279pp, octavo.

279pp, octavo.

0253328624. Book has light toning to pages; DJ has light shelfwear, tiny tear w/small crease to bottom spine, slight toning; b/w photos; 279 pages.

0253328624. Book has light toning to pages; DJ has light shelfwear, tiny tear w/small crease to bottom spine, slight toning; b/w photos; 279 pages.

xi, [3], 279, [3] pages. Includes a Foreword to the new imprint.

xi, [3], 279, [3] pages. Includes a Foreword to the new imprint. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Phillip S. Meilinger (born in 1948) is a retired colonel of the USAF as well as a historian and analyst. He is a member of the Academic Advisory Panel of the Royal Air Force Centre for Air Power Studies. [1] Before his retirement he was Dean of the School of Advanced Airpower Studies (SAAS) at the USAF's Air University in Montgomery, Alabama. He received a BS degree from the United States Air Force Academy, an MA degree from the University of Colorado, and obtained a Ph.D. degree in military history from the University of Michigan. A command pilot, he has served as a C-130 aircraft commander and instructor pilot in both Europe and the Pacific. After a tour at the Air Force Academy, he was assigned to the Doctrine Division of the Air Staff at the Pentagon. He has authored four books and scores of articles. Perhaps best known is his edited work, The Paths of Heaven: The Evolution of Airpower Theory (1997). In an attempt to create debate and more reflection about the inherent characteristics of air power, in 1995 Dr. Meilinger wrote Ten Propositions on Airpower, a small and influential booklet advocating what he considers to be the air power equivalent of Principles of War. Among his many articles is: "Winged Defence: Answering the Critics of Airpower." Air Power Review Vol. 5 No. 4 (Winter 2002), pp. 41-64). His biography of General Hoyt S. Vandenberg is considered by some to be a classic, and has yet to be surpassed by subsequent scholarship. Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg (January 24, 1899-April 2, 1954) was a United States Air Force general. He served as the second Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and the second Director of Central Intelligence. During World War II, Vandenberg was the commanding general of the Ninth Air Force, a tactical air force in England and in France, supporting the Army, from August 1944 until V-E Day. Vandenberg Space Force Base on the central coast of California is named after him. In 1946, he was briefly the U.S. Chief of Military Intelligence. In August 1943, Vandenberg was assigned to Air Force headquarters as Deputy Chief of Air Staff. In September 1943, he became head of an air mission to Russia, under Ambassador Harriman, and returned to the United States in January 1944. In March 1944, he earned the promotion to major general and then he was transferred to the European theater; in April 1944, he was designated the Deputy Air Commander in Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces and the Commander of its American Air Component. In August 1944, Vandenberg assumed command of the Ninth Air Force. On November 28, 1944, he received an oak leaf cluster to his Distinguished Service Medal for his part in planning the Normandy invasion. He was promoted to lieutenant general in March 1945. Vandenberg was appointed the Assistant Chief of Air Staff at the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) headquarters in July 1945. In January 1946, he became Director of Intelligence on the War Department general staff where he served until his appointment in June 1946, as Director of Central Intelligence, a position he held until May 1947. Vandenberg returned to duty with the Air Force in April 1947, and on June 15 became the Deputy Commander in Chief of the Air Staff. Following the division of the United States Department of War into the Departments of the Army and the Air Force, Vandenberg was designated the Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force on October 1, 1947, and promoted to the rank of general. Even when Vandenberg was at the pinnacle of his military career, his boyish good looks and outgoing personality often made him the target of attacks on his credibility and experience. However, the attention that his appearance brought on was not all bad. He appeared on the covers of Time and Life magazines. The Washington Post once described him as "the most impossibly handsome man on the...