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While the most conspicuous components of the US Army Air Forces in World War II were the air units, there were also hundreds of ground units and organisations. Besides assigned military personnel the AAF also employed thousands of civilians. Many unique outfits were designed to meet the AAF's special needs. Uniformed civilians also possessed a variety of unique uniforms and insignia. These general issue and specific uniforms are the subject of this volume by one of Osprey's most experienced authors, Gordon L. Rottman, whose detailed text is backed by plenty of contemporary photographs and 12 full page colour plates by Francis Chin. ... Read more

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'The silence of the inky black night is broken by the distant rumble of turboprop engines droning even closer. Out of the darkness comes the unmistakable sound of weapons being brought to bear. Tracer rounds arc downwards lighting up the sky and a seemingly endless stream of shell-fire tears at the ground, as an unseen night hunter plies its trade. This sort of power and precision can mean only one thing, a US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) AC-130 'Spectre' Gunship is on station'.

Customer Reviews (1)

The Next Best Thing to Flying an SR-71
No kidding - this is the actual SR-71 pilot's manual.Hundreds of pages telling you everything you need to know to fly a SR-71, but nothing about the recon equipment.There may have been a few pages deleted, but it isn't obvious from reading it.It's great to page through this book while reading accounts of flying the SR-71 (such as "Sled Driver" or "The Untouchables") - it gives you a much better appreciation of what's going on.

If you can find a copy, buy it.Well worth the price for a Habu fan.A bit steep for anyone else... ... Read more

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BG Robert F. McDermott, West Point graduate, WWll combat pilot and Harvard MBA, led a revolution in modern military education when he was assigned to the newly created Air Force Academy. Military retirement did not end his story. In his second illustrious career as Chairman and CEO of USAA, McDermott turned USAA into a national success story, and at the same time led the civic movement to modernize the city of San Antonio, TX. ... Read more

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Airforce History
geopolitical, Battling Tradition details the revolution in modern military education that became the ethos in the formative years of the United States Air Force Academy. The leader of this revolution was Robert F. McDermott. West Point graduate, World War II combat pilot, Harvard MBA, and a full colonel less than twelve years after commissioning, McDermott was assigned to the newly created Air Force Academy in 1954. Dreamers and Doers always exist, but rarely do individuals possess both traits, as did the brilliant McDermott. He had a vision of what the Academy could be, and then fought successfully to make it so. Building on the foundation of West Point's devotion to "Duty, Honor, Country," Dean of Faculty McDermott departed from the traditional educational ideas of Sylvanus Thayer and the senior service academies with his innovative academic programs. His goal was to match the excellence of America's most prestigious colleges and universities in order to produce better career officers to serve in an increasingly complex geopolitical world. His most staggering accomplishment was obtaining formal accreditation for the Academy before the first class graduated in 1959, the first and only such occurrence in the history of American post-secondary education. In this skillfully researched and well-written narrative based on new primary sources, Paul Ringenbach recounts the founding of the Academy and McDermott's extraordinary efforts that continue to impact the tens of thousands of graduates of the nation's service academies. This study is about leadership and one remarkable individual's success in overcoming entrenched opposition from traditionalists to bring the education of professional career officers into the modern era. Military retirement did not end McDermott's story, however. Ringenbach sketches his second illustrious career as Chairman and CEO of USAA. McDermott turned USAA into anational success story, and at the same time, led the civic movement to modernize San Antonio.

"Although I admired the charismatic General McDermott, I never really appreciated the difficulty and depth of what he did for the Academy, the Air Force, and the Nation until I read this biography."--General Ronald R. Fogelman, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force 1994-97, in Foreword

"General McDermott's courageous talent created an Academy for the ages. Paul Ringenbach has captured his essence here." --Michael W. Wynne, Secretary of the Air Force
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US Air Force Air University Handbook ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Technical
The book is very outdated... I realized after I bought it that it only does extensive review until 1973 or 1975, somewhere around there.It has nothing beyond that date.Otherwise it is very useful. ... Read more

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US Air Force Academy Handbook ... Read more

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US Air Force Base Conversion Agency Handbook ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A great all-in-one resource on U.S World War II Aircraft
Includes extensive info and photos on all the great U.S planes of WWII. And I had no trouble finding the (Curtiss) Helldiver, "Vultee", Catalina, Avenger, and Liberator, alongwith many many more.

Highlyrecommended!

This book is excellant source of infomation
This book is great! There is only one flaw; it don't included other planes like Helldiver(mind you, I like this plane),Vultee,Catalina,Avenger, and Liberator. ... Read more

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United States Department of Air Force Handbook ... Read more

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Ultimate handbook on the US Department of Air Force activities, programs and functions ... Read more