Air Power Is, Above All, A Psychological

The Easiest And Quickest Path Into The Esteem Of Traditional Military Authorities Is By The Appeal To The Eye, Rather Than To The Mind. The `polish And Pipeclay' School Is Not Yet Extinct, And It Is Easier For The Mediocre Intelligence To Become An Authority On Buttons, Than On Tactics.

Air Forces Offered The Possibility Of Striking A The Enemy's Economic And Moral Centres Without Having First To Achieve 'the Destruction Of The Enemy's Main Forces On The Battlefield'. Air-power Might Attain A Direct End By Indirect Means - Hopping Over Opposition Instead Of Overthrowing It.

While The Nominal Strength Of A Country Is Represented By Its Numbers And Resources, This Muscular Development Is Dependent On The State Of Its Internal Organs And Nerve-system - Upon Its Stability Of Control, Morale, And Supply.

It Is Thus More Potent, As Well As More Economical, To Disarm The Enemy Than To Attempt His Destruction By Hard Fighting ... A Strategist Should Think In Terms Of Paralysing, Not Of Killing.

If We Clear The Air Of The Fog Of Catchwords Which Surround The Conduct Of War, And Grasp That In The Human Will Lies The Source And Mainspring Of All Conflict, As Of All Other Activities Of Man's Life, It Becomes Clear That Our Object In War Can Only Be Attained By The Subjugation Of The Opposing Will. All Acts, Such As Defeat In The Field, Propaganda, Blockade, Diplomacy, Or Attack On The Centres Of Government And Population, Are Seen To Be But Means To That End.