K starting at the Maxwell Club, on April 28 at 8:00 a.m. Rabbi Scott Kramer of the Agudath Israel Etz Ahayem Synagogue, Montgomery, Alabama, will be the keynote speaker for the April 26 memorial.
  • Crew of aircraft number 1 aboard the USS Hornet: 1Lt Henry Potter, bombardier; Lt Col James “Jimmy” Doolittle, pilot; Sgt Paul Braemer, gunner; 1Lt Richard Cole, co-pilot; Sgt Paul Leonard, engineer. (US Navy official photo)

    The Air Force celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid on Japan

    On April 18, 1942, 75-years ago, Americans woke up to the startling news that Army Air Force medium bombers had attacked Japan.  After four months of doom and gloom news, including the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese conquest of Southeast Asia, and the recent surrender of 75,000 American and Filipino soldiers on the Bataan Peninsula,

  • Strategic Joint Wargame Challenges Future Leaders Ability to Think Multidimensional

    The 34th annual Joint Land, Air and Sea Strategic Special Program, or JLASS-SP, is part of a six-day event that is the culmination of a seven-month elective, designed to provide participants an opportunity to develop and implement their own regional strategies against realistic problems. These includes nation-state military aggression, non-state sponsored cyber-attacks, weapons of mass destruction proliferation and humanitarian suffering.
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