Share This Article

Air Mobility: A Brief History of the American Experience

by Robert C. Owen, Potomac Books, Herndon, Va., 2014, $45

This is a superb book, a model for authors to follow and a boon to both experts and beginners interested in aviation history. Robert Owen, a U.S. Air Force pilot with vast and varied experience in the subject, did the right kind of research to buttress his own knowledge.

In 26 riveting chapters, laden with insight and spiced with occasional humor, Owen presents the story of a miracle of transformation. He takes us from the primitive days, when “air mobility” was carrying a staff officer from one grass field to the next, to the present, when America’s global airlift system—tankers, transports, helicopters, the entire spectrum—has be – come a vital element of its national defense.

Owen achieves his central purpose, capturing the character of air mobility to honor the community of great people who made this transformation possible. He covers a tremendous range of events in amazing detail, with all the dates and full citations. These include personal interactions, like those between Generals William Tunner and Curtis LeMay, and congressional debates. He also points out the amazing succession of correct decisions that were made under the duress of tight budgets or the sudden boom of warfare.

Perhaps more important, this is the first book to integrate all the major components of the U.S. air mobility system. It highlights air refueling, the use of tactical airlift in major land operations, Army battlefield airlift and the organic airlift capacity of the Navy and Marine Corps. This is a vast field to cover, and Owen does it comprehensively yet succinctly.

He emphasizes two important themes, overlooked by many historians and the media. First, he portrays the extreme complexity and depth of the process in envisioning, acquiring and employing airlift forces. Then he shows how this was facilitated by the unbroken transfer of air mobility knowledge from generation to generation of practitioners.

This book should be on the shelves of every library, scholar and enthusiast. It will probably appear on the Air Force chief of staff’s recommended reading list, for there are lessons to be learned here that can be applied across the military board.

 

Originally published in the July 2014 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here.