Aerial warfare essay

2 Trenchard believed in similar sentiments, although made some differences in his deep explanations. Other researchers such as Clausewitz also emphasized the inherent superiority of the air power and linked his ideas to the center of gravity, which was the hub of all power and movement. 3 According to him, it was through the center of gravity that the enemy could be overpowered. When a weapon is at a greater mass such as the air, the most effective effect can be felt as compared to smaller masses such as lands. 4 Most of the realizations by General Giulio Douhet and Hugh Trenchard were sourced from the ideas of Clausewitz. However, for the ground, there is a small area of rivalry hence, the preference of air wars.

8 The air force can be the primary target by the enemies during a battle. 9 Initial attacks would only employ explosives to frighten the civilians. 10 The environment would always be affected by a military strategy to either turn off advancing rivals or cause widespread damage to them. In his perception, he believed that war was amoral and any shortcuts towards victory would be justifiable hence, the reason he includes dependence in his ideas. 14 These occurrences would make the enemies bombarded. Emphasizing more on strategic offensive strategies would blind people into the chances of tactical support of armies. 15 A great accuracy would be required for attacks to be successful. In his theory, he believed the importance of using three different bombs to achieve victory.

These included the explosives for the destruction of targets, incendiaries for the ignition of the damaged structures, and poison gases for expelling fire-fighters and rescue crews. 19 During air exploitation, he proposed that as soon as a command of the air is won, it should also be used to enact punishment for the civilians, in an attempt of keeping them in coerce with their government, all aimed at ending the suffering. 20 His theory stated that the total suffering would also be less than what would be experienced in the trenches. On the other hand, Trenchard believed that victory could only be gained by focusing more on War material, transportation, and communications. In his theory, he mentioned that during a war, civilian morale was a key player and could be undermined through attacking industrial and communications targets.

Once altered, the civilians would insist that the government should be setting new terms. 25 The air force has been determined to at all times be at cooperation with the army and the navy, but be independent of them both. Ground and naval forces can only be perceived as the means of indirectly breaking the enemy’s resistance, but without an air force, progress cannot be achieved. Another similarity between Trenchard and Douhet was the point of focus, which was the collapse of civilian morale. Civilian morale is fragile, and the effects of bombing on the morale are even vast than physical effects. Even though there was an indirect activity by Trenchard through destroying various infrastructures, Douhet's intention of attacking people would yield similar results.

At the same time, the total command of the air would lead to the air power dominating ground forces such as the land and sea forces. 30 There would be no real swift, effective, and economic effects such as aerial bombing. Each of the theorists implies that countries should be aware of the various possible results as a result of the wars. These countries should focus their entire effort by performing extensive damages to the enemies during the war by applying various air forces techniques. As demonstrated from the above essay, there are numerous similarities in the perceptions of the military theorists General Douhet and Hugh Trenchard. E.  Eliminating organizational culture clash: Developing an Air Force agile workforce for 21st-century warfare (Maxwell AFB, Ala.