Foulois and the U.S. Army Air Corps 1931-1935

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Foulois and the U.S. Army Air Corps 1931-1935

J. S. Shiner

In this thoroughly researched and lucidly written volume, Lt. Col. John F. Shiner describes the Air Corps' effort to prepare the nation for war; to gain money, aircraft, and, even more important, independence; and to achieve a capability to wage aerial war. The focus of the work is maj. Gen. Benjamin Foulois and his tenure as Chief of the Air Corps between 1931 and 1935. But the implications of Shiner's findings go beyond either the personalities or the issues. They encompass the whole character of developing United States military policy and its ascendancy to leadership in aviation during World War II. Colonel Shiner has illuminated a critical period in aviation history. His is the story of the complicated relationships between equipment, doctrine, and organization-relationships which invariably raise the issue of the proper roles and missions of air power. It is a story as timely today as it was forty years ago, when aviation was just emerging as a major force in modern war.