Golden Age of Aviation

Army Air Power Develops

General Mitchell thought the airplane could be used to bomb military and industrial targets deep inside an enemy’s homeland. He thought that after the United States achieved air superiority over the enemy, air power could then attack the enemy’s ground troops and supply line. He thought this would be a better form of war because it might save lives.

General Mitchell had seen the bloody battles of World War I firsthand. Thousands of lives were lost when armies dug in deep and slugged it out. Air power, General Mitchell thought, could fly over that battlefield, attack the enemy’s supplies, thus, shorten the war and save lives.

In order to achieve his vision of air power, General Mitchell was a very vocal advocate of an air service separate from, but equal to, the Army and Navy. The first problem he faced was to convince the Army he was right, then he had to convince Congress. He decided that the only way to overcome the indifference toward aviation, both within the Army and the Congress, was to demonstrate the capability of the airplane as a superior military weapon.