Publisher's Synopsis
This book is the second of a series of group oral interviews focused on major areas of U.A. Air Force operations in the past. Begun in 1981, these interviews attempt to capture the recollections and insights of those former air leaders who shaped the history of the Air Force. The topic of these second series of interviews was air interdiction: how it had been defined, planned, and executive in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. The participants - General Earle E. "Pat" Partridge, Gen. Jacob E. Smart, and Gen. John W. Vogt - reflected on the purposes and objectives of air interdiction. Their recollections and insights ranged from pre-World War II tactical air doctrine to air campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Normandy, and Northern France in World War II, to air interdiction campaigns in Korea, and finally, to more recent examples in Vietnam. Throughout their discussions certain issues recurred: coordinating air with ground and sea forces; allocating aircraft to different air combat missions; collecting and interpreting intelligence; planning and targeting air interdiction missions; and applying air power within a framework of political restraints. Each of these issues is discussed through the lens of personal recollection: a single individual remembering an air battle or campaign at a fixed moment in the past. Consequently, readers should treat this collection as the source material upon which history rests. This book is a collective memoir, elicited by historians from air commanders who flew, fought, and commanded air forces in three wars.
